I have shared several resources on my Win 98 PC and a few things on the XP PC. I have not looked in to the NET command thanks for the pointer. I have added all the IP adresses of the network into the Zone alarms trusted zone on the XP PC by putting in the range, I have not done the same with the Win 98 PC's but I will give that a go.
Could it be the router switch box needs the RIP turning on or should I add in all the PC's manually somewhere, I have noticed that neither of the Win 98PC names are listed against their corresponding IP/MAC adress in the router and I wonder if that could be the problem. I have left the router to determine the internal IP adresses itself at the moment