i need lan help

[uLtra_nOOb]

here's the deal.
i need to connect two computers (running win xp). i got patch (utp) cabel. i connected them together. what do i need to do.
step by step please.

[lesrae]

Is it a normal cable or a crossover?

To connect 2 pcs using normal cable you need a hub type device to allow the machines to talk, if it's a crossover cable they can talk directly to each other.

If it's a crossover cable and you simply want to connect the 2 machines together (ie no internet sharing etc), the way I do it is to go to 'Control Panel/Network and Internet Connections/Network Connections' and right click on the network card and select 'Properties'.

Highlight the TCP/IP entry and click on properties, then set 'Use the following IP address' and set the address as 192.1.1.2 and the subnet mask as 255.255.255.0, leave the default gateway blank

Repeat on the other PC, but set it's address to 192.1.1.4, and the two machines should be able to see each other, to test it run up a cmd prompt and type 'ping 192.1.1.4' or 'ping 192.1.1.2' depending on which machine you're on!

There are much more elegant and probably more efficient ways to do this, but this works for simply connecting 2 machines up..

[uLtra_nOOb]

thx