Connecting two Win7 machines with a standard ethernet cable
The last time I tried to do this was in the late-90s and we needed to use a
sneaky tool known as a crossover cable. Now, ethernet cards are smarter and no
sneaky tools are required, though some configuration work unfortunately is.
Machine configuration
Connect a standard ethernet cable between the two machines.
On each machine, bring up the list of network adapters by opening the Start
menu, searching for View Network Connections, and then clicking on the Control
Panel item that is shown. Right-click on the Local Area Connection connected to
the cable and select properties. If you have multiple Local Area Connections, it
will be the one labeled “Unidentified Network.”
Double-click on the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) item. In the dialog
that comes up, select the Use the following IP address radio button. There will
be different settings for the two machines.
Machine A
IP Address: 192.168.2.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.2.2
Machine B
IP Address: 192.168.2.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.2.1
Click the OK button until properties are set. At this point, the two machines
should be connected!
Using Easy Transfer
Just launch Easy Transfer as normal, using a network connection. The two
machines will be able to see one another. To ensure you do not accidentally go
over your home’s local, slow WiFi network, you may want to disable the Wireless
Adapter on one machine. To do so, from the Start menu search for View Network
Connections. Right-click your Wireless Network Connection and select Disable.
Copying files
On the target machine, create a network share by right-clicking the folder to
share and selecting properties. Then change to the Sharing tab and click on
Advanced Sharing. Check the ‘Share this folder” box, then click on
Permissions. Click on Everyone and then Remove. Click Add, type your user
name in the box, and click OK. Select your user name, click Allow/Full Control,
and then click OK until all of the dialogs are dismissed.
Connect to the share by entering the following command:
net use * /persistent:no /username:TARGET\USER \\192.168.2.1\SHARE
Remember to replace TARGET with the name of the machine, USER with the username that you gave access to that share, and SHARE with the name of the share form the dialog. A drive letter will be assigned to the network share, and you can now quickly
browse and copy files between the two machines (Z: unless it is already in
use).
