Networking two computers (WXP-Pro)

[Kansai]

I am trying to connect two computers together, not to the internet. I have made a crossover cable. PC1 is win98se, PC2 is winxp pro. I have configured both for TCP/IP (192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2 and subnet 255.255.255.0) and when pinged they talk to each other with no loss. I have enabled file sharing on both (C: drive with the little hand under it) and that's where I hit the brick wall. PC1 displays the win98 computer only (My doc's, Program Files etc) in Network Neighborhood but not the winxp drive. PC2 displays nothing in My Network Places. Have I missed something or am I looking in the wrong place.

Any help to solve this frustrating experience is most welcome. I was told never to approach networking as something easy. Man, were they right.

[monkey_1]

-Check the cable
-Make sure that in the XP computer is enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP (advanced settings of TCP/IP)
-Did you disabled any firewall (or grant access)?
-Edit the HOSTS (no extension) file to add both machines (for Win98 is in WINDOWS directory and for XP is in WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC directory)
-In XP disable "Simple file sharing"

<font color=orange>Mono</font color=orange>

[Kansai]

Thanks for the reply mono. Been at this all weekend, still no closer. This is what has happened so far.
I've manually added the IP addresses to both computers. Both have print sharing and client for ms network installed. I ran the XP disk on Win98 to load the network stuff. On the Win98 machine in neighborhood network I can see the Entire network icon and the Win98 icon. In Entire Network I had MSHome which had Win98. When I rebooted the XP machine the Entire Network file was blank. Rebooted Win98, nothing in EN but got Win98 icon back.
On the XP machine in My Network Places I have blank. If I click on view workgroup computers I get "MSHome is not accessable. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator........"
Both computers can still ping each other. If the crossover cable was faulty, could they still ping each other?
netstat -na says port 445 is listening.
I have turned off simple file sharing in XP - still nothing.
In Win98 and XP I added DNS server host as 192.168.0.1. Is this correct? If I leave it blank I get nothing on both computers. Do I still need to add the host IP address in the respective 'hosts' files.
I remember the first time I set up the networking stuff a few days ago, I actually got everything where it should be. I just couldn't open anything (computer locked). After a reboot......well, here I am with nothing to show.
Is it easier using a switch or hub?
Tried enabling netbios over TCP - no difference.
Disabled firewall in msconfig - no difference.
Sorry for the mish mash of events. I'm writing as I remember them. Never been any good at short stories.
Hope this helps.

[Kansai]

OK. Sorry for double posting. Something weird is going on. I have reloaded everything again, but still nothing on the xp and only win 98 stuff on the win98 computer. Here's the weird part. If I search for the win98 computer using the search facility in xp, I can see the mshome folder and all the network connections stuff but I can't access it. If I move the stuff to the desktop as shortcuts, I can access the win98 computer and files/folders/printers. Vice versa on the win98 computer. So, obviously the stuff is there, but I can't see it in the 'My Network Places'. Can I locate where these files are kept and copy them to the relevant places or am I clutching at straws. I don't want to use shortcuts to network my system.
So close yet so far.

[monkey_1]

-Check the cable
-Can you connect from a Command prompt?

Type net use R: \\PC1\mshome

-Make sure the WinXP firewall is disabled in the services console: Startup--&gt;Run--&gt;services.msc--&gt;look for the firewall service and disable it

<font color=orange>Mono</font color=orange>

[Kansai]

I have checked the cable with a continuity tester and it is OK. I have made up another crossover cable and it still does the same thing.

I typed in net use R: \\PC1\mshome in start\run on both computers. On XP the c:/win32/net.exe box appears with nothing in it and dissappears. The Win98 comes up with ERROR 53: The computer name specified in the network path cannot be located. Make sure you are specifying the computer name correctly, or try again later when the remote computer is available.

When you say connect to a command prompt do you mean Start\All Programs\Accessories\Command Prompt? If yes, then I can.
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\User&gt;net use R: \\PC1\mshome
System error 53 has occurred.
The network path was not found.
C:\Documents and Settings\User&gt;

Windows XP firewall is disabled in services.msc

I can access the other computer through the run command, and same for the other computer.

[The_Dude]

If you can ping the other PC then the cable should be good to go. I don't think you need DNS, neither PC will provide it. Did you enter the opposite PC's ip in as the default gateway? I personally wouldn't try to share the whole hard drive. You're just asking for problems doing that. I would just create a shared folder on each PC and then set the permissions. Also if you don't have the same user account on both PC's, with the same username and password, you will get prompted for a password when trying to look at the other PC's shared folder. You have file and print sharing installed and bound to Tcpip on both PC's, yes?

PC performance buffs have long measured hardware advances using a few simple metrics: Is it faster? Is it bigger? Does it have more blinky lights?

[master037]

You did well except one thing
the starting adddres for lan IS 192.168.1.1 and not 192.168.0.1. just change zero (0) with some number and everything should be fine. Another thing to look out is to be in equal workgroup and to enable file sharing... that is for seeng each other on the net, but to acces files you need to create on both computer user with administrative privileges and with the same pass. then you use the same pass and same username on same workgroup and enjoy gaming or whatever you doing... Regards.