USB - USB Network Bridge Cable

[Guest]

Dear all

I have recently purchased a Net-linQ USB-USB Network Cable to link my PC
running Windows XP home edition with my colleague's PC, running Windows XP
professional.

I have followed the installation exactly, and I have uninstalled everything
and tried installing again from scratch after the first attempt failed.

The installation appeared to be successful on both computers, and on each
computer the device appears to be installed properly with the correct drivers.

However, Neither computer is able to 'see' the other, and neither computer
lists a network connection other than the company network (both computers are
currently also attached to our workplace network). I have been told by our
external IT contractors that we cannot share files and printers over the
company network as I am running home edition, and to file share with the
computer next to it I would need another network card! For this reason I
jumped at the chance to take on the seemingly much easier and cheaper option
of a network USB cable, claiming that no network card is required.

Have I foolishly bought the completely inappropriate item or is there a
solution?!

To recap, there are two computers, one running XP home, one running XP pro,
both connected to the company network via their internal network adapters,
through a Netgear Dual Speed hub. Quite separate from this I would also like
to connect them directly via my USB - USB Network Bridge Cable to enable us
to share files and folders, Outlook calenders and contacts, printers etc, but
as yet cannot get either computer to 'see' the other computer in 'My Netwrok
Places'. I've been trying this for so long now I fear it's not possible....

Thank you for your patience
Jen Shepherd

 

[Chuck]

On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 08:37:02 -0800, Jen Shepherd <Jen

Dear all

I have recently purchased a Net-linQ USB-USB Network Cable to link my PC
running Windows XP home edition with my colleague's PC, running Windows XP
professional.

I have followed the installation exactly, and I have uninstalled everything
and tried installing again from scratch after the first attempt failed.

The installation appeared to be successful on both computers, and on each
computer the device appears to be installed properly with the correct drivers.

However, Neither computer is able to 'see' the other, and neither computer
lists a network connection other than the company network (both computers are
currently also attached to our workplace network). I have been told by our
external IT contractors that we cannot share files and printers over the
company network as I am running home edition, and to file share with the
computer next to it I would need another network card! For this reason I
jumped at the chance to take on the seemingly much easier and cheaper option
of a network USB cable, claiming that no network card is required.

Have I foolishly bought the completely inappropriate item or is there a
solution?!

To recap, there are two computers, one running XP home, one running XP pro,
both connected to the company network via their internal network adapters,
through a Netgear Dual Speed hub. Quite separate from this I would also like
to connect them directly via my USB - USB Network Bridge Cable to enable us
to share files and folders, Outlook calenders and contacts, printers etc, but
as yet cannot get either computer to 'see' the other computer in 'My Netwrok
Places'. I've been trying this for so long now I fear it's not possible....

Thank you for your patience
Jen Shepherd

Jen,

The contractors that advised you are wrong. It is possible for XP Home to share
files with other computers. XP Home won't share with as many computers
simultaneously, but other than that limitation, it will do just as well as XP
Pro.

It's also possible to connect two computers thru their own private LAN, and
share files. Making each computer "see" the other thru this private LAN may be
another story.

Are you setting up this private LAN because these contractors advised you that
you can't share files thru the company network? If that's the only reason for
this, then stop and let's try to diagnose the actual file sharing problem.

I will have lots of patience with you. If I were to meet these contractors in
person, that might be another matter.

Please provide ipconfig information for both computers, and I'll advise you
further.
Start - Run - "cmd". Type "ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfig.txt" into the command
window - Open c:\ipconfig.txt in Notepad, make sure that Format - Word Wrap is
NOT checked!, copy and paste entire contents into your next post. Identify
operating system (by name, version, and SP level) with each ipconfig listing.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.

 

[Guest]

Hi Chuck

Thank you so much for your helpful reply, its nice to have some support!

It's interesting that your signature file includes a note about paranoia;
I'm a little wary of posting the details you ask for so publicly on the
forum, although I do understand why you would want to know them. Maybe I
could email them to you?

You're right that I'm only attempting this as we were advised it wasn't
possible to file share on the company network using a PC running home edtion.
Incidentally the contractors have just been in again and they are still
suggesting that it would not be allowed by our server; that my PC could only
connect point to point with another machine for file sharing, and to do so I
couldn't also have my connection to the company network, due to having XP
home.

Thank you again
Jen

 

[Guest]

Hi Robert

Yes, it is a network bridge cable, designed for connecting without the need
for additional network cards, adapters etc... just straight from one PCs USB
port to another. It doesn't have a physical switch, but a small box in the
cable.

Thanks
Jen

 

[Chuck]

Hi Chuck

Thank you so much for your helpful reply, its nice to have some support!

It's interesting that your signature file includes a note about paranoia;
I'm a little wary of posting the details you ask for so publicly on the
forum, although I do understand why you would want to know them. Maybe I
could email them to you?

You're right that I'm only attempting this as we were advised it wasn't
possible to file share on the company network using a PC running home edtion.
Incidentally the contractors have just been in again and they are still
suggesting that it would not be allowed by our server; that my PC could only
connect point to point with another machine for file sharing, and to do so I
couldn't also have my connection to the company network, due to having XP
home.

Thank you again
Jen

MP, Jen. The issue about posting ipconfig data here has been widely argued here
and in other places. IMHO posting ipconfig for a private network (behind a NAT
router) is not dangerous in itself. If you are unsure about that, in this case,
yes, you may email your data to me.

OTOH, if your company has an IT group, and / or a Corporate Security Policy, you
may wish to confer with any knowleagable parties about the wisdom of sharing
such detail with unknown parties (such as myself) and groups of folks (such as
this forum).

Not knowing the details of your server, which the contractors may be aware of, I
can only play devils advocate and suspect that they are wrong. I will look
forward to our working on this, and see what we can find out.

There are so many ways you can fsck up file sharing, and only one way to un fsck
it. Lets see what we can find out.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net