A direct connection between two 64-bit W7 SP1 machines to copy files?

Hello.

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.
--
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Ant wrote:
Hello.

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.

In such a configuration, you have no DHCP. You'll need to
assign an IP address. If left alone, the computer will use
the APIPA address.

It suggests here, that the machines can use ARP to figure
out the APIPA address, without a conflict. So perhaps
you don't have to edit anything. If the machines are GbE
networking, you can use a regular Ethernet cable. If the
machines are 10/100BT, they might need a crossover cable.
Try the regular cable first, and see if it works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link-local_address

If for some reason, that didn't work, you can use the
network control panel in the traditional way, set one
machine to 192.168.1.1 and the other to 192.168.1.2 .

You'll still need to know what the address is, if you
let the machine do this for itself automatically. You
can do "ipconfig" from a DOS prompt. In Windows 7, you
type "cmd" in the start thing, to get the DOS window so
you can run that. The APIPA could be in the vicinity
of 169.254.1.1 and 169.254.1.2 or so.

From the command prompt, you can now test your connection.
On machine 169.254.1.1, you can "ping 169.254.1.2" and
verify the network is up.

You can probably make a network connection, again, using an
IP address value, and once the share is visible, start
your transfer. While it is possible via a HomeGroup
or using identical workgroup values, you can get the file
share of one machine to just show up, you can also connect
using an IP address value to reach the other machine. That
cuts out the "browsing" phase of the setup. I use that
from flaky Ubuntu setups, where the OS can't seem to find
the Windows machines.

There are tools such as Windows Easy Transfer, that might
be suited to this as well, but I haven't a clue whether
that's appropriate at this point or not. I'd be more
interested in your approach, of just transferring things
the "regular way".

*******

Another novel way to transfer files, is to install the
web server that is available on certain versions of Windows.
(You look in Programs and Features, for the Windows Components
item, so you can enable the web server.) The web server
includes an FTP server. The advantage of using FTP, is
the possibility of slightly faster transfers, if say,
both machines had GbE networking. Windows File Sharing
can be a bit slower sometimes. So if I'm bored, I
might look into doing that on one end, and either
"put" or "get" each file. I might use such an approach
with multi-gigabyte files, but not for thousands of
smaller files. To transfer a file tree with FTP is a pain
unless you have the right kind of client software
(something more than a vanilla client).

You can always zip up a file tree, and make
one big file from it. That is, if you have sufficient
space on both machines. 7ZIP can be used to do that.
You select uncompressed ("store") mode, so the
zipping operation goes as fast as the disks can go.
And that way, you only have to specify one file
name, when transferring the whole lot, from one
machine to the other. I'd probably do that, if
using FTP for some reason. You don't want actual
compression to take place, because that takes too long.
(Has taken as long as 24 hours, to compress an entire disk.)
Using "store" mode doesn't save space, but makes it easier
to deal with a bunch of files, as a single file.

I expect I'm the only one interested in doing it this way :-)

*******

You can take the side off the two machines, and move the
disk into the second machine, and just copy the files.
But where is the fun in that ?

Paul

On Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:25:45 -0700, Ant wrote:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Short answer: no, but read on.

A "regular network cable" won't work because the transmit and receive
pairs inside the cable aren't set up to work that way. You can get it
done by using a "crossover" cable, though, which gets its name because
the transmit and receive pairs are crossed with each other at one end.

Alternately, you can use a networking device and two regular network
cables, probably more properly called Ethernet cables. The networking
device can be a switch, a hub, a router with two or more LAN ports,
etc. In that case, the networking device will handle the task of
making sure the transmit and receive data is on the right wires inside
the cable.

In the absence of a router that's handing out IP addresses via DHCP,
both PC's should self-configure themselves with APIPA addresses, and
thus should be able to find each other and talk across the network.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apipa

--

Char Jackson

Hello.

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1 machines
(Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable without a network?

Thank you in advance.

An alternative is a usb to usb data transfer cable

--
mick

On 10/11/2012 10:18 PM PT, Char Jackson typed:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:25:45 -0700, Ant wrote:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Short answer: no, but read on.

A "regular network cable" won't work because the transmit and receive
pairs inside the cable aren't set up to work that way. You can get it
done by using a "crossover" cable, though, which gets its name because
the transmit and receive pairs are crossed with each other at one end.

Aren't network cables already crossover or do I have to get a special one?
--
"Oh bother", said Winnie the Pooh, "There's an ant on my foot..."
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
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\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 10/12/2012 4:06 AM PT, mick typed:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.

An alternative is a usb to usb data transfer cable

Ah, I did not know that exists. Does it require special drivers too?
--
"If someone makes you angry, I think the thing to do is tie them down to
the ground, cover them in honey, and then release a swarm of killer ants
on them. That way, you can hit them over and over again and say, 'Hey!
I'm just trying to help!' and they can't really get mad at you." --R.M.
Weiner
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| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 12/10/2012 9:04 AM, Ant wrote:
On 10/11/2012 10:18 PM PT, Char Jackson typed:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:25:45 -0700, Ant wrote:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Short answer: no, but read on.

A "regular network cable" won't work because the transmit and receive
pairs inside the cable aren't set up to work that way. You can get it
done by using a "crossover" cable, though, which gets its name because
the transmit and receive pairs are crossed with each other at one end.

Aren't network cables already crossover or do I have to get a special one?

Older Ethernet (100Mbps or less) require crossover cables. Newer 1Gbps
Ethernet doesn't, they are auto-sensing and can become either
straight-through or cross-over as needed.

Yousuf Khan

On 10/12/2012 7:04 AM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:
Aren't network cables already crossover or do I have to get a special
one?

Older Ethernet (100Mbps or less) require crossover cables. Newer 1Gbps
Ethernet doesn't, they are auto-sensing and can become either
straight-through or cross-over as needed.

Hmm, I wonder how to tell if the network cables have crossovers or not.
--
"I could crush him like an ant. But it would be too easy. No, revenge is
a dish best served cold. I'll bide my time until... Oh, what the hell,
I'll just crush him like an ant." --Mr. Burns, The Simpsons ("Blood
Feud" Episode 7F22)
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:42:30 -0700, Ant wrote:

Hmm, I wonder how to tell if the network cables have crossovers or not.

Have a look at the connectors at both ends. If the colours are in the
same order at each end it's a straight through cable. If the colours
are swapped round it will be a crossover.


Jim

Ant wrote:
On 10/12/2012 4:06 AM PT, mick typed:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.

An alternative is a usb to usb data transfer cable

Ah, I did not know that exists. Does it require special drivers too?

You'll need a USB-to-USB bridged cable, not an ordinary USB cable. They
have a little circuit-board in the middle, and come with software
(including drivers) that has to be installed on both computers.

Ed

On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:00:16 +0100, James Egan wrote:

On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:42:30 -0700, Ant wrote:

Hmm, I wonder how to tell if the network cables have crossovers or not.

Have a look at the connectors at both ends. If the colours are in the
same order at each end it's a straight through cable. If the colours
are swapped round it will be a crossover.

Jim

Only if you orient the connectors properly :-)

They should be side by side with the same surface up, not end to end,
when you are comparing them.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

James Egan wrote:
On Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:42:30 -0700, Ant wrote:

Hmm, I wonder how to tell if the network cables have crossovers or not.

Have a look at the connectors at both ends. If the colours are in the
same order at each end it's a straight through cable. If the colours
are swapped round it will be a crossover.


Jim

I own at least one crossover cable. It has a red vinyl cover on one
end, and a blue vinyl cover on the other end.

But it's also possible to have crossover cables, with the same color
on each end. The color idea was a later improvement in cable design.

Gigabit Ethernet has MDI/MDIX capability. That's how it can figure out
which twisted pair, has what signal on it. (With GbE, it doesn't
matter which cable you use. You can even use a four wire or an eight
wire cable, and it should still figure it out.) Whereas, if you use
old enough 10/100BT hardware, there is no capability like that, and
then you need the exactly right "flavor" of cable (crossover or straight,
with crossover being used between two computers). Straight thru cables
are used between computer and switch/router box.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_Dependent_Interface

1) Connect the candidate cable. You want the cable connected,
so APIPA can use ARP to check for conflicts automatically.

1) Fire up the computers. Make sure they got an APIPA address
on the wired interface, using "ipconfig". You need the IP
address information, to determine there is no IP address
conflict. A value of 169.254.x.x is expected. Each computer
should have a different value.

3) Use a "ping" test, to determine whether the cabling is working.

4) Now, worry about the file sharing.

HTH,
Paul

Ed Cryer wrote:
Ant wrote:
On 10/12/2012 4:06 AM PT, mick typed:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.

An alternative is a usb to usb data transfer cable

Ah, I did not know that exists. Does it require special drivers too?

You'll need a USB-to-USB bridged cable, not an ordinary USB cable. They
have a little circuit-board in the middle, and come with software
(including drivers) that has to be installed on both computers.

Ed


This is an example of a chip.

http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowPr..._id=34&pcid=43

USB_Connector --- wire --- blob containing PL-25A1 --- wire--- USB_Connector
USB2.0 Host-to-Host
Bridge Controller

The bridge controller uses a simple "mail box" scheme. One computer
puts a message in the mail box. The other computer polls the mail
box to see if any message is available. This solves the problem,
of USB not having any direct host-to-host protocols. USB was
designed for host-to-peripheral situations. Using the PL-25A1
or similar, each computer is "fooled" into thinking it is talking
to a peripheral, when in fact it's another computer.

This is an example of a cable with the "blob" in the center.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812106174

It's possible to confuse cables. USB cable extenders exist, which
also have a blob. But they have a male connector on one end
and a female connector on the other end, indicating the cables
join end to end. Whereas, the Easy Transfer cable, has the *same*
connector on either end of the cable.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggIma...106-174-02.jpg

Windows 7 could well have a standard driver for that chip. There
wasn't a USB class for that chip when it was invented. But I guess
they cleaned that aspect up, after the fact. On older OSes, you
needed to use the driver disc.

Paul

On 10/12/2012 4:06 AM PT, mick typed:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.

An alternative is a usb to usb data transfer cable

Ah, I did not know that exists. Does it require special drivers too?

No, just plug each end in and you get an explorer type screen on each
computer, here is a quick look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD5vvbY0HLY

--
mick

On 10/12/2012 4:06 AM PT, mick typed:

Is it copy transfer many big files between two updated 64-bit W7 SP1
machines (Enterprise and Home Premium) with a regular network cable
without a network?

Thank you in advance.

An alternative is a usb to usb data transfer cable

Ah, I did not know that exists. Does it require special drivers too?

No, just plug each end in and you get an explorer type screen on each
computer, here is a quick look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD5vvbY0HLY

sorry forgot to say, here is the one I use
http://www.jargy.com.tw/data%20link%...20cable-27.htm
bought from somewhere in the UK long ago. There are plenty of others
on ebay

--
mick