Ok. I am obviously too stupid for networking.
I’ve got things halfway set up. My desktop and laptop can both connect to the internet, and my laptop can access my desktop. Not through the “standard” method of using the network places panel or anything, but manually: if I click Run -> \xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (the x’s being the IP address of my desktop on the local network), I can get to the desktop.
So. If I have to get it working in only one direction, laptop to desktop is preferred, so at least I’m on the right track. But I’d really like to get it working in the opposite direction as well.
Anybody out there have ideas as to what setting I might have wrong?
check a firewall on the laptop maybe? xp has one built in that might be turned on and blocking the connection from the desktop
Are the laptop and desktop on the same workgroup?
Yes, they’re on the same workgroup, at least I put in the same thing via the network setup wizard. I thought that might be a problem, so I just left it at the default “MSHOME” group for now. The desktop can view the group, and lists both the desktop and laptop. But the laptop can’t see the group and says it can’t access it — it may not have permissions, or something.
Also, I can’t get to my laptop from my desktop by doing the \xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx thing either. Somehow the permissions are all wrong.