> > > > Specifically what kind of cable are you using?
> > > >
> > > > -- codeman"that can make a difference"38
> > >
> > > Yeah, doesn't this need a null modem cable? I've only done it once and it was a long time ago, but it seems like that's what I had to use.
> >
> > Exactly-- that's why I mention it.
> >
> > When I got my newest computer last year, I decided I'd try connecting it to my old one and transferring files through DCC. I saw the option to connect through parallel port, and I figured that the ordinary parallel-port-to-parallel-port cable I had lying around would work. But unfortunately, all my attempts at connecting the two computers using that cable were futile. Apparently, you can only use certain specific *types* of parallel cables if you go with that option; and as for serial connections, it requires a null-modem cable, as you mention.
> >
> > -- codeman"i finally just used my zip drive"38
>
> I usually just pull the drives and do a master/slave arrangement. It's far less hassle, to me, and you get a much faster transfer rate to boot.

That's not so easy to do when one of the computers is a laptop, though. Whenever I've had to transfer a large file from my laptop to somewhere else - or the other way around - I've ended up having to span it across about twenty floppies (since I don't have a zip drive or a null-modem cable). I'f I'm feeling terribly ambitious, I'll set my laptop to act as a host and dial-into it from the desktop, but that's slow and ties up the phone lines for a long time.