[snickers]

I want to transfer files and settings, etc from my Desktop to my new laptop. I bought a Belkin easy transfer cable for Windows Vista, with free laplink software included ("transfers and synchronizes files of any type or size between 2 PC-s in seconds") Has anyone heard of this? Would this be recommended to make the transfer easier?
Also, my desktop PC already is set up on wireless network with a router. Is there anything I need to know when I want to set up wireless connection for the laptop? Is it just a matter of typing my security password in on the laptop, and is setting it up self explanatory? I also want to set up printer sharing.
I originally had the Geek squad come and set up my 2 desktops to be wirelessly networked, and I didn't want to spend the money again for an outside service, if I could do it myself.

Edited by snickers, 19 March 2007 - 05:05 PM.

[Advertisements]

You can definitely do it yourself. I think there are some tutorials floating around here.

Just follow the instructions that came with the laptop wireless card and set it to use DHCP. You're ahead of the game because you've already set up a wireless network. You just have to get the laptop on it.

As far as the Laplink goes, I haven't used that since it used some kind of serial cable to connect the 2 PC's. It would be faster across your network.

Edited by 98springer, 19 March 2007 - 05:55 PM.

[98springer]

You can definitely do it yourself. I think there are some tutorials floating around here.

Just follow the instructions that came with the laptop wireless card and set it to use DHCP. You're ahead of the game because you've already set up a wireless network. You just have to get the laptop on it.

As far as the Laplink goes, I haven't used that since it used some kind of serial cable to connect the 2 PC's. It would be faster across your network.

Edited by 98springer, 19 March 2007 - 05:55 PM.

[Samm]

Hi snickers

1) File transfer etc
You could use the Belkin cable & laplink software for file transfers relatively easily I believe. (I haven't used laplink since the days it was DOS based & you connected using the parallel printer ports on both computers!)
Or, if you're feeling more adventurous you could simply use the wireless network to transfer stuff between the 2 machines....This does require a few addition changes to be made to the network settings though.

2) Re. setting the laptop up on wireless. Normally this is a fairly painless process. As long as the wireless adapter in the laptop is enabled, Windows will often automatically detect the wireless network & configure it for you.
However, if this doesn't happen then you need to check the following things :

a) The laptop & the wireless router must both be set to use the same wireless channel

b) The SSID set on the laptop must match that of the router

c) If you have WEP encryption enabled on the router, then you'll need to enter the WEP key on the laptop

d) If you have problems connecting to the router and/or the internet, try disabling Windows firewall and any 3rd party firewalls you may have on the laptop until you get it working. If you still have problems after that, check the firewall/security setting in the routers config.

e) For Windows to automatically detect the wireless network, the router must be configure to allow broadcasting of the SSID. Once the correct SSID has been set on the laptop, broadcast SSID can be disabled again for additional security.


3) Re. printer sharing
This depends on whether the printer is connected to the router or to one of the computers. If it's connected to one of the other computers, then to need to enable sharing on the printer:
On the computer that has the printer connected, go to the 'Printers' option on the start menu, right click on the relevant printer icon & select 'Sharing'. In the window that opens, select the 'Shared As' option & enter a name for the printer in the box.
On the laptop (or any computer on the network that wants to use the printer), go to the Printers option on the start menu & use the Add Printer wizard. You'll need to select the network printer option & follow the instructions on screen.

[snickers]

Thanks for the replies, and for the detailed instructions.

[Samm]

You're welcome. Let us know how you get on

[snickers]

Setting up wireless connection was easy. I'm having problems with transferring files and printer sharing. I tried the Belkin transfer cable and couldn't get it to work. I'm going to call Dell and see if they can help me with transferring files through the network.

For printer sharing, I do have the printer that is hooked up to desktop shared- it was also recently shared with another desktop. In the laptop, when I go to the Printers option on the start menu & use the Add Printer wizard, I don't see the printer on the network printer option. Lexmark told me that in order to share a printer, both computers have to have the same operating systerm. One computer is XP and the other is Vista. Would this be a problem?

I had another question. If you transfer all of your files and settings from one user account name, will it automatically go to the same account name on the new computer? Also, is there anyway to copy user account settings from one user account to another?

[Samm]

Lexmark told me that in order to share a printer, both computers have to have the same operating systerm. One computer is XP and the other is Vista. Would this be a problem?

Thats rubbish. All Windows platforms will share files with each other. Admittedly, sharing between XP and 9x can be more tricky to set up but not a problem between XP, 2000 & Vista.

The reason you can't get the laptop to see the printer on the network is because you haven't set up file sharing between the two machines yet. In other words, it can't see the printer because it can't see the computer that has the printer attached.

You'll need to do the following :
XP & Vista use different default workgroup names. So unless you've already changed them, you need to change one or the other to match. Vista uses WORKGROUP as the default, XP uses MSHOME as the default.
First of all, check on the XP machine that the workgroup name is MSHOME (right click on My Computer & select Properties. In system properties, select the Computer Name tab & check the workgroup name is MSHOME.)
Next, on the Vista machine, go to Start menu, then right click on Computer & select Properties. In the System window, change the workgroup name from WORKGROUP to MSHOME. Reboot the system.

On the Vista machine, click Start, then right click Network & select Properties.
In the Network & Sharing Centre window, check that the network type is set to Private (not public or domain). If it needs changing, use the customize button.

In the Sharing & Discovery section, make sure that the following options are turned on :
Network discovery
File sharing
Public folder sharing
Printer sharing

You choose whether to enable or disable Password Protected Sharing. When enabled, you must enter a username & password whenever you access files across the network. This means that your user account must be setup on each machine first.(i.e same username & password)
If disabled, you will not need to enter username/password everytime but it does mean that anyone on your network will have access to the shared files/printers.

On the machine which has the printer attached, right click on the printer icon & select the 'sharing' option & enable sharing of the printer. Check that the permissions are set correctly.

It would help if you let me know which machine (desktop with printer attached or laptop) is running Vista. Also whether you have XP Home or Pro.


Another thing to check is any 3rd party firewalls you may have & the Windows Firewalll. Like I said before, it's easier for now if they are disabled while setting up the file/printer sharing.


Re. user accounts
It is possible to transfer files between one user account on one machine & a different user account on the other machine. However, this depends on the permissions that you have setup for file sharing (i.e whether access is restricted to certain users only)
Also, if you have to log in with a username & password when you connect to the other computer over the network, then that user account must be setup on both machines.

When you copy files across over the network, they will go to whatever user account you are currently logged in under on the receiving machine. (NB Vista also creates a Public shared folder by default for file sharing. If files are copied into this folder, they will be visible over the network. I 'believe' that this Public folder is visible & accessable to all users on the vista machine, i.e not attached to any one individual user account)


When you said about copying user account settings from one account to another, did you mean if both accounts are on the same machine or on two different machines?

[snickers]

Thank you so much. I was finally able to set up the printer sharing and print from the laptop with Vista. I was on the phone with Dell for hours and they couldn't solve the problem, and it was just a matter of making the workgroup name the same on both computers. I really appreciate the help.

Dell said that maybe they wouldn't recommend transferring my old files and settings from desktop with XP to laptop with Vista, because Vista wouldn't recognize some of the old programs and it might just complicate things. Anyhow, I was having trouble with doing the transfer anyways, so maybe I should forget it.

I was wondering about copying user account setting on the same machine. Is that possible?

Also, one last question: How do I go about sharing files from the desktop to the laptop?

Thank you.

[Samm]

If you are copying user accounts on XP, then create the new user account (unless you're copying to an existing one). Log in to the new user account, then log out again. Log back in as Administrator or any user account with admin rights, which isn't the account you're copying from or to.

Next, right click on My Computer & select Properties. Go to advanced->user profiles & click settings. Select the profile to copy from & then use the browse button to select the user account to copy to (e.g C:\Documents & Settings\NewUser)

Not sure if this works the same way in Vista though

Re. sharing files on XP
In My Computer (desktop), locate the folder containing the files you wish to share. Right click on the folder & select the Sharing option. Follow the instructions from there.
This should make that folder visible on the laptop

[snickers]

If you are copying user accounts on XP, then create the new user account (unless you're copying to an existing one). Log in to the new user account, then log out again. Log back in as Administrator or any user account with admin rights, which isn't the account you're copying from or to.

Next, right click on My Computer & select Properties. Go to advanced->user profiles & click settings. Select the profile to copy from & then use the browse button to select the user account to copy to (e.g C:\Documents & Settings\NewUser)

Not sure if this works the same way in Vista though

Re. sharing files on XP
In My Computer (desktop), locate the folder containing the files you wish to share. Right click on the folder & select the Sharing option. Follow the instructions from there.
This should make that folder visible on the laptop

The sharing files worked.

I had problems with copying the user account on XP. When I went to my computer, properties, advanced, and settings, the options for delete and copy to for the user account I want to copy from are grayed out. There are only 2 of the 5 accounts where the options are not grayed out.

[Samm]

Were you logged in as Admin? Even if you have admin rights, try logging in with the built in Admin account.
If you have XP Home, you'll need to reboot into safe mode in order to this (see below)
If you have XP Pro, press CTRL_ALT+DEL twice at the Welcome screen.

If you don't know the Adminstrators password, then try it with a blank password.

If you don't know how to access safe mode, then do this :
Easiest method if you have never done it before, is to go to Start->Run and type msconfig <press OK>
On the Boot.ini tab of msconfig, tick the /SAFEBOOT option & click ok.
Reboot the system

In safe mode, you will only have basic drivers loaded etc. It may also look a bit strange. Try to copy the account settings etc.
REMEMBER : When you've finished, go back to Start->Run->msconfig & untick the /SAFEBOOT setting. This way when you reboot, the system will reboot normally.