Hardwire 2 computers together - HELP

Hi - my son has 2 state-of-the-art computers, one laptop, one desktop both running XP (I believe home but not sure) - At this point - He really doesn't have an internet connection however he does 'jump on' a friends (legally) once in a while. What he's trying to do is connect the 2 computers so he can get some files.

He went out and bought a cable that plugs into the NIC cards (not a nic cable but one specifically to attach computers using your NIC connection - forgot what he called it).... Anyway, he plugged in the cables to each computer and is have all kinds of problems accessing the computers.

He has named each computer - the Home Network is MSHOME name. You would think that hardwiring a computer through the NIC connection would automagically show the drives on each computer. At times he can SEE the other computer but says he doesn't have permission to access (resource access) - that's one error. He DID enable sharing. His Name when logging on DOES HAVE Administrator rights. WHAT IS HE MISSING? Does there need to be a protocol somewhere? How would he initiate it. Remember, he CAN see the computer - sometimes - and he says he cannot see his desktop from the laptop but CAN see the laptop from the desktop - just can't access.

REALLY, in today's technology - it really should be a push of a button - especially when you have a DIRECT connect (hard wire) - it should be a no-brainer..... Appreciate insight.

Greetings Frant,

It would help to know the full text of the error message and whether or not you're using XP Home or XP Pro.

The problem that your having seems just a typical sharing problem. What you have is two computers connected via a crossover cable without a hub, router, or a switch. There doesn't need to be any other protocol installed. All networking functions are available using TCP/IP. The first thing you need to look at is a firewall that might be blocking the network computer.

With Windows Firewall enabled, go to the Exception tab, and click to check the File and Printer Sharing checkbox. If you've installed a third party firewall program (Norton, McAfee, PC-cillin, eTrust, ZoneAlarm, etc), make sure that it's configured to allow access on the local area network.

Update - I remembered the cable - he's using a PATCH cable - which looks like it needs to be connected to a hub. Seems like he really needs a CROSSOVER cable...... Does that seem like it would be the problem?

He said he got an error message with no number when he clicked on the 'remote' computer.... It said something like...

This computer is not accessible. You might not have permission to use network resource.

Would this error occur if he were not using a crossover cable? Also, does he have to go into TCP/IP settings and enter computer 001 and computer 002? somewhere?????

He's in the US special forces and in Japan so I can find out if he's using MS home vs. Pro when I talk to him again. Doesn't seem like it should make that much of a difference. He turned off his firewall.

It's hard to say without more details.

Yes, you need a crossover cable if you are connecting two computers without a hub, router, or a switch. In fact, if the cable is wrong type of cable it may display a Network Cable Unplugged message in the notication area near the clock which means there isn't a live link to the other computer.

You don't necessarily need to but you can manually assign them an ip address if you wish. When you connect two computers it should automatically assign the computers private ip address in the 169.254.x.x range. Details here.

How to Use Automatic TCP/IP Addressing Without a DHCP Server
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;220874