Connecting two PC towers

[High1]

Hello

I have a new Win 7 PC tower and an older XP PC tower and would like to connect them up if possible. The older tower has about 500 spare GB on him and a CD RW drive which this new fella doesn't have. Can I share their resources? Could I access the CD RW drive on my 'grandad' PC from my newer 'baby 'PC'?

How is it best to connect them (they are only about 8-feet apart). Both PCs have different windows passwords.

Thanks

High1

[Computer_Commando]

DVD/CD drives are about $25.  Routers are about $50.
Why go through the effort of trying to share a CD drive on another computer?

[richardatj]

You'd be able to network the 2 together and using remote desktop, access the older PC, giving you full control of both PCs from a single monitor, keyboard and mouse.  You can also network share the resources for optical drive and hard drive space.  You'd need a network hub and 3 ethernet cables (one of which connects to your home hub/ router, which would assign static IP addresses across your network.

[High1]

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, I suppose I could undo my new tower and install a Rewritable CD drive (if there is the space inside), but I think I prefer the option of networking the two together. I am not sure why I would need to use Remote Desktop, though - wouldn't the older PC (XP) just act as a kind of external hard drive?

And I am unsure about three ethernet cables? One cable to connect the two towers together and another to connect the old tower to the screen? Isn't that all?

Thanks again for your time.

[Kurtiskain]

Three ethernet cables; you would need 2 at most just to get basic connectivity to both of them using a switch/router. Howver if you are wanting internet connectivity on both you will need to also connect an ethernet cable from the ADSL/Cable modem present in the house.

If there is no internet present at all (Which obviously isn't the case as you are posting here) you could also get away with just using a single crossover ethernet cable.

Honestly though, a DVD/RW is very cheap in comparison to the hardware you would be purchasing just to get to the other CD/RW and the storage. (which Computer_Commando has stated already) Also, you would only be abel to read CD's from the old machine. You won't be able to burn a CD from your maching over the network, you would still have to transfer the data to the old machine then burn it from that machine. Furthermore and game CDs won't register the game cd as being present if it asks for it because the disk has to be present locally, not over a network.

[rthompson80819]

Since your machines are only 8' apart, and you don't seem to have a problem running a cable between them, a wired router is your best solution.  Some name brand wired routers are as little as $25.  That plus a DVD/CD drive is by far your best long term and  most flexible solution.

[High1]

Since your machines are only 8' apart, and you don't seem to have a problem running a cable between them, a wired router is your best solution.  Some name brand wired routers are as little as $25.  That plus a DVD/CD drive is by far your best long term and  most flexible solution.

OK, thanks, but how does that work? I have a broadband cable/wireless router at the moment (I don't use the wireless facility). So I need another router that the old PC connects to? And then, through the router I connect the two PCs? Surely I need an ethernet cable to connect the two machines? Sorry for my naivete - never done it before.

I do not need to connect the old PC to the Internet and I have only one screen. I just wanted to be able to access the drives and files on my old PC through my new one and to see them on this one screen.

I will think about a RW/CD later.

Thanks.

[rthompson80819]

If you have a combination cable modem/wireless router, check to see if it doesn't have a couple of RJ45 jacks on it.  If it does, all you need is two ethernet cables from those jacks to each computer and your in business.

Otherwise you will need wireless adapters for each computer.

[High1]

Oh, right. thanks a lot. Yes there are spare sockets on the router. I'll try it.