Router for direct transfer?

Question

i need to transfer some files from my laptop to mu sisters desktop. can i use a router and connect them both to it to transfer the files? if so how? my laptop is vista home pre. and hers is xp home.

thanks a bunch

Answer 1

You can use what you are referring to as a "router", but there is actually no routing involved.  At most you would need a hub or a switch that also has a DHCP server attached somewhere in the loop.  Other option would be to assign a static IP address to both computers.

To make this simple, connecting to a SOHO router would work just fine.  A couple of things to do would be to ensure the Windows firewall is either off temporarily for the file transfer (make sure you are not directly exposed to the Internet), or make sure you make an exception for "File and Printer Sharing".  You can also go the more technical route of opening port 139 on both machines.  The Windows firewall can be found in the control panel.  For the exceptions there is an "Exceptions" tab at the top.

Authentication is another issue.  Know the computer name you are attempting to connect to and an account with administrative privileges on that remote computer.  Click on Start and then Run.  Enter:

\\computername\c$

Of course, replace "computername" with the actual host name of the remote computer.  If an authentication box pops up asking for a username and password, enter it in the format:

computername\username

Where computername is the remote computer and username is the account on the remote computer with administrative rights.  Right away or after a few seconds, you will see all the files on the C: drive on the remote computer.  At that point just drag and drop or copy and paste your files.

I might have made this a bit more complicated that it is, but following these steps should yield your result.  Hope it helps.  Don't forget to turn your firewall back on if you disabled it.