Creating a connection?

[phasmantis]

First off, here's my setup; My desktop is connected via an ethernet cable to a router (which also sends wireless signals), which is connected to my cable modem. My laptop is connected wirelessly to my router. My laptop is running Vista home premium 64-bit, my desktop is running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

Now, what I want to do is create a connection between my laptop and my desktop, so they can share files, and my laptop can potentially use my desktop's printer. How would I go about this since my laptop is part of a wireless network from my router, and my desktop is not wireless. I'm not really sure where I'd start to create a connection, but I'm guessing I'd have to link the IPs somehow...

 

[gtvr]

They are on the same network, so wired vs wireless is not an issue. Go to a command prompt, type "ipconfig" - you will see that they have the same address, except the last number will be different. Ex: 192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4

There's plenty of guides on the net. Google "windows file sharing" or "windows printer sharing".

 

[phasmantis]

Thing is, when I check my network to see who I am connected to, my network does not show my laptop on there, and my laptop does not recognize my desktop. However yes, the ip addresses are as you stated.

 

[gtvr]

are they both in the same workgroup? I've done this much more with XP than Vista/7, but that is one thing to check. Other than that, I would start looking for guides.

You can also try pinging the other machine to make sure it is actually reachable. They should be able to ping each other.

Also check that the windows firewall is off (or set to allow file/print sharing, at least)

 

[chickenhoagie]

I have this same exact setup at home.


When you go to Add a Printer on your laptop, you should be able to wirelessly find the printer as it is connected to your network. If not, find your printers IP address and add it via manual IP setting. to access files from other computers on the network, they must be in the same workgroup which can be set by right-clicking my computer and going to properties. make sure the desktop and laptop are in the same workgroup. after doing so, they will then recognize eachother and you will only then need to set read/write access privileges.

 

[phasmantis]

I guess all I had to do was enable file sharing . I feel dumb XD! Thanks guys.