Tech question: kinda noob here
 

okay, I have a laptop with XP, and a desktop with Win98SE. They are both connected to the Internet with a wireless router.

I used the Network Wizard on the XP to set up file sharing between the two.

Used my USB portable storage device to copy the setup file from the XP, and uploaded it to the 98SE.

Everything is supposedly installed.

What I don't get is how do I see my desktop files on my laptop, and my laptop files on the desktop?

Any idea what I am doing wrong?

Make sure your laptop is on the same workgroup as your desktop. Right click My Computer -> Computer Name

beat me to it :)

What you're going to end up doing is opening up your files for everybody on the internet :)

You could run into some problems. Your 98SE machine uses a file system called FAT and your XP machine prolly is using NTFS. The XP machine will be able to read files on the 98SE, but not the other way around.

So let's say you can live with that. BTW if you save those old files on the new XP machine they'll be converted and work just fine in the new system.

OK, that's Issue 1

Another post on the way.

Next we need to talk about that wireless router. If it is fairly new chances are it came setup with a firewall and NAT (Network Address Trasnlation). That makes it harder for people to get in your small network and read all your files. Of course Smokey will have complete access so ya just got to trust him.

Now the techie part. Both computers have to be setup to operate on the network. There are wizards that make that simple. Right click on My Computer and go to properties and then the network tap. This is the big leap -- it should all be intuitive from there.

Best thing is to have a freind (female if at all possible) that knows about networking and these things come over and set everything up for you.

Your router came with instructions. Those will be very helpful. You won't have to guess the defaults like the gateway address (prolly 192.168.0.1 - but this does not hold true on all routers or if someone set it up to a different addy).

A zillion questions could come up. That's why the best choice is to have someone do it for ya.

Well that's a start and others are gonna fill in a ton of blanks I have left out in other posts.

Again the best advice is your freindly techie.

Hope is, your ISP left you with a working network. Can both computers see GFY.com?

If they did, then everything is simple and you can forget my other two posts.

Well, to tell you the truth, there are files on the desktop that I would like access to on the laptop, but the laptop is pretty much bare bones.

I see that I am on the same workgroup (at least it says so, how do I verify that on the 98), where do I go to access the desktop files? Explorer?

first problem...you're using windows 98. the OS is 7 years old. time for an upgrade.

Yes, I am looking at this thread on my desktop, and replying on my laptop

if all fails, format c:

To be honest, I hate XP, and if I could run 98 on my laptop, I would

Make sure you are sharing all the files, folders etc so that you can access them. If you are sure you are on the same workgroup, you can type \\yourcomputer'sname in IE and it will list all the files on that computer that are being shared.

Hey BD...

You are probably going to have to go and turn on file sharing on the 98 box.

If it is already on, then you want to change the properties on the drive(s) you want to get to to shared. (password protect that too)

After that, you should be able to navigate through windows explorer network neighborhood to get to the 98 box.

Okay, now we are getting somewhere . . . now, how do I add folder/files to the shared folder?

Right now, all I am seeing shared is 4 printers and an empty folder

In windows explorer. right click oin the drive you want to share, go to properties, go to the sharing tab. answer the questions, set a password.

Should be all you need to do.

Thanks, I think I am getting this.

thanks to everyone, got it

sorry was gone for awhile... in the grove now or need more help?

Good to go, thanks for the assist. The "right click oin the drive you want to share, go to properties, go to the sharing tab" tip was the one that cleared it up for me.

Now I just have to get used to this.