If you've ever tried transferring large files from one machine to another, then you may have experienced the joys of cable connection. Windows supports direct cable connection and this enables you to link two machines with a serial or parallel cable and set up a small network. However, we now have USB ports on most machines and Belkin has come up with a neat solution. Using two USB cables both machines can be connected through a special USB adapter.

Connect the cables to both machines and the adapter and when you reboot a new USB device will be recognised, and Windows will start up the installation process on both machines. You'll need the operating system software as well as Belkin's driver software, as this type of connection installs full peer-to-peer networking between both machines.

Initially the drivers are installed and the software leaves an icon on your desktop. When you click on this the full network installation will start. This uses IP addressing so you'll need to allocate numbers for both machine. The conventional format is 192.186.xxx.xxx. You'll also be asked for machine names and a workgroup name. You can choose any suitable name to identify each machine but must make sure that they both have the same workgroup name.

Windows will then copy the relevant files and after a reboot you should have a full network established between both machines. Don't worry if you can't see anything; you have to enable file- and printer-sharing, and allocate shared areas and devices like printers on each machine. The instructions will take you through most of this, after which you should end up with file-sharing and printer-sharing installed.

When you next start up you'll be asked for a password for your log-on name; you don't have to enter anything but if several people are using the machines you can stop other users getting into your personal documents, etc. You should also see a new icon on the desktop called Desktop Neighbour. When you open this, it will show the file structure of the other machine and you'll be able to copy files, share printers and even use the same Internet connection. And you can use several Direct Connects to network multiple PCs.

Although not as flexible as a dedicated Ethernet installation, this is ideally suited for a simple, low-cost 'Don't open the box' solution. It's an elegant way to transfer files between a laptop and base computer, with the added bonus of full peer-to-peer networking.