Windows 7 How to connect 2 PCs directly using crosscable?

zhopudey

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Joined
Sep 26, 2009
Hi all, my 1st post here. :)

I'm trying to connect 2 PCs running win7 using a crosscable. They're both on the 64-bit version currently, but I'll be shifting to 32-bit soon. I've connected a cat-6 crosscable to the onboard NICs on both PCs. One has an asus M3A78-EM board, and the other is an Intel DG965.
I set the IPs as 10.10.1.101 and 10.10.1.102, and subnet as 255.0.0.0 . Win 7 treats them as "Unidentified Networks", and does not let me set the network location to "Home", which creates problems while trying to setup a homegroup. I was eventually able to start the homegroup after jumping thru some hoops, but I get the same problem every time I restart.
I read somewhere that I should mention a gateway for both NICs. I tried 10.10.1.1, but still get "Unidentified Network". Also, I have 2 internet connections, which I have connected to 2 pci lan cards on both PCs. Having multiple gateways on one PC is creating problems.
Then I tried changed setting in "Local Security Policy", and set Unidentified Networks to private. Now both PCs can see each other in the network. But I can only ping in one direction - from the intel to asus. Pinging from the asus gives - "Destination Host Unreachable".

Is there a easy to follow guide somewhere for connecting 2 Win7 PCs directly using a crosscable?
 
using a crossover the correct IP range is normally 192.168.x.x with default subnet 255.255.255.0 much the same as when connected to routers. Make sure firewalls are set to allow both machines access too, although below is a simple guide that should help.

Link Removed due to 404 Error
 
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Hi all, my 1st post here. :)

I'm trying to connect 2 PCs running win7 using a crosscable. They're both on the 64-bit version currently, but I'll be shifting to 32-bit soon. I've connected a cat-6 crosscable to the onboard NICs on both PCs. One has an asus M3A78-EM board, and the other is an Intel DG965.
I set the IPs as 10.10.1.101 and 10.10.1.102, and subnet as 255.0.0.0 . Win 7 treats them as \"Unidentified Networks\", and does not let me set the network location to \"Home\", which creates problems while trying to setup a homegroup. I was eventually able to start the homegroup after jumping thru some hoops, but I get the same problem every time I restart.
I read somewhere that I should mention a gateway for both NICs. I tried 10.10.1.1, but still get \"Unidentified Network\". Also, I have 2 internet connections, which I have connected to 2 pci lan cards on both PCs. Having multiple gateways on one PC is creating problems.
Then I tried changed setting in \"Local Security Policy\", and set Unidentified Networks to private. Now both PCs can see each other in the network. But I can only ping in one direction - from the intel to asus. Pinging from the asus gives - \"Destination Host Unreachable\".

Is there a easy to follow guide somewhere for connecting 2 Win7 PCs directly using a crosscable?

Just a suggestion "16 bucks" is a network switch.
Switch
Newegg.com - LINKSYS EZXS55W 10/100Mbps Workgroup Switch 5 x RJ45 - Switches

You connect pc1 to port1 & pc2 to port2, the in/out going ethernet "internet" goes to uplink port which it leaves port 5 unavailable, leaving you with Four usable ports, port1 through port4.
 
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The adsl modem/router I use for my internet already has 4 10/100 ports. I could connect thru that. I wanted to keep the internet and the lan connection separate, though. It used to be so easy in XP. Isn't win7 supposed to make things easier? :p
 
Yes if the router has 4 ports then indeed do that, That's basically how my networks hooked up also...(just with a switch for upstairs of the house to add extra ports). As the router will normally have the DHCP server built in it should almost be plug and go situation :razz:
 
But I want to keep my internet and lan connections separate. Why can't I do it with just a crossover cable?
 
I've encountered similar issue.

I have two PCs, one with Win7 RC b7100, second with WinXP SP3.
PC1 has two LAN interfaces, one (lan1) connected to provider LAN, second (lan2) connected to PC2 via crossover.
lan1 is 10.x.x.x/8 range, has default gateway and DNS set.
lan2 is 192.168.0.1/24, no GW or DNS specified.
PC2 has single interface, 192.168.0.2/24, GW and DNS are 192.168.0.1
On PC1, ICS is enabled for lan1.
What I want is to prevent any incoming connections thru lan1, in other words, disable any Win services like SMB or network location operating on it, and allow all services operate on lan2.
But, as lan2 has no GW, it's stated as undefined network, so I can't do anything with it, i.e. change it to Private network, so I can't apply different security settings to it.
As I've discovered from other forum, network is undefined if it has no default GW.
I can't assign lan2 itself as GW, I can't use GW from lan1 (as it's in different subnet from lan2).
Group policies which would allow me to modify undefined networks are present but don't work.
Currently, I've managed to do it by hands - by disabling all services in lan1 adapter config.
I have another alt. - switch public and private networks, i.e. set private network as most secure and assign it to lan1; then, configure public networks as least secure.
But it's a very ugly solution I think.

Can anyone propose some sort of workaround to permanently set lan2 to private or to manually set it as identified?

Also, I have a question about security zones - public and private networks. In Vista, OS wrked only in one mode at a time. Has it changed so each network is applied its security settings? Or not?

Thanks everyone for attention.
 
As I've discovered from other forum, network is undefined if it has no default GW.

I tried that too, but still got "Unidentified Network". This is getting really frustrating. I'm thinking of putting XP on my backup PC now.
 
I tried that too, but still got "Unidentified Network". This is getting really frustrating. I'm thinking of putting XP on my backup PC now.

Have you tried the following simpler setup?

Set the NIC in both PC involved to Obtain IP Address Automatically and the same for DNS.
Attach a straight through cable to both NICs (cross cable is not necessary as later versions of Windows like Vista or 7 recognizes the crossover and will do a software cross over).
Wait a bit and eventually each respective NIC will self assign a default IP in the subnet [169.254.*.*]/16

Example:
C:\Users\Dlo>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.29
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.124.30
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :


I execute a ping test and both sides receive the ping responses. And my network sharing is showing this new network location as Unidentified Network and Public Network status. To this point, I have not changed any other Network sharing settings.

Then in the cmd prompt, type: net use [drive letter]: \\[IP_of_the_other_NIC]\c$ /user:[username_login]
C$ is the share point to share the root C drive. If you have a specific share defined, you can type \sharename as a substitute.

I map the drive using the command above:
net use t: \\169.254.124.30\c$ /user:Me
Followed by typing in your password.
And it responds: The command completed successfully.
Complete the cmd-line for the other computer to map back to this first one.

Hope this helps.
 
Automatic settings work without a router or switch to do the dhcp thing? :) Will try this out. Thanks.
 
to Shigemichi
Thanks for your answer, but the actual question wasn't about establishing shared folders - it can be done without problems. The question is: how to differentiate firewall/services settings by adapters/networks?
To this point there's no way.
Honestly, I'm becoming tired of programs which work like they're smarter than I.
 
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