Alright, lets see if I can explain this so I don't sound like an idiot.

I have an HP desktop PC running Vista SP2 on the second floor of my house. The desktop is hardwired thru CAT5 to the basement into a Motorola 3800 series gateway with built-in wireless modem. I have U-Verse internet thru AT&T if that matters.

I also have an HP laptop running XP SP3 on the first floor of my house. The laptop is a wireless connection thru the same gateway in the basement.

I am wanting to configure some sort of network or share where I can pull documents/pics from the desktop to the laptop to attach to e-mails and possibly print to the HP Printer wired to the desktop. I have read some of the other posts on here and found where it was said that Vista's network wizard is no good and that a computer with XP has a difficult time "talking" with a Vista computer. Which I have found to be true, thru 3 hours of playing with this last night and getting nowhere. Am I out of luck here?

Please help, I know enough about computers to be dangerous, but I know NOTHING about networking, let alone networking between different OS's.

Let me know if I have left out any valuable info, which I'm sure I have.

Thanks in advance!