how do i connect my laptop to my desktop?

infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
edited August 2004 in Hardware
hello everyone,

i have an nforce based desktop pc running windows xp pro sp1. it has a 25pin parallel, 9pin serial, 4 usb 1.1 ports, no ethernet card or firewire, with other standard stuff.

I recently got a compaq presario 2517at laptop which runs windows xp pro sp1. it has a 25pin parallel, 3 usb 2.0 ports, 1 firewire, no serial port. i want to transfer data from the desktop to the laptop and vice-versa. basically i don't want to sync data..but transfer.

how do i transfer data at legible speeds? i've heard of interfacing the two thru parallel as well as usb ports. i'd prefer usb. in that case, what cables do i need? what additional software would i need? what would be the approx cost? and how do i go about setting up everything?

second Q: do all hp printers come with built-in infra-red connectivity? i also have hp deskjet 920c printer. but it wasn't detected by the laptop.

third Q: with what category of graphic chips (geforce series) can the ati radeon igp 345m be compared with? where do i get its updated drivers? the catalyst drivers ain't getting loaded as they are not for igp series.

waiting for a reply........thanx in advance.

Comments

  • kanezfankanezfan sunny south florida Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    #1: i thought all nforce mobos had an ethernet card built in? if not, i'd get a NIC for $10 and a 10/100 hub/switch/router for like $30.

    #2: don't know if they all do, doubt it. if yours does, infrared is a line of sight thing, meaning both ports must be in front of each other. it's like your tv remote control.

    #3: probably in the range of a geforce 4 mx.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited August 2004
    You can get a usb cable to direct transfers through as if you were connected via a network. You probably have to have file sharing on though or have one machine act as an ftp server and the other machine uploads to it. I've never used one so I don't know anything more specific but I do know they exist.

    Second I was also under the assumption that every nforce card had built in NIC since that was one of the cool things about them a good fast built in NIC that wasn't slowed down by the PCI bus.

    As for your video card I don't know the specs of it but I'd check ATI's site they should have all the information you need and drivers for that card.
  • infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
    edited August 2004
    ok......wid d usb cable...i plug in d ends to d usb ports of d desktop n laptop...then what do i do next?? i mean...how do i make one computer recognize d other?? i dun have ethernet card in my desktop..

    what software should i install..n how do i go about transfering files now?

    naah....all nforce series mobos dun come wid ethernet.....also there is no info in ati's site.....i got a driver mod from driversheaven.net which mods inf,ini files in ati catalyst drivers so that it can be used wid all mobility series chips...

    plz help regarding d usb thingy...i am on the move...so every computer may not have ethernet card...so d usb thingy is fine for me...i need help to go on from here.........
  • kanezfankanezfan sunny south florida Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    you need to set up a network connection in both computers, but specify that you're using a usb cable to connect. i know this can be done with firewire, but i'd never heard of it being done with usb until kryyst mentioned it.
  • infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
    edited August 2004
    are there ne temperature monitoring softwares for laptops?
  • verselloversello New
    edited August 2004
    infra_red_dude wrote:
    are there ne temperature monitoring softwares for laptops?

    http://mbm.livewiredev.com/
  • infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
    edited August 2004
    thanx.........hey...me planning to get an external usb tv tuner....but my laptop doesn't have line-in jack....so where do i connect its audio output???
  • kanezfankanezfan sunny south florida Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    infra_red_dude wrote:
    thanx.........hey...me planning to get an external usb tv tuner....but my laptop doesn't have line-in jack....so where do i connect its audio output???

    you can probably just plug a pair of headphones into it.
  • infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
    edited August 2004
    ok.....a bit off topic now......my dad's office has a number of old pentiums lying around......which they'll be discarding i guess....all depts r networked..i thot dat they can be put to gud use as file & print servers n mail servers.....using of corz linux....can anybody provide me details as to how to go about it....setting it up..n stuff???
  • kanezfankanezfan sunny south florida Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    that's not a short answer dude. i'll give you an easy option though, go to www.clarkconnect.com and download the free edition of their software. it's a linux distro that does everything you want and more, and it's easy to administer through a web browser. don't know how proficient you are with linux, if you don't anyhting about it, this is definitely the way to go.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited August 2004
    It also depends on what the rest of the network has to handle it. There is a good chance that it already has file or mail servers. If that's the case you are better off to leave the mail servers alone as they are complicated to set up and don't really span well across multiple machines easily.

    However setting them up as file servers is pretty simple Kanezfan is right that software is probably the simplest way to set them un through linux especially if you don't know what you are doing.

    The other option is to just set them up as windows machines and share the drives on them.
  • infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
    edited August 2004
    hey..i plugged in d usb cable...to my desktop n laptop...n powered 'em...nothing hapnd..! nothing was detected! i also cudn't find a driver in modem types for connecting thru usb cable...plz help...

    i got a direct parallel cable too...tried that too....driver got installed in both comps...but i wasn't able to connect 'em.....

    i also screwed up some networking settings...on my laptop..n now tho i can connect to d net (am on dialup)...there is absolutely NO data transfer..i cant browse....!!

    plz help me out wid this!! any help wud be greatly appreaciated!!! plz...
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited August 2004
    Actually first before anything more did you get a USB transfer cable or just a regular usb cable? A regular cable won't cut it you need something like this (finally found a link)
    http://www.connectworld.net/cgi-bin/iec/ADP3181

    If that's the kind of gadget that you have. Turn on both machines without the cable plugged in then plug it in and see if it detects anything.

    As for your network issues did you make any changes to them? Go into your network settings for tcp/ip and make sure that the IP adress is set to DHCP and the DNC is set to Automatically detect.

    Then there should be a binding for your modem and the tcp/ip stack.

    To establish your computer - laptop connection you should be able to go into network neighbourhood and create a direct pc connection. If you are using XP choose create a new connection type. Then choose advanced connection type and start going through the prompts.
  • infra_red_dudeinfra_red_dude
    edited August 2004
    yeah......thanx.....dat waz solved.......

    now i haf a Q.........
    since my laptop doesn't haf ne line-in port for audio input.........can i plug in d audio source to d mic-in port?? will it not damage nething??? i wanna record some audio..n am also gettin a tv-tuner card..ext. usb.........i wanna grab videos.......

    is it safe?? i dun mind audio downmixed to mono mode......
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited August 2004
    yes that'll work fine, though the sound quality will probably suck.
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