I am planning to transfer files to a notebook on dos 3.1 from Desktop on windows .I have bought a crossover cable.Is this similar to Null modem cable?

Yes. There actually used to be a box sold as a null modem. I usually make my own serial cables, which only use around 8 wires for pc to pc, and less for pc to printer. Good luck - keep us posted.

Unless by a crossover cable you mean a RJ45 network cable... Then there completely different. hehe, I remember the days of the Null Modem connections :P Oh so SLOW! It's probably easier and alow faster if you can get hold of a PCMCIA Network card and get a RJ45 crossover cable... Just a thought.

G'day, Yes, they are essentially the same thing, although not all RS232 cables are made equal. It has been known for non-essential lines to be left out to cut costs- so beware. For your information PCs are wired as DTEs. If that doesn't mean anything to you don't worry about it, but a null modem connector converts one end to a DCE, so you could do it that way. If you want to be sure look at the help file for DOS interlnk command. That has the cable connections. It also shows how to build a parallel cable which would be much faster. Search for fastwire on google. regards, elric

G'day, Just looked at your original post..so I will repost my reply. G'day, If your reading this check out my answer to your most recent posts. It seems you are a little confused over the hardware side of things. I think that you should tell us EXACTLY what is going on at each PC. If you are plugging into a network card at one end, what are you plugging into at the other end?? If you have a network on both machines you really don't need laplink!! Also, you would not need a crossover cable- just a normal network cable (either RJ or coax). It seems that you might need a null modem cable. Please try to describe the connectors of both machines (ie number of pins/ male or female). Read my post about master/slave setup for the software. Don't panic we'll talk you through it.. regards, elric