Currently I have two computers, one running Windows 95 and the other running Windows 2000 Professional. Is there a simple way to transfer files (documents, not program files) from the Windows 95 computer to the Windows 2000 computer, apart from copying the files to disk? I have purchased a 2m serial laplink cable but am unsure how to use the cable. Can you help?

You will need to connect each end of the serial laplink cable to the serial port of each computer. You shouldn’t have many problems identifying the port, as the cable will only fit into one of the ports! Be aware, you cannot have any serial devices connected to either computer during this procedure, as you will need the serial port for the laplink cable. So, for example, you may have to disconnect any modems which are using the serial port.

Now we need to share the hard drive on your Windows 95 machine, so the Windows 2000 machine can read the drive. On the Windows 95 machine, go into ‘Windows Explorer’, right-click on the hard drive, and click ‘Properties’ from the context-menu. In the window that appears, click the ‘Sharing’ tab. Click ‘Shared As:’ and type in the name of the share, if you wish to change the default name and under ‘Access Type:’ click ‘Full’. Click OK to close and save.

The next step is to ensure both machines are using the same workgroup (otherwise the Windows 2000 machine will not see the Windows 95 machine through ‘My Network Places’). On the Windows 95 machine, go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Settings’ > ‘Control Panel’ and open ‘System’. Click the ‘Identification’ tab. Make sure the ‘Workgroup:’ field has the text ‘WORKGROUP’ (without the quotes). Click OK to close and save. Then, on your Windows 2000 computer go to the Control Panel and open ‘System’. Click the ‘Network Identification’ tab. Make sure that the ‘Workgroup:’ setting is set to ‘WORKGROUP’. Otherwise, you will have to click ‘Properties’ to change the setting. Then click OK to close the System properties.

Now we will setup the Direct Cable Connection on both machines. It is possible to use Windows 2000 as a direct cable connection client even though Windows 2000 does not have an explicit ‘Direct Cable Connection’ program. Instead, in Windows 2000, this has been integrated into the ‘Network and Dial-up Connections’ feature. Firstly, we must set up Windows 95 as the host computer. This can be quite a long process to explain so instead, have a look at the website www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000246.htm and follow the instructions. However, you only need to follow these instructions up to and including point 6. Now Windows 95 will be the host computer and waiting for the connection. Next we need to set up Windows 2000 as the client computer. To do this, follow the instructions at www.lpt.com/windowsnetworking/regusers/w2kdcccl.htm. There are a few tricks for setting up Windows 2000 to work with a direct cable connection, so follow the instructions carefully. In particular, when selecting the device make sure you use a COM port (which is another name for serial port), rather than an LPT port (which is the printer port). After the connection has been established, you should be able to browse whatever drive/directory you have shared using ‘My Network Places’ in Windows 2000. If you have trouble, there is a link to a further article titled ‘Connection to Windows 95/98′ which is very useful and details common errors and problems. If you still have problems, please contact me again and I will be happy to help.