Direct Cable Connection (DCC) is a feature of

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

that allows a computer to transfer and share files (or connected

printers Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1 ...

) with another computer, via a connection using either the

serial port A serial port is a serial communication Interface (computing), interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in Pa ...

parallel port In computing, a parallel port is a type of interface found on early computers ( personal and otherwise) for connecting peripherals. The name refers to the way the data is sent; parallel ports send multiple bits of data at once (paralle ...

or the

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

port of each computer. It is well-suited for computers that do not have an

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

adapter installed, although DCC in

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

can be configured to use one (with a proper

crossover cable A crossover cable connects two devices of the same type, for example Data terminal equipment, DTE-DTE or Data circuit-terminating equipment, DCE-DCE, usually connected asymmetrically (DTE-DCE), by a modified electrical cable, cable called a cros ...

if no

Ethernet hub An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub, multiport repeater, or simply hub is a network hardware device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment. It has multiple input/out ...

is used) if available. The software is available in

Windows 9x Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a line of discontinued Microsoft Windows operating systems released from 1995 to 2000 and supported until 2006, which were based on the kernel introduced in Windows 95 and modified in succeeding version ...

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

and Windows XP; communication is also possible with Windows NT 4.0 although not under the DCC name.

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

drops support for the Direct Cable Connection feature as Ethernet,

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

and

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

have become ubiquitous on newer generation computers. To transfer files and settings, Windows Vista includes Windows Easy Transfer, which uses a proprietary USB-to-USB bridge cable known as the Easy Transfer Cable.

Connection types

If using the

s of the computer, a

null modem Null modem is a communication method to directly connect two data terminal equipment, DTEs (computer, computer terminal, terminal, printer (computing), printer, etc.) using an RS-232 serial cable. The name stems from the historical use of RS-232 ...

cable (or a null modem adapter connected to a standard serial cable) must be used to connect each of the two computers to communicate properly. Such connection uses PPP protocol. If the

s are used, Windows supports standard or basic 4-bit cable (commonly known as

LapLink cable Laplink (sometimes styled LapLink) is a proprietary software that was developed by Mark Eppley and sold by Traveling Software. First available in 1983, LapLink was used to synchronize, copy, or move, files between two PCs, in an era before local ...

), Enhanced Capabilities Port (ECP) cable, or Universal Cable Module (UCM) cable (which was known as DirectParallel cable by Parallel Technologies). Infrared communication ports, like the ones found on

laptop computer A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

s (such as

IrDA IrDA is a wireless standard designed for exchanging data using infrared (IR). Infrared ports for this purpose have been implemented in portable electronic devices such as mobile telephones, laptops, cameras, printers, and medical devices. The mai ...

), can also be used.

USB

Connecting any two computers using

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...

requires a special proprietary bridge cable. A directly connected pin-to-pin USB type A cable does not work, as USB does not support such a type of communication. In fact, attempting to do so may even damage the connecting computers, as it will effectively short the two computers' power supplies together by connecting their 5V and GND lines. This can possibly destroy one or both machines and cause a fire hazard since the two machines may not have exactly the same USB source voltage. Therefore, Direct Cable Connection over

is not possible; a USB link cable must be used, as seen in th
Microsoft knowledge base article 814982
However, with a USB link cable, a program which supports data transfer using that cable must be used. Typically, such a program is supplied with the USB link cable. The DCC wizard or Windows Explorer cannot be used to transfer files over a USB link cable.

Newer hardware technology with identical functionality

There are at least 2 known USB-crossover cables capable of bidirectional data-transfer between computers similar to RJ45/Ethernet cables: ProlificUSA.com's TE-C0372 High Speed USB 2.0 Host to Host Bridge Cable (PL25A1 Chipset) and ProlificUSA.com's TE-C0363 Superspeed USB 3.0 Host to Host Bridge Cable (PL27A1 Chipset), and drivers for these seem to have been included in newer versions of the

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

kernel.

References

External links

Direct-Cable Connection Introduction from WindowsNetworking.com

How To Set Up a Direct Cable Connection Between Two Computers in Windows XP from Microsoft Supportarchived link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Direct Cable Connection File sharing Discontinued Windows components

Connection types

USB

Newer hardware technology with identical functionality

See also

References

External links