i need help setting up my home network

[V]

ok, i dont know everything about computers, just enough that i can handle most things by myself, but now i need help. my old comp modem got fried by lighting and cant dial out anymore, so since it was from '98, lol, i bought a new comp. However i still want to link up to my old comp for files, programs etc, mainly pics and tech info i have saved for years.

I bought a wired router when i got my new comp. i hooked it all up through the ethernet cards and i cant get it to work right. my new comp is running windows XP and the old one is running windows 98(i think 1st edition). I was told that the win98 may not see the xp comp but the xp will see the 98. i will not be working of the 98 onto the xp, just sharing files while on the XP comp.

The first day i tried it, i did manage to use just AIM on the win98 comp while connected to the internet through the xp comp, but i couldnt manage to set up file sharing. since then i cant get the comps to link again, it says something and acquiring IP address and then it says low or no connection. thats the point at which i need help. so yeah...thats what i'm up to. Id appreciate any advice since computers are not my expertice. thanks.

[JW]

Why not just take the hard drive out of the 98 PC and slave it into the new XP PC and you will have all your stuff on your second drive?

JW

[V]

i have 2 new hard drives in my new comp and 3 in my old comp which are all almost filled

[GP99GT]

im fairly sure its damn near impossible to get an XP computer to see a 98 computer on a network. some kind of different coding they use.

[Fasterthanyou]

Originally Posted by GP99GT

im fairly sure its damn near impossible to get an XP computer to see a 98 computer on a network. some kind of different coding they use.

It's possible. Infact XP can see just about anything. I've got a win95 (installed off of floppies) that can be seen by my XP machines.

What part of the setting up file share are you up too? Have you enabled file sharing like as in you can go into explorer, right click on a directlry or driver and there is a "Sharing" option? Or haven't you gotten to that point yet?
Also, to make certain that the file sharing will work both computers need to be on the same subnet. Default it's 255.255.255.0 for a basic home network. To check your computers, make certain they're both on the same subnet mask and gateways are identical (your router/hub/switch whatever your plugged into). To do this is XP go to run and type cmd. That'll bring up the command prompt, type in "ipconfig" without the quotes and press enter. Do the same thing with the 98 machine except to get to the command prompt I believe you have to enter in command spelled out instead of cmd.

[Koll]

The 98 wont be able to see the XP because 98 runs on FAT32, while XP runs on the NTFS file system.