I am sure one of you guys out there will be able to give me a quick
answer.

I have just bought a laptop with a 4 pin firewire connection which I
know I will be able to use with our Canon 600i and my slide scanner and
external HD - but what is the effect and what happens if I connect to
the firewire on my PC? Can the computers talk to each other this way,
can they see each others HD or what? I don't want to experiment in case
it causes problems.

I know it's off topic but it sort of fits in this NG.

Many thanks
Margaret

Remove giggling if replying by email

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 14:12:24 GMT, Margaret
allegedly wrote:

external HD - but what is the effect and what happens if I connect to
the firewire on my PC? Can the computers talk to each other this way,
can they see each others HD or what? I don't want to experiment in case
it causes problems.

Depends on the version of Windows. With XP it natively supports running
networking over firewire, so just connect the two together, check that the
device is enabled within the device settings, and configure properties
accordingly.

Or simply use the Networking Wizard (Make New Connection - or whatever
it's called), and let it ask you all the questions.

"Margaret" wrote in message
...
I am sure one of you guys out there will be able to give me a quick answer.

I have just bought a laptop with a 4 pin firewire connection which I know
I will be able to use with our Canon 600i and my slide scanner and
external HD - but what is the effect and what happens if I connect to the
firewire on my PC? Can the computers talk to each other this way, can
they see each others HD or what? I don't want to experiment in case it
causes problems.

I know it's off topic but it sort of fits in this NG.

Many thanks
Margaret

Firewire/I-link is a point to point link, not a "bus" with the sockets
being a port on that bus. So only the PC is aware of each device.

"John Russell" wrote in message
...

"Margaret" wrote in message
...
I am sure one of you guys out there will be able to give me a quick
answer.

I have just bought a laptop with a 4 pin firewire connection which I
know
I will be able to use with our Canon 600i and my slide scanner and
external HD - but what is the effect and what happens if I connect to
the
firewire on my PC? Can the computers talk to each other this way, can
they see each others HD or what? I don't want to experiment in case it
causes problems.

I know it's off topic but it sort of fits in this NG.

Many thanks
Margaret

Firewire/I-link is a point to point link, not a "bus" with the sockets
being a port on that bus. So only the PC is aware of each device.

....although if you're running XP on both machines, you can connect them with
a firewire cable and enable firewire networking.

It's only as quick (in practice) as a 100MBit Ethernet crossover, though. If
you're wanting to link PCs, and they both have a network socket, use that
for file transfer. Much of the protocol is dealt with by the hardware,
placing less of a burden on the CPU.

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:57:36 -0000, "John Russell"
wrote:

Firewire/I-link is a point to point link, not a "bus" with the sockets
being a port on that bus. So only the PC is aware of each device.

XP supports networking on a direct Firewire connection.

"Laurence Payne" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:57:36 -0000, "John Russell"
wrote:

Firewire/I-link is a point to point link, not a "bus" with the sockets
being a port on that bus. So only the PC is aware of each device.

XP supports networking on a direct Firewire connection.

I think it's bit misleading to call this "networking". I think it's point
to point using networking protocols. You can get modems which work this way
using the lan connection.

"John Russell" wrote in message
...

"Laurence Payne" wrote in message

XP supports networking on a direct Firewire connection.

I think it's bit misleading to call this "networking". I think it's
point
to point using networking protocols. You can get modems which work this
way
using the lan connection.

Well to be fair, we didn't call it networking, Bill Gates did... ;-)

Still, it does what the OP was asking about.

John Russell wrote:
"Laurence Payne" wrote in message
...

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:57:36 -0000, "John Russell"
wrote:


Firewire/I-link is a point to point link, not a "bus" with the sockets
being a port on that bus. So only the PC is aware of each device.

XP supports networking on a direct Firewire connection.


I think it's bit misleading to call this "networking". I think it's point
to point using networking protocols. You can get modems which work this way
using the lan connection.


Many thanks for all your replies. I have the network set up using an
ethernet cable. I wil try the firewire in due course. I'll be
interested to see what happens.

Cheers
Margaret