Connecting two PCs together to exchange files is quite simple today, both because modern Windows systems provide all the tools to easily configure connections, and because you can use the home wifi network to be able to share the resources of all computers to use them as if they were on every computer. To get an overview of all the simplest possibilities with which to connect two computers, permanently or only occasionally, for example when a friend comes home, it is necessary to follow a certain type of speech and carry out some preliminary operations that we try here to schematize logical.
There are two ways of connecting two computers: Wireless and via an Ethernet network cable .
The first mode offers numerous alternatives, while the one via network cable requires the use of a special Ethernet cable called crossover or crossover cable .
It is an identical cable to the classic network cable, only that two of the wires inside it are inverted or crossed.
This type of cable is used by systems engineers and network professionals so we will hardly have it in the drawer.
However, if you plan to use it often you can buy it on Amazon at a price below 10 Euros.
Whether you choose the wireless connection, or you choose the cable connection, speaking of Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, the automatic procedure without the use of external programs is practically the same.
The general preparation configuration consists of four phases :
1) In the case of a cross cable connection, therefore without a router, it is necessary that the two computers have a static IP address.
To set up a static IP, open the Windows Control Panel, go to Network and Internet> Network and Sharing Center .
Press on Change adapter settings, then right click on the Ethernet card, go to Properties, scroll through the list in the center by selecting TCP / IPv4 and press Properties.
Now click on Use the following IP address and give the two computers addresses like: 192.168.1.2 and 192.168.1.3 .
As Subnet Mask write 255.255.255.0 while as gateway insert 192.168.1.1
1 Bis) In the case of a Wireless connection, the computers to be connected must be networked to the same Wifi router.
The router assigns the IP addresses of the computers automatically and there is no need to set them statically.
2) Assign the same Workgroup or workgroup to the PCs to be connected .
To do this, open the Control Panel> System and Security> System and press on Advanced system settings .
On the Computer name tab, press Change to option to edit the workgroup.
Then assign a name to the two PCs and make sure that both are part of a workgroup with the same name.
3) For Wifi connections, make sure that the common network to which the two PCs connect is set as a private network
In another article the guide to set up the private wifi network on Windows 7, 8 and Windows 10.
4) Enable file sharing on the network
Once again open the Control Panel, go to Network and Internet and then to the Network and Sharing Center .
Now click on Change advanced sharing settings from the menu on the left.
In the initial section of the private profile, enable network discovery and automatic configuration of the devices connected to the network .
Then activate file and printer sharing and if you are using two PCs with Windows 7, 8 or Windows 10, activate the Home group .
Skip the guest or public networks section and expand the " all networks " section to find three more options to activate, including the one that requires you to enter a password.
Once these preliminary steps have been carried out, all the configured computers can exchange files directly using the crossed cable or via the wifi network.
To share a folder you can simply click on it with the right button, go to Properties and activate network sharing.
In the window that opens to choose who to share with, there is a drop-down menu where you can put everyone in order not to make mistakes; press on Add and then on Share .
The shared folders can be seen, as if they were all on the same PC, by opening Windows Explorer, clicking on the Network section from the tree on the left.
Here you should see the computers connected to the PC and, by clicking on them, the folders shared by them.
You may be asked to enter the password to access these PCs, which would be the password used by the user when starting Windows or the password of the Microsoft account if you are using Windows 10.
More details on sharing Windows resources are in other articles:
- Help sharing files and printers on a network between Windows computers
- Share files between PCs and access shared folders (Windows, Linux and Mac)
- Manage permissions of shared folders in Windows
- Solve network problems, connection between pc and internet sharing, files and printers
If desired, you can also use File Sharing with the Home group in Windows, which is an easier way to use if all the computers are connected to the same network or to the same router.
As seen in another article, you can also access shared Windows folders from Android in wifi .
Using Wifi, there are also other ways of connecting two PCs .
For example, in the past I had reported a program to connect two PCs with wifi without internet connection.
Another way is to use one or more Cloud programs such as Onedrive or Dropbox or even synchronize files between computers directly, without using a cloud server.
Finally, you can also use programs to transfer files between Windows and Mac computers such as FileDrop (Airdrop) or Infinit.
