Direct Cable Connection thru lpt1

OK I know this thread shouldn't be here but I already posted it
at the general PC section but hardly anyone visit that forum.
Here goes:

I've two machines with specs below:
Machine #1
Intel P4 2.0A Ghz
Gigabyte 533Mhz Motherboard
256MB 266Mhz DDR-SDRAM
ATI RADEON 9000 64MB DDR-RAM with TV-OUT
40GB 7200rpm Hard Disk
48x16x50 CD-RW drive
WinXP Pro as Primary OS, Win98SE as Secondary OS

Machine #2
Cyrix M-II 266Mhz(Overclocked)
SiS 530 Motherboard
192MB 133Mhz/100Mhz SDRAM
SiS530 AGP 8MB Shared
8GB Hard Disk
40x CD-ROM drive
Win98 SE as Primary OS

Okay, now I connect both using a printer cable thru lpt1 port.
I boot both machines into Win98SE, and have already install all
the required services and protocols as well as enable both's
disk as shared drive.

Now I launched Direct Cable Connection, Machine #1 as Host and
#2 as Guest, and guess what? They can't connect! Even if I
reverse their roles they still can't connect.

Do I've to use any specific cables or do anything?

sounds like you have the right software and the wrong hardware. You are attempting to do the electronic equivalent of plugging a male connector into a male receptacle. It just won't work

Connecting two PCs via their parallel ports requires a special cable. For software, you can use Windows 95/98's Direct Cable Connection, a third-party product, or write your own program to do the transfers. To find out about Direct Cable Connection, click F1 on the desktop and search for Direct Cable Connection.

So how would I differentiate between the male/female connector
and male/female receptor?

And what special cable do I need? Doesn't a printer cable works?

you can buy one at most computer stores for about $25 --- they'll tell you what you need. It's called a "direct connect parallel cable"

Quote:

---

Doesn't a printer cable works?

---

Nope!

I did this years ago and I still have my cable! Phinds is right about what you need, but for about the same price you could buy two Network cards and a crossover cable and connect them at 100 Mbits. The direct cable connection only transfers data at something like 5 Mbits (if I remember correctly).

If you do the direct cable method, make sure you get a "STRAIGHT THROUGH" cable. Standard 25 pin serial cables do not have matching pin sets and will not work. Belkin and others make the cable and it should say for direct cable connection somewhere on the package also.

You can find more here . . .

http://www.tecno.demon.co.uk/dcc/dcc.html