Forcing files to transfer over WIRED instead of WIRELESS connection

[johnharris85]

I have a Desktop (XP) and a Laptop (Vista) connected to a wireless network in my home. I also have the Desktop and Laptop connected via cable (they sit next to each other on my desk usually). Is there a way to force files to transfer between them over the wired connection rather than over the wireless (which they're doing at the moment, taking 20x longer)? I've done it a couple of times, but everytime I had to physically flick the wireless switch off on my laptop.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[johnwill]

It's odd that they don't do that by default, normally the wired connection is preferred over the wireless connection.

Let's see this for each of the machines.


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the - or / in the following commands.

ROUTE PRINT

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[johnharris85]

LAPTOP RESULTS:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\John>ROUTE PRINT
===========================================================================
Interface List
14 ...00 1f e1 bd da 4a ...... Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
12 ...00 22 68 db e1 49 ...... Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card
11 ...00 21 70 7c ed de ...... Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
1 ........................... Software Loopback Interface 1
19 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 isatap.{6F18CB32-D600-4BF3-88AD-E45DF25D6171}
10 ...02 00 54 55 4e 01 ...... Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
20 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
15 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 6TO4 Adapter
16 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 6TO4 Adapter
17 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 6TO4 Adapter
18 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 isatap.{E4304AC9-200A-4A30-985B-A8F58C8BADE0}
===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.5 25
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 169.254.171.60 286
169.254.171.60 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.171.60 266
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.171.60 266
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.1.5 281
192.168.1.5 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.5 281
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.5 281
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 169.254.171.60 266
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.1.5 281
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 169.254.171.60 266
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.1.5 281
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
If Metric Network Destination Gateway
1 306 ::1/128 On-link
11 266 fe80::/64 On-link
12 281 fe80::/64 On-link
12 281 fe80::d35:34f8:e5be:3e79/128
On-link
11 266 fe80::c4e8:3d87:4444:ab3c/128
On-link
1 306 ff00::/8 On-link
11 266 ff00::/8 On-link
12 281 ff00::/8 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

C:\Users\John>NBTSTAT -N

Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [169.254.171.60] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
J-LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
J-NET <00> GROUP Registered
J-LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
J-NET <1E> GROUP Registered
J-NET <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.5] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
J-LAPTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
J-NET <00> GROUP Registered
J-LAPTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
J-NET <1E> GROUP Registered
J-NET <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Bluetooth Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

C:\Users\John>IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : J-Laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-E1-BD-DA-4A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-68-DB-E1-49
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d35:34f8:e5be:3e79%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.5(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 09 May 2009 13:11:51
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 10 May 2009 12:19:48
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-70-7C-ED-DE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::c4e8:3d87:4444:ab3c%11(Preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.171.60(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{6F18CB32-D600-4BF3-88AD-E45DF25D6
171}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 14:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 15:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 16:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 18:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{E4304AC9-200A-4A30-985B-A8F58C8BA
DE0}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\John>

[johnharris85]

DESKTOP RESULTS:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\John>route print
===========================================================================
Interface List
0x1 ........................... MS TCP Loopback interface
0x2 ...00 11 50 05 df 2a ...... Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter - Packet Schedule
r Miniport
0x30005 ...00 17 31 cb cd 97 ...... NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller #2 - Pac
ket Scheduler Miniport
===========================================================================
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.4 25
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 169.254.153.206 169.254.153.206 20
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 20
169.254.153.206 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 10
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 169.254.153.206 169.254.153.206 10
192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 25
192.168.1.4 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 25
192.168.1.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 25
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 169.254.153.206 169.254.153.206 10
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 25
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 169.254.153.206 169.254.153.206 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.1.4 192.168.1.4 1
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

C:\Documents and Settings\John>nbtstat -n

Wireless Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.4] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
J-DESKTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
J-DESKTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

Local Area Connection 2:
Node IpAddress: [169.254.153.206] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
J-DESKTOP <00> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
J-DESKTOP <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

C:\Documents and Settings\John>i[config /all
'i[config' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\Documents and Settings\John>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : j-desktop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Belkin 802.11g Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-50-05-DF-2A
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 09 May 2009 22:01:17
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 10 May 2009 22:01:17

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
#2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-17-31-CB-CD-97
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.153.206
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

C:\Documents and Settings\John>

[johnwill]

You don't have valid IP addresses on the wired connection, which is the basic issue.

Configure the wired connections on the machines as follows.

PC #1:
IP address: 192.168.9.1
Subnet Address: 255.255.255.0

PC #2:
IP address: 192.168.9.2
Subnet Address: 255.255.255.0

Leave the Default Gateway and DNS Server addresses blank.

Make sure any firewalls are configured to put the 192.168.9.x subnet in the trusted zone.

Finally, you'll have to enable fine/print sharing on the machines and actually share one or more folders or drives. Also, make sure that NETBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on both machines for this connection.

Here's a page that describes the process in detail: http://www.howtodothings.com/compute...2-pcs-directly

[johnharris85]

Thanks very much, I'll try this.

[johnharris85]

OK I did all this and rebooted both machines. My laptop is fine but now my desktop doesn't have internet. Websites just say "cannot resolve host".

[johnwill]

Let's see the following from both of the machines with all of this connected.


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands, one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

Note that there is a space before the -n or the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the - or / in the following commands.

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.