GotApex? Forums - View Single Post

Startide · 09-06-2000, 05:06 PM

Original Question posted by Reverend Evel Knievel:
Is it possible?

ANSWER: It is VERY possible. I use a USB-to-USB cable between my laptop and main PC (which houses my hard drive farm). File transfer speed is hundreds of megs in just minutes, so it is especially useful in taking your laptop with you to various friends' homes and transferring large files like a pollinating bee....

Connecting two PC's together via USB requires use of a special USB-to-USB cable. This cable has a small module containing some specialized electronics to perform the task. DO NOT ever connect two USB ports together using a regular USB cable as that will short them out. Connecting two USB ports together should only be done using a special USB-to-USB cable.

Furthermore, there are two different types of USB-to-USB cable. One type lets you transfer, copy, or delete files between machines (and that's all it does). This cable typically runs $39.95 internet mailorder, but can be less at computer trade shows. Another more advanced cable lets you network between the two machines but is more expensive.

Each type of cable has its own driver. The basic driver comes free with its respective cable, of course. In the case of the USB networking cable, some 3rd party companies have developed more advanced driver interface replacements that work in tandem with Microsoft Explorer. Those more advanced drivers are sold for $86 or so.

I posted detailed articles on the USB-to-USB cable on USENET along with explanation as to similar types along with URL to download the drivers. I did so because my original vendor (buy.com) sold to me a cable that was missing the driver diskette (must have been another infernal product return).

You can read my posts on USB-to-USB cables via Deja in the comp.sys.laptops newsgroup here and here. Click to read these posts in a new window.

DEJA HINT: when searching for articles by author, just find any article by that author, then click on their name. This gets you a list of newsgroups they posted in and you can then click on the newsgroup corresponding to the topic. This method is faster than searching by Deja keyword because most authors don't put usable keys into their postings and so Deja returns a zillion useless articles in the search results.

If you have specific questions or problems, read my usenet posts and if they don't answer your questions, send email. Please don't send email if it is the type "I refuse to read my manual and will ask you instead to save my time in doing any research online". I'm NOT being mean, it's just that people from usenet read my posts and then send email questions to things they already had the answers to (but refused to RTFM). I'm amazed there are so many who don't RTFM!!!

FOLLOWUP:
http://www.outpost.com sells both types of USB-to-USB cables. The USB-to-USB File Transfer cable (item #63445) is $29.95 delivered overnite and the USB-to-USB Networking cable (item #22432) is $49.95 delivered overnite. If you insist on Belkin, then look up item #66009 for $69.95. Pretty good in-stock prices from an excellent vendor. I paid more at buy.com and it was used and missing its diskette too.

SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS:

1. If you don't have cable/DSL, you can download at school, library, cafe using the fast T3. Then use the USB cable to move the files into your laptop.

2. You can cross-pollinate files with friends' machines using USB... Very convenient in keeping each other up to date if one of you has a laptop.

3. You can connect machines together more safely than with true Ethernet, particularly if one of the machines is potentially infected. The file transfer cable has to handshake across the interface (read the hardware PDF description in my Deja URLs above) and so get a sort of firewall effect if you need to save files from an infected machine. Before you do so, set one side to disallow file delete.

I hope that this was not too much information and that it was all useful. Now, hopefully, this thread stays alive long enuf for other people to point similar questions to it.

-- Startide
[edited this post to remove formerly valid html formatting]

[Edited by Startide on 09-07-2000 at 01:14 AM]

09-06-2000, 05:06 PM	#5
Startide USB Guy Join Date: Jul 2000 Posts: 253	Original Question posted by Reverend Evel Knievel: Is it possible? ANSWER: It is VERY possible. I use a USB-to-USB cable between my laptop and main PC (which houses my hard drive farm). File transfer speed is hundreds of megs in just minutes, so it is especially useful in taking your laptop with you to various friends' homes and transferring large files like a pollinating bee.... Connecting two PC's together via USB requires use of a special USB-to-USB cable. This cable has a small module containing some specialized electronics to perform the task. DO NOT ever connect two USB ports together using a regular USB cable as that will short them out. Connecting two USB ports together should only be done using a special USB-to-USB cable. Furthermore, there are two different types of USB-to-USB cable. One type lets you transfer, copy, or delete files between machines (and that's all it does). This cable typically runs $39.95 internet mailorder, but can be less at computer trade shows. Another more advanced cable lets you network between the two machines but is more expensive. Each type of cable has its own driver. The basic driver comes free with its respective cable, of course. In the case of the USB networking cable, some 3rd party companies have developed more advanced driver interface replacements that work in tandem with Microsoft Explorer. Those more advanced drivers are sold for $86 or so. I posted detailed articles on the USB-to-USB cable on USENET along with explanation as to similar types along with URL to download the drivers. I did so because my original vendor (buy.com) sold to me a cable that was missing the driver diskette (must have been another infernal product return). You can read my posts on USB-to-USB cables via Deja in the comp.sys.laptops newsgroup here and here. Click to read these posts in a new window. DEJA HINT: when searching for articles by author, just find any article by that author, then click on their name. This gets you a list of newsgroups they posted in and you can then click on the newsgroup corresponding to the topic. This method is faster than searching by Deja keyword because most authors don't put usable keys into their postings and so Deja returns a zillion useless articles in the search results. If you have specific questions or problems, read my usenet posts and if they don't answer your questions, send email. Please don't send email if it is the type "I refuse to read my manual and will ask you instead to save my time in doing any research online". I'm NOT being mean, it's just that people from usenet read my posts and then send email questions to things they already had the answers to (but refused to RTFM). I'm amazed there are so many who don't RTFM!!! FOLLOWUP: http://www.outpost.com sells both types of USB-to-USB cables. The USB-to-USB File Transfer cable (item #63445) is $29.95 delivered overnite and the USB-to-USB Networking cable (item #22432) is $49.95 delivered overnite. If you insist on Belkin, then look up item #66009 for $69.95. Pretty good in-stock prices from an excellent vendor. I paid more at buy.com and it was used and missing its diskette too. SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS: 1. If you don't have cable/DSL, you can download at school, library, cafe using the fast T3. Then use the USB cable to move the files into your laptop. 2. You can cross-pollinate files with friends' machines using USB... Very convenient in keeping each other up to date if one of you has a laptop. 3. You can connect machines together more safely than with true Ethernet, particularly if one of the machines is potentially infected. The file transfer cable has to handshake across the interface (read the hardware PDF description in my Deja URLs above) and so get a sort of firewall effect if you need to save files from an infected machine. Before you do so, set one side to disallow file delete. I hope that this was not too much information and that it was all useful. Now, hopefully, this thread stays alive long enuf for other people to point similar questions to it. -- Startide [edited this post to remove formerly valid html formatting] [Edited by Startide on 09-07-2000 at 01:14 AM]