Bluetooth is a handy technology for transferring modest amounts of data via wireless links over short distances typically up to about 30 feet. Many recent computers have Bluetooth built in, but if yours doesn’t, you can easily add it by connecting a Bluetooth adapter via USB. Bluetooth lets you synchronize data between your PC and devices such as handheld computers and mobile phones or transfer data from one computer to another.

Why “Bluetooth”?

The name Bluetooth comes from the nickname of a 10th-century Danish king, Harald Bluetooth, who managed to unite Denmark and Norway mostly via diplomacy rather than warfare. The technology allows communication between disparate devices - which is a stretch, but the name is easy to remember.

Opening the Bluetooth Devices Dialog Box

To configure Bluetooth and work with Bluetooth devices, you use the Bluetooth Devices dialog box. To open the Bluetooth Devices dialog box, follow these steps:

1. Choose Start Control Panel. Windows displays a Control Panel window.

2.In Control Panel Home view, click the Hardware and Sound link. Windows displays the Hardware and Sound window. 3. Click the Bluetooth Devices link. Windows displays the Bluetooth Devices dialog box . The Devices page will be blank unless you’ve already added a Bluetooth device. Configuring Bluetooth on Your Computer

To make sure Bluetooth is set up suitably on your computer for adding a Bluetooth device or creating a Bluetooth network, take the following steps:

1. In the Bluetooth Devices dialog box, click the Options tab. Windows displays the Options page .

2. In the Discovery group box, select the Allow Bluetooth Devices to Find This Computer check box. Selecting this check box makes your computer discoverable so that Bluetooth devices can find it.

Turn On Discovery Only When Adding a Device

You need turn on discovery by selecting the Allow Bluetooth Devices to Find This Computer check box on the Options tab of the Bluetooth Devices dialog box only when you’re adding a new Bluetooth device. Once you’ve added the device, your computer doesn’t need to be discoverable for the device to establish a connection, so you can turn discovery off to protect your computer from unwanted Bluetooth attention and attempts at connection.

3.In the Connections group box, select the Allow Bluetooth Devices to Connect to This Computer check box and the Alert Me When a New Bluetooth Device Wants to Connect check box. Normally, you’ll want to keep both these check boxes selected if you use Bluetooth devices.

4. Select the Show the Bluetooth Icon in the Notification Area check box if you want to have a Bluetooth icon appear in the notification area to give you access to the most useful Bluetooth commands, as shown here. This menu is the easiest way to access Bluetooth commands, so you’ll probably want to display it. Leave the Bluetooth Devices dialog box open, as you’ll need it in the next sections.

Setting Up a Bluetooth Device

This section shows you how to set up a Bluetooth device for use with your computer. The next section shows you how to use Bluetooth to create a network between two computers so that you can transfer files.

1.In the Bluetooth Devices dialog box, click the Add button on the Devices page. Windows launches the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard, which displays its Welcome screen, as shown here.

2. Make sure the device is operational. The Welcome screen mentions the steps you need to take, such as turning on the device and making it discoverable.

3. Select the My Device Is Set Up and Ready to Be Found check box, and then click the Next button. The wizard displays the Select the Bluetooth Device That You Want to Add screen, searches for Bluetooth devices, and lists them. The next illustration shows an example. If the device you want doesn’t appear, make sure it’s discoverable and powered on, and then click the Search Again button.

4.Select the item for the device you’re adding, and then click the Next button. The wizard displays the Do You Need a Passkey to Add Your Device? screen, as shown here.

5. Select the option button for the passkey option you want to use:

Choose a Passkey for Me Select this option button if the device doesn’t have a preset passkey and you want Windows to create a pseudo-random passkey for you.

Use the Passkey Found in the Documentation Select this option button if the device has a preset passkey that you must use to connect to it. Type the passkey in the text box.

Let Me Choose My Own Passkey Select this option button if the device doesn’t have a preset passkey and you want to create an easy-to-memorize passkey. Type the passkey in the text box.

Don’t Use a Passkey Select this option button if the device doesn’t have a preset passkey and you don’t want to use one. By not using a passkey, you run the risk of unauthorized users being able to access the device.

6. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the Windows Is Exchanging Passkeys screen, as shown here, showing instructions about what you need to do with the passkey on the other device.

7.If necessary, enter the passkey on the other device.

8. Once the connection is established, the wizard displays the Completing the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard screen. Click the Finish button to close the wizard. Once you’ve connected a Bluetooth device, it appears on the Devices page in the Bluetooth Devices dialog box.

Set Up a Bluetooth Network between Two Computers

To set up a Bluetooth connection between computers so that you can transfer files, you first add each computer as a Bluetooth device. Then you create a network between the two of the computers.

Set Up a Bluetooth Connection between Two Computers

To set up a Bluetooth connection between computers, take the following steps. The target computer is the computer to which you’re connecting, and the home computer is the computer that’s starting the connection.

1. On the target computer, open the Bluetooth Devices dialog box, and then click the Options tab.

2. Select the Allow Bluetooth Devices to Find This Computer check box.

3. On the home computer, open the Bluetooth Devices dialog box. Windows displays the Devices page when you open the dialog box.

4. Click the Add button. Windows launches the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard.

5. Select the My Device Is Set Up and Ready to Be Found check box, and then click the Next button. The wizard displays the Select the Bluetooth Device That You Want to Add screen, searches for Bluetooth devices, and lists them.

6. Select the item for the computer you want to connect to, and then click the Next button. The wizard displays the Do You Need a Passkey to Add Your Device? screen.

7.Select either the Choose a Passkey for Me option button or the Let Me Choose My Own Passkey option button. If you select the latter, type your passkey in the text box.

8. Click the Next button. The wizard displays the Windows Is Exchanging Passkeys screen.

9. When the home computer tries to connect to the target computer, Windows displays a notification-area pop-up message on the target computer, as shown here.

10. On the target computer, click the pop-up message. The Add Bluetooth Device Wizard displays the Enter the Passkey for the Bluetooth Device screen, as shown here. Type the password, and then click the Next button.

11. Once the connection is established, the wizard displays the Completing the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard screen on both the home computer and the target computer.

12. On the home computer, click the Finish button to close the wizard.

13. On the target computer, select the Turn Discovery Off check box on the Completing the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard screen if you want to stop the computer’s being discoverable now that you’ve established the connection. Click the Finish button to close the wizard.

Create a Network across the Bluetooth Connection

Once you’ve added the target computer as a Bluetooth device, connect to it as follows:

1. On the home computer, click the Bluetooth Devices icon in the notification area, and then choose Join a Personal Area Network from the menu. Windows displays the Bluetooth Personal Area Network Devices dialog box .

2.In the Bluetooth Devices list box, select the target computer, and then click the Connect button. Windows tries to create a connection, as shown here for a successful connection.

3. Choose Start Network. Windows opens a Network window. If there’s an Information Bar across the top of the Network window saying “Network discovery and file sharing are turned off. Network computers and devices are not visible. Click to change,” click the bar, choose Turn On Network Discovery and File Sharing, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control. Windows displays the Network Discovery and File Sharing dialog box shown next, asking if you want to turn on network discovery and file sharing for all public networks. Click the No, Make the Network That I Am Connected to a Private Network button. The network computers then appear.

4. To see the folders that a computer is sharing, double-click the computer. You can then copy files from the shared folders. If the folders are shared with permission for you to change their contents, you can also copy files to the folders.

Disconnect the Bluetooth Network Connection

When you’ve finished transferring files across the Bluetooth network, disconnect the connection. Take the following steps:

1. On either the home computer or the target computer, click the Bluetooth Devices icon in the notification area, and then choose Join a Personal Area Network from the menu. Windows displays the Bluetooth Personal Area Network Devices dialog box.

2. In the Bluetooth Devices list box, select the connection you want to disconnect, and then click the Disconnect button. Windows displays the Warning dialog box shown here.

3. Click the Yes button. Windows disconnects the connection and closes the Bluetooth Personal Area Network Devices dialog box.

Transfer Files with the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard

Establishing a network connection between the two computers tends to be the most convenient way of transferring a large number of files. But if you need to transfer only a single file at a time, you can use the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard instead. You must run the wizard on both the home computer and the target computer, which is clumsy if you’re transferring files between two of your own computers. But if you need to transfer a file to someone else’s computer, the wizard works well. To transfer files using the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard, follow these steps:

1. If the home computer hasn’t previously connected to the target computer, make the target computer discoverable. Follow these steps:

• Click the Bluetooth Devices icon in the notification area, and then choose Show Bluetooth Devices from the menu. Windows displays the Bluetooth Devices dialog box.

• Click the Options tab. Windows displays the Options page.

• In the Discovery group box, select the Allow Bluetooth Devices to Find This Computer check box.

• Click the OK button. Windows closes the Bluetooth Devices dialog box and makes the computer discoverable.

2.On the home computer the one sending the file, click the Bluetooth Devices icon in the notification area, and then choose Send a File. Windows launches the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard, which displays the Select Where You Want to Send the File screen, as shown here.

3. If the name of the target computer appears in the Send To text box, you’re all set. The name will appear there only if this was the last computer to which you connected via Bluetooth. Otherwise, click the Browse button, select the computer in the Select Bluetooth Device dialog box shown next, and then click the OK button. Windows enters the name in the Send To text box.

4. If you want to use a passkey for the connection, select the Use a Passkey check box, and then type the passkey in the Passkey text box. Using a passkey is good security practice, but if you’re transferring a single file to someone else in an area that doesn’t seem to be beset by eavesdroppers, you may prefer not to bother.

5.Click the Next button. Windows displays the Select the File You Want to Send page shown here with a file chosen. Click the Browse button, select the file in the Browse dialog box, and then click the Open button.

6. On the target computer, click the Bluetooth Devices icon in the notification area, and then choose Receive a File. Windows launches the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard, which displays the Windows Is Waiting to Receive the File screen, as shown here.

7. On the home computer, click the Next button. The wizard attempts to start the file transfer.

8. What happens next depends on whether you required a passkey.

• If you didn’t require a passkey, the file transfer starts.

here.

• Type the passkey, and then click the Next button. The wizard then displays the Completing the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard screen.

• Select the Turn Discovery Off check box to turn off discovery and protect your computer from unauthorized access, and then click the Finish button. The Add Bluetooth Device Wizard closes, returning you to the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard. Having two wizards active at once is confusing, but the process does work.

9. On the target computer, the wizard displays the Save the Received File screen, as shown here.

10. Change the filename and location as needed, and then click the Next button. The wizard completes the file transfer, saving the file under the name and path you just specified, and then displays the Completing the Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard screen on each computer.

11. On each computer, click the Finish button. The wizard closes.