unable to connect XP and ME

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by dedknight, Dec 10, 2004.

  1. dedknight

    dedknight Private E-2

    Hello everybody. I'm so confused about networking. I'm trying to share files that are on my Windows XP SP2 (Home) tower, with my Windows ME laptop.

    Both computers are Gateways and have ethernet inputs. So I go and buy the cable (LAN FastCAT5e RJ45) and plug it in each computer. I went through the XP Netwok Wizard and made a floppy disk for the laptop (whose cd drive is busted) and ran the setup from the disk. I went through all the steps like naming the computer/workgroup etc. I also went to my "shared" folder in XP and enabled sharing...............................................nothing.

    I searched online even went to Microsoft.com and I'm still lost.

    Is there a better way to connect these two computers like a phone cord or something? Also, I have a dial-up connection right now. The main reason why I'm trying to do this is because the laptop doesn't have an ISP installed and I want to copy the files from my tower to get the laptop online. And because I'm a cheap bastard :cool:

    Any suggestions?


    Thanx in advance


    -dedknight
     
  2. BrokenArrows

    BrokenArrows Sergeant

    connecting via phone cable required a shit load of work. have attemped it many times and failed. it would be all command line work that way.

    well back to the problem at hand. Your system might be sharing the files but each computer is just slow to detect them. Thats the way with my computers. So the way i work is my accessing the shared files via the computers name.

    If you know the computers name

    eg. open any folder. dosent matter what one.

    in the address bar type \\nameofcomputer and hit enter. its really easy.

    if it is actually not set up correctly then this will not work.

    Come to think of it a normal network cable might not work.

    I know if i connect 2 pc's together with my lan cable it does not work but if i get a crossover cable it does.

    Yes thats right you need a crossover cable. forget all thats above until you get a crossover cable or you can make it with the cable you have. but the above will still work when you get it set up.

    Sorry for confusing you.

    Check out the pics. You should be able to buy a crossover cable in the place you got the otherone.

    You can make one with the cable you have if you have the necessary tools. heres how
    http://www.littlewhitedog.com/content-8.html
     

    Attached Files:

  3. dedknight

    dedknight Private E-2

    Thanx for the info and quick response.

    So, I suppose there is a difference between a LAN and a crossover cable? I checked online, and they look the same to me :) I picked the LAN cable at wal-mart (that was probably my first mistake)...I'll try Comp USA or something tomorrow.

    I still don't understand what you said about the adress bar..I don't see one. Can I make it re-appear? Iv'e exhausted what little knowledge I have, and I'm getting frustrated here. Ack

    any & all help is much appreciated

    Aren't copmuters fun? :rolleyes:
     
  4. Nitrowing

    Nitrowing Specialist

    AFAIK, WinME doesn't support QoS - try disabling it for that network connection on the XP machine
     
  5. BrokenArrows

    BrokenArrows Sergeant

    explorer internet explorer its all the same. The place where you type the directory of your webpage or folder.
     
  6. cat5e

    cat5e MajorGeek

  7. Marty4016

    Marty4016 Private E-2

    A regular LAN cable will look just like a crossover cable - but there is a very important difference. The crossover cable does just that - it lets the output of computer A connect to the input of computer B and the output of computer B to the input of computer A. If you connect two computers directly together with a regular LAN cable the input of computer A connects to the input of computer B and it won't work. You use a reguler LAN cable to connect via a hub or router and a crossover cable to connect two computers directly together. I hope this helps.
     
  8. dedknight

    dedknight Private E-2

    Okay. First, I want to thank you all for your help. Although I'm still unable to connect both computers, I am not going to give up yet. I purchased the crossover cable, and went throught all the steps again. I even found this article and tried it twice with no results. Then, I even tried the network setup wizard again - nothing.

    Is there something I'm missing here, like a firewall setting or something? I just want to send songs from the laptop (ME) over to the tower (XP) so I can burn them on a compact disc (CD)...

    please helpeth me! :)

    whoa, I'm a poet and I don't even realize it
     

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