Connected 2 pcs with ethernet cable Why cant they detect each other

[provlima]

I am trying to make a direct hardwire connection between my laptop and my desktop via cat5 ethernet cable but they cannot configure properly.

My laptop sees an unidentified network icon.
I ran network diagnostics and resulted in a
"ethernet doesn't have a valid ip address" message

How can I fix this problem?

FWIW The two pcs are normally connected to a wireless router. I have not disconnected the wireless connection

 

[chitownbob]

You have to use a crossover cable, which is wired a bit different. Or you put a device like a router or AP or hub in between.

 

[sobranie]

Cross over leads available here:

Cat 5.e (Ethernet) Cables

 

[Digital Life]

you need to be ether running a DHCP server on one of the computers or setup a static ip on each computer. The easy route is to setup a static IP.

You will need to find out the IP of the wireless connection and use a different subnet for your lan cards.

As for a crossover cable you may not need that because most lan cards nowadays have whats called autosense and you can just use normal lan cable.

I don't understand why you are trying to connect the computers in this way, You should just use the lan cable to the router and disconnect the computers from the WiFi.

 

[mrjimphelps]

What is your purpose for connecting the two PCs? Is it to share files between them? If so, the easiest way is to create a homegroup on one of the computers, and then make the other computer a member of the homegroup. You then make each computer's hard drive sharable, and then create a drive mapping on each computer which points to the other computer's hard drive.