Zero knowledge of networks - help please!

b3mor

b3mor

b3mor

Associate
Joined
4 Aug 2007
Posts
269
You'll have to excuse the appalling lack of knowledge demonstrated in this message, but I'm completely new to this. :D

I have a laptop running XP (x86) and a new desktop running 7 (x64). I want to have a copy of the data that is on the laptop on the desktop.

My first choice would be to use a cable because hopefully it is fairly quick (?). Is it a simple case of plugging in a network cable, telling the computers to talk to each other and hey presto it works?! I think I need a crossover cable rather than a patch cable (assuming this works, not sure if I need a router/hub/switch/something else in the mix somewhere! :o).

The other option is wireless. I have a Netgear DG834PN (I think it is this version); can I use this to transfer the files? The problem is I'm guessing it would be slow, and maybe not that reliable?

Other options?

Any advise would be very much appreciated! :)
 
You can do it with just a normal patch cable as most modern nics do auto crossover.
Just set up a static ip on both machines and set up a netbios share on the laptop.
Or just plug them both to a router/switch

Wireless is also a option but is a lot slower
 
Hmmm would that be easy to do through Windows or is it more complicated than that?

Is there any way to determine whether the laptop has auto-detection? It is an Acer Aspire, probably 4 or 5 years old now. And is there any disadvantage of getting a crossover cable vs a patch cable, as there doesn't seem to be much price difference.

Thanks for the help btw.
 
I wasn't aware that NICs did Auto-MDI, switches yes, but not NICs.
If I'm connecting hosts together I always use a crossover to be on the safe

Setting the static IPs will be a the most difficult bit for you (considering your complete lack of network knowledge) but it's just a few mouse clicks and entering some details in the boxes.

If you have a wired router with a couple of spare ports then you'll be able to get around setting IP addresses by using that instead as that should assign the IPs for you.
 
Well I've got as far as establishing that the network controller on the laptop is a Realtek RTL8139/810X Family Fast Ethernet NIC. The desktop motherboard is an ASUS M4A785TD V-EVO which has a RTL8112L Gigabit LAN.

If I get a cable I will definitely get a crossover cable then.

Regarding setting a static IP, if I log into the router control manager I can see the IP address of all the devices connected; is this all I need or does this change everytime each computer connects to the router as the router itself assigns each computer with an IP?

I had a look in control panel on the XP machine and there is a network setup wizard but not sure how easy that is to use? On Windows 7 it just tells me about Homegroup but I believe all machines have to be Windows 7 for that to work.
 
Would only need to set up a static ip if you are connecting pc-pc
If DHCP is enabled on the router (which by default is on), you can just connect the pc and laptop to it. then set up the share folder on the laptop, and on the pc, open up the network centre and you should see your laptop there, open it up and it shows all the shared folders/files
 
Don't you think connecting PC to PC is the best way? Unfortunately it isn't practical to connect to the router using cables, and I think the wireless connection will be too slow. To give you some idea there is probably about 70GB of data that I want to copy from the laptop to the desktop.

If I allow the folders on the laptop to be shared, doesn't that mean that every computer attached to the router will be able to access the data on the laptop?
 
easier with router as you dont have to set up the ip address.
yea every device will be able to see the shared folders.

well if you want to set up pc-pc then follow
http://portforward.com/networking/static-xp.htm
http://portforward.com/networking/static-win7.htm

so for example

Laptop
IP - 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0
Gateway - 192.168.1.1

PC
IP - 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0
Gateway - 192.168.1.1

Just leave DNS blank

then once set up, ping each other, by opening a command prompt and type ping 192.168.1.x, if both reply ok, then set up your share folder
on XP, right click on the folder and select Sharing and Security, then tick the Share this folder on the network, apply.

then on your desktop go to network and sharing centre and browse to your laptop

look here for more information
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-7/share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-xp/
 
Yeh I think PC to PC will be easiest for me as I don't want the files to be accessible to everyone who uses the router, and wireless will probably be slow anyway!

Thanks for the links, I've read through them and it all makes sense, except for one question that is below. I've got the cable on the way with some other bits so fingers crossed I can make it work!

Onto my question; from reading those links it seems that you make the static IP the one you use to connect to the internet; is that correct? I was expecting the internet connection to be left alone (i.e. dynamic and decided by the router) and the network connection to be made static, if that makes sense? Or can each computer only ever have one IP address at a time? That would make sense thinking about it.

Thank you for your help btw.
 
This shouldn't be hard to sort.

Get 2 normal network/RJ45/Cat5/cat6/patch cables (depending on who you talk to they can be called any of the above).
Plug into 2 ports on your router.
If you haven't played with any settings and they both get internet access you are set.

Make a folder on the desktop of the XP machine. Right click, properties and Share it. So long as your haven't turned off simple sharing that should be you fixed.

Simples (squeak)


Making the folder on the windows 7 machine is a bit of a minefield as it uses a new method of sharing that either means you update the XP machine with a wee "windows 7 sharing" type upgrade (same as it was back in the Windows 95/98/ME to XP days) or set a password on the default user. When you try and access a share on a windows 7 machine u either need to be in that machines homegroup (the upgrade thing) or have the account details for a user that can access the files if they were logged in directly.
Windows networking is generally at least 25% witchcraft, 10% voodoo and 65% dumb luck :D
 
As expected I'm having trouble with this. :(

I've set up the static IP addresses for the internet connection; I didn't need to enter anything into the connection properties in the control panel, instead I assigned the wireless router to assign my two machines with static IP addresses, and left the TCP/IP option to 'automatically acquire IP address'.

I can enter a command prompt and ping between the two machines without any problem. This is where I'm stuck though; at the moment the computers are communicating through the wireless router, so how do I get them to communicate through the crossover cable connecting them? Do I need to assign a static IP address to the LAN connection, and if so should it be the same as the above or do I use a different IP address? I don't understand whether one computer can have more than one IP address. :o

Any words of wisdom would be very much appreciated. :)
 
You're probably right, but a USB hard disk costs £50 or so, a crossover cable cost me about £2. :p

Besides, I'm interested to learn, and I've got to start somewhere. ;)
 
Have you read my message of 11:54? :) I've got the crossover cable connected, setup a static IP address using the router, and can ping between the two computers using the wireless router. However I cannot get the computers to communicate via the crossover cable. What I don't understand is whether each computer can have more than one IP address? And whether to communicate via the crossover cable, I use the same IP addresses as I use for the wireless connection to the router.

For example:
My static IP set on the router is 192.168.0.4 for computer 1 and 192.168.0.5 for computer 2 and I can ping each other. The default gateway is 192.168.0.1 (the router IP address).

When I disable the wireless and try to ping again I get nothing. I assume I am still trying to ping the same IP address (as above), as this is the 'identifier' of each computer. I assume however that the default gateway is no longer 192.168.0.1 as I am not using the router, so should this be the IP address of the other machine or something else? Or am I barking up completely the wrong tree, and ought to give up now before I break something! :p
 
b3mor said:
Have you read my message of 11:54? :) I've got the crossover cable connected, setup a static IP address using the router, and can ping between the two computers using the wireless router. However I cannot get the computers to communicate via the crossover cable. What I don't understand is whether each computer can have more than one IP address? And whether to communicate via the crossover cable, I use the same IP addresses as I use for the wireless connection to the router.

For example:
My static IP set on the router is 192.168.0.4 for computer 1 and 192.168.0.5 for computer 2 and I can ping each other. The default gateway is 192.168.0.1 (the router IP address).

When I disable the wireless and try to ping again I get nothing. I assume I am still trying to ping the same IP address (as above), as this is the 'identifier' of each computer. I assume however that the default gateway is no longer 192.168.0.1 as I am not using the router, so should this be the IP address of the other machine or something else? Or am I barking up completely the wrong tree, and ought to give up now before I break something! :p
Click to expand...

No never read it. No two computers on a network can't have the same address.

All you need to set up correct lan addresses. For file sharing you don't need a gateway address. Then once you have assigned an address on both machines you then need to activate a file share and give the correct permissions. Not as simple as you think.
 
Haha I didn't think it would be simple, acheivable though!

I realise two computers cannot have the same IP address, however can one computer have two IP addresses, or only one? i.e. does it need one that the router uses (for connecting to the internet) and one for connecting to another computer, or should both IP addresses be the same? :confused:

I think all I need to do is fill out the settings in control panel for the network, so instead of 'automatically assign' or whatever it says (where the router assigns IP addresses via DHCP?), I need to set it up manually for the LAN. So, I know the IP address of the two machines, but don't know the subnet mask, and you say I don't need a default gateway. I assume there is no DNS either when you are directly connecting two computers, or am I wrong?
 
b3mor said:
Haha I didn't think it would be simple, acheivable though!

I realise two computers cannot have the same IP address, however can one computer have two IP addresses, or only one? i.e. does it need one that the router uses (for connecting to the internet) and one for connecting to another computer, or should both IP addresses be the same? :confused:

I think all I need to do is fill out the settings in control panel for the network, so instead of 'automatically assign' or whatever it says (where the router assigns IP addresses via DHCP?), I need to set it up manually for the LAN. So, I know the IP address of the two machines, but don't know the subnet mask, and you say I don't need a default gateway. I assume there is no DNS either when you are directly connecting two computers, or am I wrong?
Click to expand...

One computer can have many addresses on different medium. Wired or Wifi.

When you set manual IP addresses on computers the gateway/dns is used for routing traffic outside of your network. For example Internet web pages.
 
Does that not mean that I can enter my own, new IP address for each computer in the TCP/IP options for the LAN (say 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.11) and then ping each other? When I try this I just get 'Request timed out'. I'm obviously missing something quite simple (I hope!), is it anything to do with the subnet mask, default gateway or dns server?
 
b3mor said:
Does that not mean that I can enter my own, new IP address for each computer in the TCP/IP options for the LAN (say 192.168.0.10 and 192.168.0.11) and then ping each other? When I try this I just get 'Request timed out'. I'm obviously missing something quite simple (I hope!), is it anything to do with the subnet mask, default gateway or dns server?
Click to expand...

Computer 1
IP Address: 192.168.0.10
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Computer 2
IP Address: 192.168.0.11
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Turn off firewalls on both machines then ping from Computer 1 (Ping 192.168.0.11) to Computer 2. Do you get a reply?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom