Networking directly between two computers in Win XP?

Have a look at this http://www.wown.com/

" MS" wrote in message
...
Although fairly computer literate, I am pretty ignorant as far as networks
go. So, sorry if the following question seems like a "dummy" question.

Two laptops, both running Windows XP Home Edition. Both have built-in
network adapter cards and jacks for a network cable.

Can they be networked, for transferring files between them, by connecting
them to each other directly with a network cable, without any additional
network hardware?

If so, how do you set it up? I tried to do it, connected them, used the
"Add
New Connection" wizard, but couldn't get it to work. Always got an error
message like "network cable is unplugged", although it was plugged in to
both laptops.

If it's possible, please tell me how to do it.

Does it matter what kind of male-male network cable--Cat 5e, Fast Cat 5e,
Cat 6?

Thank you for your input,
Mike

Hi Tony,
In XP it should be fairly simple, as the Network Connection Setup =
Wizzard also supports those direct link options. (Sorry don't know how =
that little helper is correctly called and which options to use, as I'm =
only familiar with the German XP version.)
However, you must of course use a cross-over LAN cable. Hold both jacks =
of your cable next to each other, there may not be the same wire colors =
sequence. As your network adaptors likely support 100Mbit/s it may be a =
good idea to use a good quality though it shouldn't matter too much for =
a short pt-to-pt link. Same at far lower speed can of course be achieved =
with parallel or serial so called Lap-Link cables.
hth
Gert
--=20
Greetings from peaceful "old Europe"

"Tony Thompson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag =
...
Have a look at this http://www.wown.com/
=20
" MS" wrote in message
...
Although fairly computer literate, I am pretty ignorant as far as =
networks
go. So, sorry if the following question seems like a "dummy" =
question.

Two laptops, both running Windows XP Home Edition. Both have =
built-in
network adapter cards and jacks for a network cable.

Can they be networked, for transferring files between them, by =
connecting
them to each other directly with a network cable, without any =
additional
network hardware?

If so, how do you set it up? I tried to do it, connected them, used =
the
"Add
New Connection" wizard, but couldn't get it to work. Always got an =
error
message like "network cable is unplugged", although it was plugged =
in to
both laptops.

If it's possible, please tell me how to do it.

Does it matter what kind of male-male network cable--Cat 5e, Fast =
Cat 5e,
Cat 6?

Thank you for your input,
Mike


=20