File Transfer via USB Type A to A

[feetand nches]

Hey guys, I would like to know if there is a way to manually transfer files from one computer to another via USB Type A to Type A. I saw this article today from HTG on how to do this in various ways, but is it possible to just do it Simply, without Software etc. with just a USB Cable, or even a Ethernet Cable?

 

[johnhoh]

Not sure about a standard usb cable, I know you can do it with a USB-bridge cable which is built for this purpose. Below is a link on how to do it with a regular ethernet cable. But most folks have a USB drive laying around. I got one last week which is 32GB for $8. Its probably the easiest method - copy one PC onto the usb drive then walk the usb drive over to the other computer.
How to transfer data between two laptops by a LAN cable - Quora

 

[feetand nches]

Looks like what you are calling a "USB-bridge cable" is exactly what I'm talking about, A to A. I should have said Type A Male to Male.

I have dozens of USB Flash Drives. I should have pointed out the purpose of this was efficiency. Copy once as opposed to Twice, and faster than a USB. If I'm copying lot's of data to a USB, depending on the External drive, it could take a long time. I recently got a good drive for this but always looking for new ways of doing things. Sometimes this is possible, recently set up a new laptop for someone. They had space for me to put them both on the desk, and I could have used a USB Cable to do this I'm sure, but was not prepared and never done it. I guess I'll buy one and try it, but just wanted to know if it was possible???

So with the "USB-bridge cable" I should be able to do this without Software or anything really?

Thanks for the input.

 

[johnhoh]

So with the "USB-bridge cable" I should be able to do this without Software or anything really?

yes but if speed matters you want usb3.0. The below link comes with software.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B6X8QP0/

 

[feetand nches]

Darn it, I'd wrote a reply and don't see it now, must have not finished it and got side tracked.

To reply, finally LOL: I was thinking something like this, as from what you've said this should work fine. I don't need software, software causes me problems most of the time
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P0E394U/ref=cm_wl_huc_continue

 

[johnhoh]

Darn it, I'd wrote a reply and don't see it now, must have not finished it and got side tracked.

To reply, finally LOL: I was thinking something like this, as from what you've said this should work fine. I don't need software, software causes me problems most of the time
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P0E394U/ref=cm_wl_huc_continue

Don't buy that cable. Its a normal USB cable made for transferring files between a computer and an attachable storage device. You need a special cable that is for transferring files between a computer and a computer, which is what I linked in post #4. The link I posted comes with software, whose only job is to enable the transfer and to make it straightforward.

 

[feetand nches]

Why does it need to be special, this is what I've been asking you all along? All you need it Male to Male right?

 

[johnhoh]

You have possibly been thinking that a USB-bridge cable is the same as a standard USB cable, but it is not, and I have not said that it is. A standard A to A cable will not work for this purpose. But a standard ethernet cable WILL work for this purpose, which is why I steered you toward that solution in my first post.

But if you prefer to not use the ethernet solution and want to use your USB ports instead, you are going to need a special cable, a USB-bridge cable. Why? Because a computer's USB port is meant to control a passive USB device with a device driver that draws its power from the computer. But if you use a standard USB cable attached to two different computers, they will have no way of loading a driver for each other because such a driver does not exist and neither of them is built to be passively controlled by something else and each are outputting power. But if you use a special USB-bridge cable, which is different from a standard cable, AND you use special software that understands that cable, that's how you do the transfer using usb ports. An ethernet cable by contrast does not supply power to a passive device and does not load a device driver, which allows one to be able to do this transfer using a standard cable if you follow the instructions in my first post.

 

[feetand nches]

I see, thanks for the clarification.

 

[townsbg]

You can't just use any ethernet cable when connecting 2 computers together but you must get a crossover cable like this one. https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Ca...net+crossover&qid=1559359837&s=gateway&sr=8-4

Also since you are building a network between the 2 computers you have to have a basic understanding of networking. Johnhoh's guide includes the settings though. If you use a router you don't need the special cable and you don't need to configure the network manually. The router does that for you. All you need to do is configure file sharing.