Connecting my old PC with new....

A year ago I had to get a new PC (XP SP2). The PC I had to replace was networked (hard wire) to an older PC (Win98SE-2000) so that I could access it's 2 HD's. Now that i have the new PC on wireless, I want to hook the new PC to that older PC to access it's drives again. I am not in to networking knowledge as I had someone else originally hook my 2 PCs together earlier.
I want to do this myself, I know that you have to name and set up an IP address on the old PC so the new one can see it and you have to "map" the drives so they can be seen as well.

Is there a simple way to do this, a step-by-step guide perhaps that i could follow and be done right the first time around...???

Thank you!!!!
tarmin8or

 

were they connected directly by a single cable or connected via a hub?

if directly via a single cable i think you'll need another wireless adapter BUT you need to provide a little more info on what networking hardware you have, like modems, hubs, adapaters ect

 

Originally connected from the main PC to a hub, then from hub to the older PC. Can I go from mynew PC directly to the old PC via "blue cable"?

Both PCs have network cards with the plugs available.

Can I connect the 2 PCs and add the older one to a "workgroup" to access the drives???

 

yes you can connect 2 pcs directly using whats known as a cross-over cable (never heard the term blue cable personally) but if you want more than 2 its advisable to use a hub or similar device to connect them all to or you have to bridge network devices and it gets a little complicated

if you wish to use the cross over cable method you need a special cable and some else to guide you on this as ive never done it.