No you don't. It sounds like you want an external hard drive connected to
the network that's "on" all the time, so you can access the same files from
either laptop. I believe they make a number of products that do exactly
that; just do a Google search on "network hard drive". I did, and got a
bunch of hits, one from Iomega in particular.
However, a better idea in my mind is to use a router for your connection to
your internet source (either cable or DSL) and then use file sharing between
the two laptops, behind a firewall such as Zone Alarm. A good router will
allow you to use WPA encryption, or at least 128-bit WEP, and most of them
will also allow you to specify an exclusive list of MAC addresses for the
wireless network, so some next-door neighbor cannot enter your net. Now
here's the real trick: if you have Windows XP Professional, you can share
your entire C drive, not just the shared folders. You have to set up a new
share "C" (without the quotation marks), then right-click on the drive
letter, choose "security", give full control to "everyone", then click on
advanced, and in the next window, you'll see a box for "Replace permission
entires on all child objects with entries shown here...." Click that box and
then click Okay. It will take several minutes, but windows will give full
control of every file on your hard drive to everybody in your network. Now
here is where I have to insert the public-safety warning that this gives
"full control" to anybody who can enter your network, so it is imperative to
do this behind good encryption and some sort of router/firewall. In my case,
I use a router with NAT translation, AND a firewall, AND good encryption,
not to mention the exclusive MAC address list in my router. However, unless
you work for the CIA, that's good enough for home use. The benefit is that I
can access any file from any of my computers from any other computer in the
same net, as long as both computers are turned on at the same time. It is
very convenient, and it eliminates the need for a networked external hard
drive. I hope you find that useful. One last thing that was a stumbling
block for me for a long time: If you do the above, go into Control
Panel/Administrative Tools/Local Security Policy and look for an item
labeled "Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console
logon only". If that rule is "enabled", then right-click on it and disable
it. Otherwise, you will see your other laptop in the net, but won't be able
to see the contents. I tried using passwords for network login, but it never
seemed to work consistently. It would work for some computers, but not
others, and then it would suddenly stop working for no apparent reason. Once
I disabled that rule, the home network works perfectly, every time.
Alan
