type a file to serial port and receive it on another computer

Hello all,

Recently I remembered that it was possible to make a serial connection
between two 'puters and send, from the commandprompt and without using any
(other) programs, a textfile from one to the other. I say "was", as I
can't seem to repeat it between two XPsp3 machines.

Specs:
The machines are connected thru a so-called "null modem" (three-wire) cable
(with the handshake signals wrapped back onto the same conector).

A "mode com1 9600,n,8,1" command has been used (trying to debug the matter)
on both to set up the connection, and "mode com1 /status" returns the same
for both 'puters:

Baud: 9600
Parity: None
Data Bits: 8
Stop Bits: 1
Timeout: ON
XON/XOFF: OFF
CTS handshaking: OFF
DSR handshaking: OFF
DSR sensitivity: OFF
DTR circuit: ON
RTS circuit: ON

The problem:
Both "type com1" and "copy com1 bla" on the target 'puter finish
immediatlily (do not wait for incoming data).

The null-modem connection itself seems to be fine, as I've used a simple
RS232 application which shows the data coming in.

Does anyone recognise the problem and can tell me what goes wrong ?

Regards,
Rudy Wieser