the two computers i'm trying to transfer files between are

my laptop XP home - zone alarm firewall - desktop pc's ip is trusted
my desktop XP pro - no firewall - theres one in my router

both have static IP's yet i cannot ping between them

both are part of the same domain.

i have a decent lengh xover and both have 10/100 lan cards would this be easier?

my bad - was the firewall on my laptop - it lied
how come i couldn't ping my desktop from my laptop though - that has no firewall - as far as i can see.

Try to disable Zone Alarm, and try just to be sure. I'm not too keen of Zone Alarm myself.

I can't be sure, but I think Zone Alarm stop's incoming and outgoing packets also.

i'm not used to xp pro, i'll attempt to configure the firewall in that.

any tips for setting up thw wifi connectivity

Hi ScORTED,

Sorry, I didn't understand your last.. I'm having a blonde moment. What specifically do you need to know (I thought you wifi was already setup)?

not a blonde moment - bad question on my part.

Just some pointers on getting drives mapped for file sharing between xp home and xp pro - i have little/ no experience of pro

Oh, ok.

To share files:
On PC 1:
- Right click on the drive or folder you want to share.
- Click on Sharing and Security
- Click on Share this folder on the network and give it a share name that you will remember.

On PC 2:
- Right click on My Computer
- Click on Map Network Drive
- Select the drive letter you want.
- Folder will be in the format of \\IP Address or HostName\Share Name
For example: \\192.168.0.2\sharedfiles
- Click on Reconnet at logon


Similar to share a printer:
On PC 1:
- Right click on the printer you want to share and click on Sharing
- Click on Share this printer
- Give the printer a share name you will remember

On PC 2:
- Click on Add a printer, Next
- Select A network printer..
- You may be able to browse for you printer, if not, click on Connect to this printer (Name). Format will again be \\IP Address or HostName\Share Name
- Finish the wizard, you won't need a driver disk as all the files it needs will be taken from the host!