Elementary: XP A <->B
 

Should be elementary, but I can't get it to work.

Two PCs, both running XP Prof.
Connected with "crossed" Ethernet cable.
Ethernet working correctly on both sides.
Using the doggie to do a "Suchen" on the one, and a "Rechercher" on the other (sorry, "Search" or "Find" I suppose in English, the two beasts talk different languages) will show the "other" computer (with "description", "computer name" and "network name"), so most of the connections seem to be in place.

But no way to get at the files on the "other" computer, either way.

I had this working years ago, on two much older computers, where I got the hard disk of the "other" computer to show up simply as a supplementary drive.

HELP?

CJ

Hmmm. Can't help you directly. I've never done it with a crossover cable, although in theory it should work.

I do it all the time with a router - the machines connect via that, and there's a network for them to talk to. Very easy, and very effective.

Routers are very cheap (I think I paid about a fiver on Ebay for one). The two computers can also share the internet using one.

Just a thought: have you set the files/folders you want to access over the network as "shared"?

It works in practice as well :) , already been there, done that... years ago, on the old computers. It's basically the same as a router with only two computers on the same LAN.
Yes I have, and they show up during the "Search", but then I have no way to get at them from the "workspace" or "network environment" or whatever.

CJ

Forget about searching, just open the other machine directly. Put \\<MACHINE> in the Explorer address bar.

Without a router, it's possible there might be no way of resolving the names - so try the IP addresses directly e.g. \\169.254.xxx.xxx

Dont know if this helps?

- Try and enable GUEST on both systems.
- Make sure connection and file sharing is enabled
- Make sure you have a shared folder

It sounds like the cable is working if you can see the other system, but there are cards out there that dont need a x-over cable, one such is in the xbox 360 that doest not need x-over to connect direct to another eth card on a pc.

The first thing i said usually fixes any of my sharing issues.

You do need to make sure that the one machine is fully booted up before you turn on the other machine too.

Like said, try giving the computer a manual IP address if all else fails.

Remember there is the network wiz too.

We're so used to using friendly names to reference other machines, in place of IP addresses, that we sometimes forget what a real problem it can be. This is even more of a problem when the IP addresses themselves are handed out dynamically (DHCP): if there isn't something keeping track of them (Dynamic DNS), a machine has to be able to broadcast its identity, and other machines have to be able to hear those broadcasts. A home router usually does DDNS at the same time as DHCP, which is why it usually seems transparent. With a crossover cable, you no longer have the router doing those jobs.

I won't go in to more detail than that, except to say: in my home networking environment, with both Windows and Linux systems, I often find myself going back to IP addresses when all else fails. For example, the Windows desktop "server" box has a fixed IP address, and I wrote that address in to the HOSTS file on the Linux netbook - so now the connection from Linux to Windows is no longer reliant on any other factors. The Linux netbook knows where the Windows "server" is, every time.

Thanks everybody, already. I'll try to apply your hints.
(No it doesn't work yet, I'm getting back on it tomorrow.)

bnt,
Thanks. If all else fails... etc.
Slightly O/T, but the sad joke is of course that the cable itself already linked two computers for several years... years ago.
One a Windows 3.1 for Workgroups (100MHz Pentium...), one a Windows 98 ... :)
Turn on one, then turn on the other (you're right about making sure one is booted up before turning on the other one), and then the partitioned hard disk of the one showed up as G: and H: on the other, and C: of the other showed up as J: on the first. Nothing else to do. But this was so long ago I can no longer remember the setup tricks, and they wouldn't really help with XP, anyway. Jeez, those "wizards"... where's Harry Potter when you need him.

At least the "doggie" confirms each recognises the other, so no hardware issue, and possibly no IP address issue either.

CJ