How to Direct Connect 2 Computers

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Chris Bryce from superservice.com. Let's talk about how to direct connect two computers. Say you want to transfer files from one computer to another, or maybe you want to transfer settings or preferences or favorites from your Internet connection. The best way to direct connect two computers without having to invest in any additional software or any additional hardware is to purchase what they call a crossover cable. Now a crossover cable is just like a standard network cable or Ethernet cable but one end has three of the wires that are switched in position to create what they call a crossover cable. The effect that that has is just like being plugged into a network router where the computers can then communicate with each other. That's the best to go and you can get these crossover cables from your local electronics store or you can even have them made at some computer stores. They should only cost between 50 cents a dollar per foot. So depending on how much of a length you need, six feet is going to cost you probably around 6 dollars. If you need a longer cable, like 25 or 30 feet, then its probably going to be between 20 and 30 dollars. That's the best route to go and your Windows software or operating system will generally have networking built into them so you won't have to purchase any additional software. If for some reason you don't have network cards on either of the computers where you can plug a cable into them, or if you have wireless networking instead, then the best route to go is with a USB cable. You'd want to connect the USB cable to each of the computers with a special fitting on both ends of the USB cable you can request this, again at any electronics or computer store, and it would accomplish the same result of your network cable that's crossover but you would have to buy an additional software program like LapLink or EasyTransfer, one of the products out there that are designed for transferring software. That's it. If you get either of those two, you're ready to go."