You give no information at all concerning how your computers are
connected, what you have attempted to do, or what error messages you
have received. Without more information, try this canned advice from
MS-MVP Malke.
The best and easiest solution is to purchase a wireless router. That way
you get Internet connectivity to both machines and the added benefit of
some more security between you and the Internet. Then you set up your
wireless network securely, and then you set up file/printer sharing.
Below is information about setting up a router and also doing
networking. It looks lengthy but do not be daunted. Setting up a router
and Local Area Network sharing between two computers takes approximately
15 minutes.
A. Router configuration
Setting up a router is quite simple. Normally you run the CD that came
with the router and follow the instructions. If you are running Vista
perhaps the CD that came with the router will not work; I do not know this.
But you can set up the router without a CD. Note that if you have cable
Internet, for the connection you just set the router to do DHCP (or
there may even be a choice of cable for you to select). If you have DSL
Internet, you usually select PPoe and enter the username and password
which you chose when originally setting up the DSL connection. So:
1. Turn off the power to your cable modem.
2. Attach a cat5e ethernet cable (usually provided with the router)
going from the router's Internet/WAN port to the cable modem's ethernet
port.
3. Attach a cat5e ethernet cable going from your computer's network
adapter to one of the ports on the router. If you do not have an ethernet
cable (because you were using USB), you will need to go to the store and
buy one.
4. Turn on the cable modem. After all the lights are on, turn on the router.
To configure the router:
Have a computer connected to the router with an ethernet cable. Examples
given are for a Linksys router. Refer to your router manual or the
router mftr.'s website for default settings if you do not have a Linksys.
Open a browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox and in the
addressbar type:
http://192.168.1.1 [enter] (this is the router's default IP address,
which varies from router to router so check your manual)
This will bring you to router's login screen. The default username is
left blank and the Linksys default password is "admin" without the
quotes. Enter that information. You are now in the router's
configuration utility. Your configuration utility may differ slightly
from mine.
Click on the Administration link at the top of the page. Enter your new
password. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT. Re-enter the
password to confirm it and click the Save Settings button at the bottom
of the page. The router will restart and present you with the login box
again. Leave the username blank and put in your new password to get back
into the configuration utility.
Now click on the Wireless link at the top of the page. Change the
Wireless Network Name (SSID) from the default to something you will
recognize. I suggest that my clients not use their family name as the
SSID. For example, you might wish to name your wireless network
Click the Save Settings and when you get the prompt that your changes
were successful, click on the Wireless Security link which is right next
to the Basic Wireless Settings link (where you changed your SSID). If
you have a newish computer, you will be able to set the Security Mode to
WPA2-Personal. Do that and enter a passphrase. The passphrase is what
you will enter on any computers that are allowed to connect to the
wireless network. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT.
At this point, your router is configured and if the computer you were
using to configure the router is normally going to connect wirelessly,
disconnect the ethernet cable and the computer's wireless feature should
see your new network. Enter the passphrase you created to join the
network and start surfing.
*****
B. File/printer sharing
Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as
files and folders:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx
For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).
Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including
a stateful firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls