windows Having trouble with LAN file sharing

[BaconLord222]

I'm attempting to use an old windows 7 Desktop as a rendering server for video editing, in order to free up my more powerful laptop. The desktop is running windows 7 on some older hardware and doesn't have all that much storage in it. I was -looking to connect both computers together via ethernet and read the files directly from my laptop while rendering through the windows built-in file sharing system. However, I'm having problems with having the computers recognize each other.

I have tried the basics, like using the windows troubleshooting software, however this has given me nothing to work from.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I am new to all of this.

[corrado33]

If you're not plugging them in through a router with DHCP, then you'll have to do a bit of work.

 

Plug one computer into the other with ethernet.

 

Go into the "Network and sharing center" then click on "Change adapter settings"

 

Right click on your LAN (should say something like "No connection" or "No internet access"). Click on "properties".

 

Scroll down till you see "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)

 

Click on it, then click on properties.

 

Assign each computer unique IP address. Something like

 

192.168.1.100

255.255.255.0

192.168.1.100

 

for the first computer and

 

192.168.1.101

255.255.255.0

192.168.1.100

 

for the second computer. No, the last line isn't a typo. 

 

You may or may not have to put in manual DNS servers, if so just type in google's 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

 

Give it a few minutes to figure it out, alternatively restart both, then they should be able to see each other. 

 

Give it a try on either computer by going into the command line (type cmd on the start menu) and type

 

ping 192.168.1.10# with the # being the other computer's number. 

 

This is assuming that they both have modern enough ethernet cards to automatically detect the right Tx and Rx lines, otherwise you may need a crossover cable. 

 

EDIT: Windows will likely still yell at you and say "HEY I CAN'T GET INTERNET THROUGH THE ETHERNET PORT" but that's just because it's not connected to the internet, just to another PC. (Actually I think it'll say "Limited Connection" but this is what you want.) 

[BaconLord222]

4 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

If you're not plugging them in through a router with DHCP, then you'll have to do a bit of work.

 

Plug one computer into the other with ethernet.

 

Go into the "Network and sharing center" then click on "Change adapter settings"

 

Right click on your LAN (should say something like "No connection" or "No internet access"). Click on "properties".

 

Scroll down till you see "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)

 

Click on it, then click on properties.

 

Assign each computer unique IP address. Something like

 

192.168.1.100

255.255.255.0

192.168.1.100

 

for the first computer and

 

192.168.1.101

255.255.255.0

192.168.1.100

 

for the second computer. No, the last line isn't a typo. 

 

You may or may not have to put in manual DNS servers, if so just type in google's 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

 

Give it a few minutes to figure it out, alternatively restart both, then they should be able to see each other. 

 

This is assuming that they both have modern enough ethernet cards to automatically detect the right Tx and Rx lines, otherwise you may need a crossover cable. 

Thanks for the help @corrado33! That sorted the problems out with the file sharing.

Would you happen to know any good remote desktop software that would run over a local network without requiring internet access?

[corrado33]

5 minutes ago, BaconLord222 said:

Thanks for the help @corrado33! That sorted the problems out with the file sharing.

Would you happen to know any good remote desktop software that would run over a local network without requiring internet access?

Yeah anything will work. You've essentially created your own little network there. I generally use tightVNC. Server on the computer you want to access, then just about any vnc client on the other end (or just use tightvnc client on that end.) 

 

It's pretty easy to setup, but i think you do have to change the settings to allow the server's computer to be able to fully controlled (rather than just viewed) by the client. 

 

Linky

 

https://www.tightvnc.com/

[BaconLord222]

1 minute ago, corrado33 said:

Yeah anything will work. You've essentially created your own little network there. I generally use tightVNC. Server on the computer you want to access, then just about any vnc client on the other end (or just use tightvnc client on that end.) 

 

It's pretty easy to setup, but i think you do have to change the settings to allow the server's computer to be able to fully controlled (rather than just viewed) by the client. 

Thanks for that. I'll look into using tightVNC

[corrado33]

1 minute ago, BaconLord222 said:

Thanks for that. I'll look into using tightVNC

Yep, alternatively you could try to use window's remote desktop connection..... but I find that a pain to setup. 

[corrado33]

For the record, this method can be used with a network switch as well, using exactly the same technique as above. (So you can connect more than 2 PCs together.)