You have the need to connect 2 Windows systems to be able to exchange some data.
You are (not yet ?) willing to install network cards and to deal with Ethernet cables
( coax, Twisted pair, hubs,…..) ?
( there are possibilities to connect via USB to an Ethernet Network )
Lets investigate some other options by looking at the back of your system (desktop PC or
notebook):
You should have:
 | 1 or 2 Serial ports ( also called COM-ports) connector with 9 pins ( “9-pin male”) |
 | Parallel port ( also called printer port ) connector with 25 holes ( “25-pin female” ) |
 | 1 or 2 USB (Universal System Bus) Desktop system have usually 2 ports, Notebook computers usually only 1port. |
These plugs/connectors can be used to connect 2 systems together.
Such connection is called : Direct Cable Connection ( DCC )
Like with any component on your system, you need hardware and software:
Hardware : all these connectors on the back of your PC had been originally designed to connect
add-on components to a system ( like parallel port: Printers, serial port : external modems,
USB: scanners, digital cameras,……) with 1 system as “controller”.
And the cables used to plug into these connectors are designed for this use.
via Serial or Parallel cable : 
Direct Cable Connection
if you like to connect via USB to an Ethernet Network, you need to use a USB Ethernet Adapter
via USB (Universal System Bus) : 
Networking via USB cable
have a look at the connectors of a USB-cable:
 | The connector to plug into the PC/notebook is flat |
 | The connector to plug into the USB device is square |
 | When now using these plugs to connect 2 systems (= 2 “Controllers”), you need a special cable with proper plugs and with some electronics to switch the signals between the 2 systems :  (too complex to self-made, you need to purchase it). I used for my USB network the “Net-Linq USB Connection Cable” from Parallel Technologies. Network speed up to 500+ Kbytes /sec (Effective data transfer rates are depending upon PC type, CPU speed and protocol overhead ) |
 | Parts of these pages on USB Networking are a cooperation with Parallel Technologies, the creator/ inventor/ developer of the DirectParallel® technology licensed to Microsoft for the Direct Cable Connection (DCC) feature in Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP ( supplier of the fast DirectParallel® cable and of USB connection cables). |  |
USB is a fairly new technology for PCs , and only recent operating systems have support for USB:
 |  | no support for USB ! |
 |  | supports on Windows95 OSR 2.1 with USB Supplemental Support |
 |  | full support for USB |
 | | full support for USB |
 | | no support for USB ! |
 | | full support for USB |
 | | full support for USB |
You can use USB to connect 2 PC’s and/or notebooks:
 | Windows9x USB Networking Installation |
| Windows2000 USB Networking Installation |
| Windows XP USB Networking Installation |
Unlike Direct Cable connection via Serial or Parallel cable, which is limited to just 2 systems,
more than 2 PC’s and/or notebooks can be connected via USB-cables:
 | You will need a USB-hub. one system can be connected directly to the USB hub (computer A), while all other systems must be connected via the USB Network cable to the hub |
You can also create a network with both Ethernet and USB networking cables:
 | Note: Computer A is now equipped with 2 network adapters: – the Ethernet Card – the USB Network Adapter This creates now a multi-Segment network, requiring a more complex configuration to make all system (on both the Ethernet segment and the USB segment) visible in the Network Neighborhood and accessible. (the Net-Linq USB Connection cable includes for this a “Bridge Protocol”) On Windows XP systems, use the Windows XP Network Bridge |
Using TCP/IP on such a combined network will require an advanced Setup.
