Hi. I have a desktop and laptop both running XP SP2. They were networked (but
it didn't always work that well, although the laptop could always connect to
the internet). I recently reformatted the desktop and reinstalled all my
software (genuine). I have disabled norton and sp2 firewalls. The desktop
connects to an adsl modem and the laptop connects by crossover cable to the
desktop. I do not have a hub/router. When I try and run the networking
wizard, and select the host computer connects directly to the internet, it
will not complete. I cannot ping the guest computer. I have checked tcp/ip
etc is working, etc. Can anyone please help? (Ps not too technical please, I
am not that cluey about networking)

Just an addendum. I changed the crossover cable from the desktop to the modem
itself (which is connected to the desktop by usb) and now it works
perfectly...don't ask me why!

"heather" wrote:

> Hi. I have a desktop and laptop both running XP SP2. They were networked (but
> it didn't always work that well, although the laptop could always connect to
> the internet). I recently reformatted the desktop and reinstalled all my
> software (genuine). I have disabled norton and sp2 firewalls. The desktop
> connects to an adsl modem and the laptop connects by crossover cable to the
> desktop. I do not have a hub/router. When I try and run the networking
> wizard, and select the host computer connects directly to the internet, it
> will not complete. I cannot ping the guest computer. I have checked tcp/ip
> etc is working, etc. Can anyone please help? (Ps not too technical please, I
> am not that cluey about networking)