Whats the best (& cheap) way to connect my computers?

Question

Next year i'm going to be give a laptop to use at work, which means my current laptop will be consigned to home use.

I already have a home computer, which runs windows xp & has not much space left (even after loads to delete stuff.) My current laptop runs vista, and being a free laptop has a similar size hard drive to my old computer.

If i'm going to relegate my laptop to home use I want it easily connected to my main computer.... firstly i want to be able to easily access stuff on all three machines, secondly is there any way I could link the old laptop and computer together to increase the speed/storage... i'm wondering if i could just use one as basically a hard drive?

Answer 1

Try LogMeIn.com for remote desktop software. It's free!

Answer 2

You can use an Ethernet hub or switch to have a peer to peer file sharing system.  To be more friendly to use you could get a wireless router, because most newer laptops already have a wirless card installed.  

Linksys makes switches/wireless routers.

There is not an easy way to make 2 computers share CPU and memory.

For information on file sharing just look in Windows help.

Answer 3

You can remote to the computers with a software. The downside is that you need a connection that can pass through your works internet security. Firewalls and such.

You can remote to both PC's by downloading the software on all of them and you login and choose which to connect to. A good stable software is, gotomypc. This software is not free but the one below is and is also good.

You can use any of the PCs as a storage.

https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang...

Answer 4

You need to get a hub of a cheap Hub or Switch. probably get one for 20 bucks on tigerdirect.com. This will allow you to create a simple home network. You can use the computer as a server for holding your media and your laptop as the console. Many networking combinations are possible. Also - If your not technically savy then walk away because networking is challenging - but rewarding too!