Thanls for the quick reply!

On the "Windows Firewall" dialog's general tab, both the on and off radio
buttons are greyed out - and there's a message at the bottom stating that the
"Windows Firewall is using your domain settings"... (I'm logged in on the
domain account - the firewall has this same setting when I login to the local
machine)

Regardless, under the exceptions tab, I have no program or service named
like "ICMP Ping/echo packets" - how do I add this exception to the list
(clicking add programs reveals no program like "*ICMP*")? Further, how will I
know whick port(s) to open up without creating a security risk for myself?

"Doug Knox MS-MVP" wrote:

Is the Windows firewall enabled? If so, check the firewall exceptions to ensure that ICMP Ping/echo packets are allowed. This setting and other ICMP settings are found on the Advanced tab, ICMP, Settings.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
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" wrote in message ...
I am having trouble getting a connection (ping, with eventual desire to map a
drive) between two machines on XP SP2 - before upgrading to XP SP2 I did not
have this problem.

Here's my set up...
Two laptops with XP SP2, connected via a router. When logging into the
"local machine" on both laptops, neither machine can PING the other. Same
story when I login to both machines on the same domain... what gives.

I know the IP addresses of both machines, subnet mask and such - but I can't
reach one machine from the other... I need help - can someone throw me a bone?