networking xp & Vista

ok all you supergeeks out there, I know this may be networking 101 for you, but to me it's nightmare time....hehe...I've never set up a home network before, but here's the equipment I've got already, I'm running a Dell desktop with xp home my wife's got a brand new dell laptop running vista home. The desktop's wired to a wireless router then to our cable modem, the laptop's got a built in wireless network card. All this works great btw.

How do I create a network so that we can access each others computers, adjust files and also for the laptop to use the printer attached to the desktop.

Any help would be most appreciated, I've looked thru all of the networking threads but nothing specific to what I need.

 

Hi daffy1000,
The main thing to establishing a network that shares is that all the computers are in the same "workgroup" whatever it is named. Then you pick the items (ex. folders, My Documents, videos, etc.) to be shared. Generally right clicking a folder and choosing "sharing" gets you there.
If you are running a software firewall, you might have to go into the configuration and place your network in the trusted zone. (It depends on the firewall itself as to what you exactly have to do.)
cat5e, one of the gurus here, has a post that is full of information that will help you out. It can be found HERE.
Also, cat5e has a site that is dedicated to networking - EZLAN.

Hope this helps.

 

thx for the info lbmest, I'll give it a go over the weekend....that way I've got time to put things right if I mess it up.....hehehe, once again, thanks for your time.