How to Transfer Files Through Bluetooth in Windows Vista

How to Transfer Files Through Bluetooth in Windows Vista
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Transferring files in Vista via Bluetooth

Connecting a mobile to your PC through Bluetooth is a very simple task in Windows Vista. Common tasks like transferring a file to and from your mobile and PC can be performed even without installing the software that came with your mobile or your Bluetooth dongle. Unless your Bluetooth dongle belongs to the stone age, chances are that you won’t have to install a driver for it. Windows Vista will do it for you.

1. Insert your USB Bluetooth dongle and you should see a notification message which says that it is installing the driver for the new device. Seconds later you should see the Bluetooth icon in the system notification area.

2. Now turn Bluetooth on in your mobile and make sure it is discoverable. Right click on the Bluetooth icon on the system notification area to bring up the menu.

3. Click on ‘Add a Bluetooth Device’. The ‘Add Bluetooth Device’ Wizard (Figure 1) appears with instructions to turn your other Bluetooth device (in this case your mobile) on and make it discoverable.

4. Check the box ‘My device is set up and ready to be found’ and click ‘Next’. Windows will now search for active Bluetooth devices. If the wizard displays the message “Windows cannot find any Bluetooth devices’. Make sure that your Bluetooth adapter is attached to your computer and is turned on, and that your Bluetooth device is turned on, then check if Bluetooth is turned on in your mobile.

5. When you run the ‘Add Bluetooth Device’ wizard, it displays a list of the Bluetooth devices it discovered. Select the device you want to connect to by clicking on its name (Figure 2. Your mobile will have a name setup for it in its Bluetooth settings) and click ‘Next’.

6. The wizard would ask you to supply a passkey (Figure 3). You have four options while selecting a passkey. You can let the wizard choose a passkey for you, you can use the passkey found in the documentation, you can choose your own passkey or you can choose to use no passkey at all (may not always work). The best way is to let Windows choose a passkey for you, or choose a passkey yourself. Lets say you’ve decided to choose a passkey yourself and say the passkey is ‘1234’ . Windows will now try to connect with the mobile device using the passkey you supplied.

7. Your mobile should display your PC name and something like ‘Add to my devices’ depending on your model of mobile. Select ‘Yes/Add’ on your mobile which will prompt you to supply the passkey. Supply the same passkey which you entered in Windows, that is ‘1234’.

8. Once the passkey is exchanged successfully, the wizard will add your mobile and display the message ‘The Bluetooth device was successfully connected to your computer’ and it will also display the COM ports that are assigned to your mobile device (Figure 4).

9. Click ‘Finish’ to end the wizard. Your mobile is now connected to your PC through Bluetooth.

Transferring a file from your PC to mobile:

1. Right click on the Bluetooth icon in the system notification area and click on ‘Send a File’ to transfer a file from your PC to your mobile. This will bring up the ‘Bluetooth File Transfer’ wizard.

2. Select the device you want to send the file from your PC to (in this case your mobile) and click ‘Next’ (Figure 5).

3. Browse and select the file you want to send to the mobile and click ‘Next’.

4. Your mobile should display the incoming file details such as name and size and will ask if you want to accept or reject the file. Once you accept the file it will be transferred to your mobile.

Transferring a file from your mobile to PC is almost the same process:

1. Right click on the Bluetooth icon on your system notification area and from the menu that pops up click on ‘Receive a File’.

2. The ‘Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard’ will appear with the message ‘Windows is waiting to receive the file’.

3. Browse to the file in your mobile which you want to transfer to the PC and send it through Bluetooth.

4. Once the file is transferred successfully, the wizard will prompt you to select a filename and the location where you want to save the file to (Figure 6). Once you enter this information click ‘Next’. The file will be saved to the desired location.

… Transferring files with Bluetooth in Windows Vista is that simple!

Images

Select Device

Supply a Passkey

Send a File

Receive a File

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