There has to be

[Angus Hines]

A Better way.....OK I have 3 laptops and a desktop running in the house I need files on at least 3 of the machines daily for this that or the other.

I design on my laptop from the comfort of my couch and then e-mail that file out to the shop desktop running (XP Pro all others run Vista) to be used by whatever piece of equipment it was created for.

Then there is the laptop that does all the paper design stuff and accounting.

How the hell can I centralize all of this info to be accessible from any machine in the house?

I do like the separation of info also, because if I lose one hard drive all is not lost in the one event however, I need to streamline things a bit also?

[Dan Hintz]

If it's all connected to the same network, share the drives and be done with it. Or get a NAS drive, they've become quite the cheap backup solution for multiple computers... a few hundred bucks gets you 1/2 a terabyte, just plug in and share.

[Mike Null]

Angus

I think a network will do what you want. You just have to set it to share files.

They're not too hard to set up.

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Angus

I use a memory stick to transfer files from one to another.
I have 3 laptops and two desktops and save my files on the stick.
this lets me have access to anything I need.
also use it at work.
easier than disks
also its a good backup for the just in case.

ken

[Mike Null]

Don't put too much faith in thumb drives as a back up device. The one I was using to back up my financials just fizzled. I do have another backup so no harm done.

[Angus Hines]

So I just go in to Network Sharing & Settings and turn on sharing???...for back up I use Carbonite and a separate set of CD's done weekly, kept in the fire safe. Having lost everything once I can't get enough backup protection...LOL

[Steve Clarkson]

Hmmmmm....I'd like to know how to do this too.....I have a desktop and a laptop connected to a wireless network using FIOS. If I save a file on my desktop, how can I access it from my laptop? Also is there any way to "watch" what is happening on the desktop using the laptop....in real time?

[Mike Null]

Angus

I'm inclined to use Carbonite as well and I bet that you can access that from any of your pcs if you set up the permissions properly.

You should then be able to see all of your files from any pc.

[James Stokes]

Setting up a network would be the simplest way. I have 3 wired computers and 1 wireless. I can access files off any computer from any computer. The network is a little difficult to set up but not to bad. If you want simple There is a program called network magic. You install it on all of your computers and it does all of the work setting up the network. It is only about $20

[Scott Shepherd]

The trend is also going away from storing data on your computers. It's moving towards offline servers. Apple's MobileMe setup is an example. It's cheap and you can save all your files, emails, everything on there. Then you can log in from your computer, your laptop while in the airport or on vacation, or from a smart phone and get to any file you created on any one of them.

It works for PC's as well. I have no used it, but I'm not far from giving it a trial run. It's $99 a year or $149 for a family plan, I think.

Might be worth a look. I don't know if it's the solution you're asking about, or if it'll work well for laser people, but it's something to look at and be aware of.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/features/pc.html

[Robert Eiffert]

In Windows I used SyncToy (from Microsoft) to update a small NAS from two different computers. As I recall, it was a pretty easy setup to have both computers only add their new or updated files to the NAS. We did updates automatically each night, but we could invoke it anytime through the start menu.

However, remember if you're really trying to backup stuff, you need off-site storage as well as non-doc stuff like remembered passwords, webhistory, bookmarks, email if you're not using something like gmail, etc.

[Angus Hines]

No not really trying to back everything up I do that in several ways already. What I';m looking for is synchronicity between machines.

I'm thinking this Mobile me will work but it only gives you 20GB of storage so I'll have to look into that more.

I was hoping there was a simple plug and play way to do this but I guess not without a server.

[James Stokes]

Angus, It is easy to set up a network. You do not need a server. All you have to do is give all of your computers the same domain name and run the network set-up wizzard. With the xp computers you will not have a problem. With the vista computer the permission name has to be everyone, then you have to go in to vista and set the folders you want to share to sharing permitted. It is not that difficult.

[Charlie Bice]

I had exactly that problem.

Solution. Used the desktop as the 'main' repository and shared the folder. It looks just like another folder on the laptop.

Backups are also easy. Once a week, or however often you want, just copy that folder to your laptop.

I do a double backup. One copy on the laptop, one to a thumb drive. Once a year I do a multiple CD burn.

If I am going on a trip I copy the folder to the laptop and list the files that I modify. When I get home I copy them back to the 'main' folder.

charlie

PS make sure you secure your wireless network in some manner. Otherwise anyone can get on the network and change the stuff in your shared folder. I lost count of the number of home wireless networks I've been able to access from the street.

[Bob Keyes]

I don't think anyone has asked this. Do you have any kind of network now? Wired or wireless or a combination of the two?