Direct Cable Connection guidance needed

[G]

Hi all,
I have a relatively old IBM ThinkPad laptop, which only up until very recently with the help of Sysopt.com members, I was able to load Win98 from the Win98 CD-ROM on to a hard erased HD. Besides the CD-ROM portable drive there are no other peripherals, PCMCIA cards etc. I have a number of programs that are, completely or in part, too large for a standard 1.44MB floppy diskette. Therefore, I would like to link my laptop to my PC and transfer all necessary files from latter to the former.

I know that it can be done using Direct Cable Connection but I’m unsure which, if any, additional programs need to be loaded on to my PC and laptop for this to be successful.

Now I have Direct Cable Connection, Dial-Up Networking, and Dial-Up Server installed on both machines just in case some or all are needed. Superfluous programs will be uninstalled once I have ascertained what is and what is not required.

Pertaining to the Network applet, I have installed everything that may possibly be necessary. Under the General tab, I have the following Network components installed.

On the client side there is –

Client for Microsoft Networks
Microsoft Family Logon

On the Adapter side, there is: -

Dial-Up Adapter

On the protocol side, there is: -

IPX/SPX-compatible protocol - (Dial-Up Adapter)
NetBEUI - (Dial-Up Adapter)
TCP/IP – (Dial-Up Adapter)

Finally, on the Service side, there is: -

File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks.

These are all the programs I have installed for the moment on both machines. In addition, within the Network applet under the General tab - Primary Network Logon - I have the choice of three options: Client for Microsoft Networks, Microsoft Family Logon, and Windows Logon. Which one is necessary for each machine? On the other hand, is this irrelevant?

To conclude, which programs do I need to have on the PC in order that I can transfer the files to the laptop? What programs need to be installed on the laptop? For each, what are the configurations necessary?

Now I have a standard male/male printer cable. Will I need a special cable to connect the two together or will this cable do?

Finally, I’m going to have to configure sharing of the C: contents of my PC in order that the laptop can access the PC C: contents. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help. The more precise and detailed the better. Please assume that I know nothing, with respect to completing this task successfully. I will let you know how I get on.

All the best,
G

[dos7]

well,,you have the necessary components in Network properties,,as well as a couple uneeded protocols. Netbeui is really the only needed protocol, it's fast and doesn't require any configuring. You can safely remove the tcp/ip and ipx protocols, of course this only goes for the configuration of the thinkpad, if want to have internet access with the thinkpad you will want to leave the tcp/ip protocol. You may encounter trouble if you want to use the direct cable connection with internet access at simultaneously. Setting this up can be a bit tricky, it will require an additional dial up adapter with VPN support, honestly i can't remember how to set it up. So you will find that you will have to reboot after using direct cable connection if you want to use internet access with the thinkpad, and vice versa.

As for the cable, that should work just fine. And another note, Dial up server will be unneeded for what you are doing so you may safely remove it from you windows setup.
Once you have direct cable connection installed on both machines, you will needed to configure each one that each computer knows which is host and which is the guest(client). Once you run direct cable connection, it will prompt you to make this decision. More than likely, you will designate the thinkpad as the guest,,and your desktop as the host. You will also need to go into my computer on the host machine and make sure that any drives you want to access with the thinkpad are set to be shared. Assuming that you installed the file and printer sharing for MS networks service, you can right click on any drive in my computer and you will find "sharing" there you can set permissions for sharing on that driver as well as a password if you choose.

a few other notes to consider, direct cable connection is faster using the LPT1 instead of a serial cable connection. I believe the maximum throughput is about 75k. To get the maximum speed possible, go into your computer's BIOS and find the settings for you LPT1 printer port, set it's mode to EPP as this is the fastest, make sure you do this for both the client and the host machine.

I hope this was coherent, as i am a bit tired, and i hope you are able to accomplish your task with this info i have provided. In addition, here is a link that provides some help regarding DCC with win95/98. http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/dccmain.htm

good luck

dos7

[G]

Hi dos7,
Thanks for your prompt and comprehensive instructions. I will configure the PC and laptop for Direct Cable Connection tomorrow. For simplicity, I had not envisaged using the laptop for connecting to the Internet (directly or indirectly via my PC). I guess it would be possible to connect the laptop to the Internet via the modem of the PC! I am not sure though. All I really want to do is load some large programs (downloaded from the Internet), e.g., Diskeeper V6, Sandra 2001, and ConfigSafe V3. Otherwise, I have everything I need for it really. The HD is only 813MB in size. Nevertheless, the idea of using it in the way you have described will give me an extra avenue to use in the future. I will let you know how I get on. If I am stuck, I hope it will be ok to get back to you. I will post any problems back here.

All the best,
G

[dos7]

yes,,it would great if you need to get back to me,, just post any other issues or questions you may have and I/we (the sysopt community) will do our best to help.


sincerely

dos7