Connecting a Windows 7 and Windows XP with RJ45

Question

I have 20GB of data I would like to transfer from a machine running Windows XP to my notebook running Windows 7.

I have a RJ45 cable connecting the two computers, but the bitrate I get is equal with or without the cable (they are on the same wan), which is very slow, ~500Kb/s.

I have used this cable some months ago to transfer data from a Windows 7 notebook to other one, in which the bitrate rose to several MB/s, I don't remember how many exactly.

Is there any Windows XP configuration(s) I should do? What should I do to accomplish what I did with the 2 Windows 7 notebooks?

Answer 1

Do you have a working network connection between the 2 machines on the cable? Does the XP machine get an IP on this connection? If yes, try unpluging the sending machine from the wan. If no, maybe your XP machine network card is too old and needs a crossover cable to do this instead of a normal cable. If you don't have one to test but if you have a hub or a switch and another cable, you could plug both in the hub and see if it works.

If it still doesn't work, look if the 2 machines have an IP on the same network on this connection and correct one of them to be on the same network as the other.