this is a real crappy question

how do i connect an xp laptop and an xp desktop using a cross over network cable through the network cards?

thanx

 

Exaclty as you said. You take a cross over cable and plug it into both computers.

Once they are connected since you arn't using a router you'll have to assign each computer an IP address. So simply go to the nic settings on each computer and fill it in like this.

You can open the settings by right clicking "my network places" selecting properties, then right click your connection (most likely "local area connection 1") and select properties again. From their select Internet protocol (tcp/ip) and press the properties button. Now just fill it in. Don't worry about the dns settings, you don't need to fill it in at all.

Computer
IP: 192.168.0.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1

Laptop
IP: 192.168.0.2
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1

You don't really need to fill in the default gateway stuff for it to work, but I always do. Once you've done that you're all connected and good to go. You can play games with the two computers or share files and printers if you like.