Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
    • Plug and Play
    • Windows Offers Hardware Help
    • Setting Up a Second PC
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

Setting Up a Second PC

When you purchase a second PC, such as a laptop or a second home PC, you'll probably want to transfer files from your current PC to the new one. For example, you might have data files on the current PC that you want to place on the new one. The best way to transfer files is through a network. Hour 13, "Networking with Windows XP," explains how to put together and configure a network. Nevertheless, some people do not want to install networking hardware to transfer a lot of files from one computer to another. Perhaps you're setting up a new laptop and don't want to purchase a network card for the laptop.

Windows supports a feature called direct cable connection that lets you transfer files between computers without the need of a network and without moving data between the PCs via disk. The cable must be a DirectParallel cable, a special cable that connects one PC's parallel port to another's, or a null modem cable connected between the two computer serial ports. If both computers have an infrared eye, as most laptops have, you don't even need a cable; the infrared links serve as the "cable" between the two machines.

If you attach such a cable between two computers, or if they both have infrared ports, those computers can share files and printer resources with one another. This is a simple replacement for a more expensive and extensive network system. The direct cable connection is useful if you have the need only for two computers to share resources.

You'll access the direct cable connection option from your Network Connections window even if you don't have an existing network of any kind connected to your computer. When you double-click the link called Create a new connection, the Network Connection Wizard (the same wizard you read about in Hour 13 that also sets up an Internet sharing connection) initiates, as shown in Figure 15.4. After answering the wizard's prompts, your two computers will be linked as the To Do steps explain next.

Figure 15.4 The Network Connection Wizard helps you connect two computers via a cable or infrared port.

To Do: Making a Direct Cable Connection

1. Connect your two computers'parallel or serial ports with the cable. If both computers have infrared ports, point one infrared port to the other.
2. Select the Network Connection Wizard.
3. Click Next to select the connection type. Choose the last option labeled Set up an advanced connection to let the wizard know that you want to connect your computer to another by a direct cable connection.
4. Click Next and select the option labeled Connect directly to another computer.
5. Click Next. You will select one PC as the host and one as the guest by clicking the appropriate options on the wizard's screen. The host is the PC from which you'll transfer the file or files, and the guest receives those files. After you designate a host and guest, you cannot send information in the other direction without restarting the wizard on both computers.
6. Click the Next button to select the port on which you've connected the computers from the dialog box that appears in Figure 15.5. You'll have to select the port used on each PC.
   

   Figure 15.5 Tell the wizard to which port the cable connects.

7. Click Next to display the permission screen where you designate which of the computer's users can connect to the computer through the direct cable connection. The permissions determine whether the connecting user must have a password to connect to your computer.
8. Click Next to assign a name to the direct cable connection so that the other computer will recognize the connection option by its name. You can set up multiple direct cable connections, each with its own name and with different user permissions.

9. Click Finish to make the connection. After you've followed the wizard on the connecting PC, the two should be able to communicate with each other. If they do not both recognize the connection, you might have to check cable connections and rerun the wizard to ensure that all the options are set correctly. For example, you'll want to make sure that both PCs are not set as host or both as guest.

   The guest's Windows Explorer or My Computer window now holds an icon for the host PC, and you can transfer files from the host as easily as you can transfer from one of your disks to another. In addition, the guest's application programs can now print to the host printer because the host printer will be available from all File, Print dialog boxes.

The direct cable connection provides a way for you to connect two computers to use the files and printer on one (the host) by the other (the guest). The direct cable connection enables the guest computer to share the host's file and printer resources without requiring expensive and elaborate networking hardware and software.

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