How best to manage media between 3 computers?

2494 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Shanezam203, Jul 6, 2011

Shanezam203

Discussion Starter · Jul 2, 2011

I enjoy playing my iTunes playlists on my Tivo and viewing picture slide shows. :up: I have over 15 gig of photos but I am constantly organizing my folders, renaming photo's, deleting and filing them into specific folders... Often taking pics on my phone or camera and saving them to 1 of my 3 computers.

I have 3 computers on my network, 1 for work (that I am on alot), then a desktop & a laptop. I'd like to be able to access the photos and music from any of the 3 PC's but most importantly have them Sync. (if I delete a file on 1, I'd like it gone on all, same if I rename or ADD pics from my camera)

I tried setting up a home network, I've had that enabled in the past on previous Operating systems but I can not get the 3 computers to communicate now for some reason. My work computer is on a domain, I thought that may be an issue; but even the other 2 XP devices I could not quickly set up a Network with the Wizard.

Work Laptop: Windows 7 (domain)
Desktop: Windows XP Pro (440 gig hd)
Laptop: Windows XP Home

Drop box works for a few files here and there between computers but again I'd need to file them on each machine + there is a 2 gig limit with the free version. I don't need to access them away from my Network... thanks.

Shane

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

jcthorne

· #2 · Jul 2, 2011

Sounds like you need a network attached storage unit. NAS.

Suggest going to www.synology.com and do some reading. Even the low end units are well built and well supported. Keep future needs in mind when selecting, IE leave room to grow.

Save

AudioNutz

· #3 · Jul 4, 2011

Have you tried iPhoto?

Save

Shanezam203

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 4, 2011

AudioNutz said:
Have you tried iPhoto?

That isn't supported on a PC right? I have Picasa which is similar but does not communicate unless I sign in...

Thanks,
Shane

Save

AudioNutz

· #5 · Jul 4, 2011

Oh, sorry. Since it was at home, I just assumed it was all Mac.

Save

Shanezam203

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 4, 2011

Shanezam203 said:
Work Laptop: Windows 7 (domain)
Desktop: Windows XP Pro (440 gig hd)
Laptop: Windows XP Home

Can I network the 3 together on my home network being 3 different Operating Systems & 1 being on a domain for work?

Save

Shanezam203

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 5, 2011

Shanezam203 said:
Can I network the 3 together on my home network being 3 different Operating Systems & 1 being on a domain for work?

S

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Shane

Save

jrtroo

· #8 · Jul 5, 2011

As already mentioned- a NAS will work just fine. There are many different types- you'll need to research that on your own.

I did the same, and ended up building a WHS box with an old pc (and a new efficient power supply). Love it.

Save

Shanezam203

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 5, 2011

jrtroo said:
As already mentioned- a NAS will work just fine. There are many different types- you'll need to research that on your own.

I did the same, and ended up building a WHS box with an old pc (and a new efficient power supply). Love it.

Even if I am just looking for a "shared folder" to access on all 3 PC's?

Say I have a networked drive :E and in there is my photos. As long as I keep that organized and can access it on all 3 PC's, I will be fine.

Right now I just added 100 photo's to my PC from my 4th of July weekend, and I'd like to file some away, delete some and organize them into my folder "Shane's Stuff." but I dont want to do it on all machines.

Can I network together 3 computers on 3 different Operating Systems on my home network?

Save

SNJpage1

· #10 · Jul 5, 2011

Get a trial version of a program called Network Magic and see if that will do what you need. I had 3 PC's and a lap top that I wanted to network. One was XP, two were Vista and one was Win7. Could not get anything to work til I tried that program. You tell it what folders you want to share on each PC and it sets everything up for you.

Save

unitron

· #11 · Jul 5, 2011

jrtroo said:
As already mentioned- a NAS will work just fine. There are many different types- you'll need to research that on your own.

I did the same, and ended up building a WHS box with an old pc (and a new efficient power supply). Love it.

Will TiVo Desktop work on Windows Home Server?

Save

jrtroo

· #12 · Jul 5, 2011

I believe there are instructions out there for TD on a WHS- search around.

I'm going to put pyTivo on mine when I get a chance, there are instructions for that as well.

To the OP- you can get a simpler NAS that will allow for file storage for multiple OSs and without the bells and whistles of WHS. Machines that access the NAS would not have to even be MS products, much less the same version.

I have my main laptop that uses synctoy to push all photos to my NAS/WHS (in addition to the auto-backups). All of my other machines just go to that file to use a picture. I had an old imac we would use to pull these files off of WHS as well, other NASs allow the same.

I picked WHS due to it being simple, had auto backup features, easy access to all of my PCs, and that I had an old PC doing nothing. I nearly built a linux server, but did not have any background in L and did not have the time to learn.

Save

Shanezam203

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 6, 2011

SNJpage1 said:
Get a trial version of a program called Network Magic and see if that will do what you need. I had 3 PC's and a lap top that I wanted to network. One was XP, two were Vista and one was Win7. Could not get anything to work til I tried that program. You tell it what folders you want to share on each PC and it sets everything up for you.

That did it, exactly what I am looking for. thank you all. :up:

See less See more

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month