Computer people....HELP!

[Not_Giving_Up]

I'm trying to get a computer running Windows 98 SE and another one running Windows XP to talk to each other. I've never done this before, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. They both have Ethernet cards in them, and are connected together by an Ethernet cable. They both have the same Workgroup name, and they have unique names. My XP machine says a cable is unplugged. It's not, and it's a brand new cable, so I have no reason to think it's bad. What am I missing?

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

1. You need a special cable... a crossover cable

unless they are both going to a router. If going to each other, you need to use crossover.

Like this:
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Code=BKN+A3X126-7YLM&JRSource=google.datafeed.BKN+A3X126-7YLM

Crossover cables are wired differently than Standard Ethernet cables...

[Not_Giving_Up]

4. A crossover cable???

This is a new one on me. Can you get these anywhere? Does it say "crossover"??

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

5. I edited post with link....

You can also make one:
http://www.makeitsimple.com/how-to/dyi_crossover.htm

A crossover cable connects two Computers by reversing their respective pin contacts, eliminating the need for a Hub

[Not_Giving_Up]

6. What's the difference between a crossover cable and the one I have now?

I looked at the make your own, trust me, I'm just not that good.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

7. See this:

A crossover cable connects two Computers by reversing their respective pin contacts, eliminating the need for a Hub

[Not_Giving_Up]

10. OK

Darn it, I just need to get some info off of one on to the other...thought this would be a no brainer....silly me!

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

11. The crossover cables are cheap.... call some places tomorrow to see

if they carry...

[Not_Giving_Up]

12. I had the hard drives slaved once, and copied the files that I needed

The XP machine I got from my parents, and it had issues, so I ended up restoring to factory settings. I tried to slave the hard drives again, and I kept getting a message about a buffer overrun. Maybe I'll try slaving again.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

13. Don't give up.... that's totally not like you!

ok.. good luck with that.

[last1standing]

8. A crossover cable has the wires arranged differently on each end.

Go to CompUSA, BestBuy, or better yet, your local computer shop and ask for one. Any of those places should keep them in stock.

[qnr]

9. What you have now has all the wires running in parallel -- pin 1 on

one end ends up at pin 1 on the other, with a crossover cable, the wire attached to the transmit pin on one end, goes to the receive pin on the other end, among other things.

[burrowowl]

14. How can you connect 3 or 4

computers through ethernet wall sockets without a router or server?
Is it possible?

[lpbk2713]

17. Yes it can be done but not all simultaneously.

If you have a patch panel at one central location where all the computers feed from then you can use a crossover cable to tie computer "A" to "D" or "B" to "C". Not a very efficient method but it can be done.

[qnr]

2. What type of cable? Crossover?

[Floogeldy]

3. The 98 SE computer is not trained to recognize the XP computer

I just made that up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. The crossover cable is probably color-coded

Although lan cable coloring is not universal, it's ALMOST there. Your crossover cable will probably be ORANGE in color. Do NOT let some uninformed saleschild try to sell you a "patch" cable-- that's just another name for a regular lan cable.

Once connected, don't forget to activate file and print sharing in your Win98 machine, and also share any folders on your XP machine you want your Win98 machine to see. In Win98, go to Control Panel, then Networking. That's where you activate sharing. Once activated, just go to My Computer and right-click on any folder you desire to share. The Sharing option will be there.

[ET Awful]

16. If you hold the two plugs of a crossover cable side by side

you will note that the wires (each color coded) do not go to the same pins on each end. This is the only reliable way to ensure that it's a crossover cable if it's not clearly labeled as such.

It's VERY easy to spot since all the small wires are color coded (orange, orange and white, green, green and white, etc.)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

18. Regular network cable will work if both are connected to a hub or router.

This will make the whole operation a lot simpler and less painful.

This hardware is incredibly cheap these days. You can probably buy an adequate hub or router for 20-30 bux, 40 tops. Not much more than spending 8 bux on special crossover cable. When you think about spending a day tearing your hair out trying to do this, it's worth the money...

[Allenberg]

19. Here's a decent rule of thumb.

Ethernet cables are usually grey, crossover will 99% of the time be yellow.

If I'm wrong, someone please let me know. This has just been my personal experience.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

20. Sorry.

I have lan cables that are red, black, blue, yellow, and white. I've never seen a crossover cable that was not orange. (I repair computers and set up home lans for a living.)