Question How to network two computers ?

[PaulDesmond]

Hi. years ago I tried to hook up 2 PCs. The problem was, I could only network an entire partition of my HDD or a second HDD. I would have liked to hook up just a folder. Is this possible? Is it possible to hook up a laptop which is WI-FI to the router? I would not want to hook up the laptops only SSD and no partitions on it. That would meen networking my C:\Windows folder.
Any ideas on this please?
TIA

Desmond.

 

[Misgar]

I divide networking into two halves.

The first is the connection between computers, usually Ethernet cables to a network switch or a WiFi router.

The second is "sharing" individual folders or complete drives on each machine, so they are visible on other machines connected to the network.

When the computers are networked, just right click on a folder in Windows, select Properties, then Sharing, click Share, add Everyone (or an individual person) and decide what permissions you want to give them.

We'd need more details of your laptops/computers and home WiFi router to proceed.

 

[PaulDesmond]

Okay. Thanks for this clarification. What I am actualy after is to have a folder on my laptop visable on my main desktop and vise versa.

So does not require cables plugged in. My desktop has a cable to my router and my laptop has a WI-Fi connection to my router.

 

[Misgar]

Your current setup should be fine with an Ethernet cable from the PC to the router and a Wifi connection from the laptop to the same router.

You can check the connection exists at a low level by opening a Command Prompt window (in Windows search box, enter CMD) and typing in IPCONFIG on each computer.

You should then see the IP Address assigned by the router to each machine.

When I do this on my desktop PC, under "Ethernet adapter Ethernet", it shows 192.168.0.8 as the IP address of my desktop.

On my laptop, typing in IPCONFIG shows the IP address of the laptop is 192.168.0.4.

Now that I know the IP addresses of each machine, I can check they both "see" each other over the network. N.B. My desktop is 192.168.0.8 and my laptop is 192.168.0.4. Your IP addresses will probably be different, e.g. they may start 192.168.1.xxx, or 10.0.0.xxx.

If I type PING 192.168.0.8 into the Command window on the laptop, the laptop "pings" the desktop PC with 4 32-byte message blocks (similar to four ASDIC pulses from a destroyer hunting a submarine).

If the desktop PC receives the "ping" from the laptop via the network, it replies and I get a message saying "Packets sent = 4, Packets received = 4, Packets lost = 0". This confirms I have a solid network connection via WiFi and Ethernet.

I can also "ping" the laptop from the desktop, by typing in PING 192.168.0.4 in the Command window on the desktop. If the laptop responds, I should see a message on the desktop PC saying all 4 packets of data were received.

If you see "Request timed out", you probably typed in a comma "," instead of a period "." as the separator between the four numbers in the IP address. Alternatively, you may have entered the wrong numbers and pinged an address with nothing at the other end.

 

[PaulDesmond]

My desktop when it comes back this week will have windows 11 on it. My objection to windows 11 has been that you were forced to sign into your PC using your MS account and password. I wanted my own password. I saw this as Big Brother as did a lot of others. My email address should not be needed here.

I have right clicked on the Laptops folder and I have a drop down box with name and an email address. (Don't understand the email bit) and a drop down box with the same laptop name and Everyone / create new user. I assume that the PC would appear in the desktop and if I clicked on it then only it would be shared. What I mean is if I had several PCs then I could select Everyone or just another.

What is the email bit about?

 

[Misgar]

You have to highlight Everyone and Add them to the list of users with permissions to view the folder. I'm not near a PC at the moment but you can probably find a tutorial on the internet.

You don't need to configure any email address if all you want to do is share folders locally.

I managed to set up a friend's new laptop without a Microsoft Account and was very surprised to find the OS was Windows 11. When I bought it from the shop is was because it was listed as Windows 10. I got $100 back, wiped 11 and installed Windows 10.

There's nothing to stop you creating a Local Account under Windows 11 and logging in with a User Account name of your choosing, not the email address associated with your Microsoft Account.

I quite agree about Big Brother and I'm continuing to use Windows 10 until October 2025 when support ends.

 

[PaulDesmond]

Ok thanks for your help. I looked at advanced sharing. The shop told me he can get past big brother and stop the ever pop up (Congratulations you are now eligible for windows 11 messages)

 

[COLGeek]

You can certainly setup a local account on Win 11 and not use your MS account to log into the system, as previously noted.

Create a local user or administrator account in Windows - Microsoft Support

Get the steps for creating a local user or administrator account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

support.microsoft.com

 

[USAFRet]

My objection to windows 11 has been that you were forced to sign into your PC using your MS account and password.

No you are not.

I am typing this from a Windows 11 PC, from a local Standard user account.

An MS account does exist on this PC, but I have not logged in with that in many months.