Question: How do I connect my Bluetooth wireless phone with my laptop, so that I can send and receive files?

Answer: Connecting your Bluetooth wireless phone with your laptop is called pairing, and I'll use a Blackberry Curve to show you how it works.

I'm assuming your laptop comes with a built-in Bluetooth adapter (or you can also get a Bluetooth adapter that plugs into one of your USB ports).

First make sure that Bluetooth is enabled on your phone. For Blackberry phones, that means selecting the "Set Up Bluetooth" application from the main screen, and then selecting "Enable Bluetooth" after clicking the menu button.

Next, set up your computer to allow Bluetooth connections. If your computer comes with Bluetooth, then you'll see a Bluetooth icon in your Control Panel (Start button -> Control Panel from Vista):

Double-click the Bluetooth icon and you'll see a Bluetooth Devices dialog. Click the Options tab and make sure the options to "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this computer" and "Allow Bluetooth devices to connect to this computer" are both checked

Next, click the Devices tab and then click the "Add" button. This will open the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard, and after verifying that your device is set up and ready to be found (ie. Bluetooth has been enabled on your wireless phone) it will try to find your phone.

Select the Bluetooth device and click Next to set up a passkey, which is a number that associates your computer with a Bluetooth enabled device. For security reasons, most Bluetooth enabled devices (with some exceptions, such as mice) require you to use a passkey. Using a passkey helps ensure that your computer is connecting to the device that you intended and not someone else's device that is nearby.

You can choose your own passkey or let Windows choose one for you. Click Next and then pick up your phone, which will prompt you to enter in the passkey. After entering the passkey in your phone, Windows will finish the pairing process and your phone will be connected via Bluetooth.

More on this topic coming soon...

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