Linking WinXP and Win98

[White Cat]

My mom recently bought a new computer, so I'm trying to transfer her files over from her old one. The two computers are connected via a simple hub, which connects to her DSL modem; both computers can use access the Internet this way without a problem. However, neither computer can "see" the other on the network. Searching for the computer name doesn't help. I previously had the old Win98 computer connected to a Win95 machine with the same setup, and everything worked fine.

The computers have different names and are in the same workgroup. I've tried it with and without having TCP/IP bound to File/Printer Sharing (a bad idea from a security standpoint, which is why I normally keep it turned off), with and without having NetBEUI installed on the XP machine and bound to File/Printer Sharing (NetBEUI is what I used to link the 95/98 setup I mentioned above), with and without the Windows XP firewall turned on, etc.

Any ideas on how to solve this? The two computers' stats are posted below (both are laptops):

Windows 98 2nd Edition
Pentium II 233 MHz
64 MB RAM
4 GB HDD
PC Card network card

Windows XP SP1
Pentium IV 3.2 GHz
1 GB RAM
80 GB HDD
Built-in network card

As a side note, when I tried connecting the network cards directly with the Ethernet cable, I got the "network connection is unplugged" message from WinXP. Is it not possible to connect two computers this way?

[Guy N. Cognito]

1) Are your IP addresses dynamic? (Does your provider give them to you?)
If you are going through theISP's router, you may not have any luck sharing, depends on the isp
And some more information for your general consumtion
a) Windows 98 can't take from XP only the revese, due to their methods of sharing.
b) Try just typing in the other computer's ip address from the XP box. You do this by going Start->Run '\\type your ip address here'
This will allow you to see the other computer.
c) You can change your ip address so that you can share if your isp doesn't allow you share, then return the ip's to dynamic. You can Private message me if you are having any issues.

[White Cat]

Got it working. The first time I installed NetBEUI, I did so directly from the WinXP CD via the "Have Disk" button. The second time, I followed the instructions on the MS website, which say to manually copy the install files to your hard drive first, and the two computers saw each other right away.

BTW, I didn't have any trouble copying to/from WinXP via the Win98 machine, even when the XP machine had its firewall turned on. Interesting...

[Vertigo1]

As a side note, when I tried connecting the network cards directly with the Ethernet cable, I got the "network connection is unplugged" message from WinXP. Is it not possible to connect two computers this way?

Thats because you have to use a special version of cabled called a cross-over cable. The only difference is that the tx and rx wires are reversed on one end. This is to allow two-way communication between two computers without the use of a hub. Using a regular cable is like rolling two rubber balls directly at eachother on a track. Neither ball will make it to the other side.