Hello there, I am a complete noob at networking computers, my knowledge of computers is alright though.
So i bought a laptop a few weeks ago, works great and last night i just thought hey i wonder if could connect it up with my old desktop.
Both are running windows XP

So i've been trying to get them to connect to each other (I have some sort of yellow cable that plugs into each ones network card, the cable came with my wireless router.)

So here is my set up

Internet>wireless>laptop>cable>desktop

So my router is upstairs, no other computers are connected, I have a wireless laptop which is connected wirelessly to the router which is going fine, and now i've tryed to connect my desktop pc which doesnt have internet, to my laptop and it isnt working.

First of all i tryed using XP's "Set up a home or small office network" wizard which seemed to work but the laptop just wont communicate with the desktop.
The desktop computer seems fine but on my laptop it always shows the "This connection has limited or no connectivity".

So i've tryed un installing and disabling each device over and over, nothing has worked. I've un installed the drivers and then downloaded the latest drivers, that still doesnt work.

I think the problem may lye somewhere in the IP addresses used by each computer, but i have no idea how to change the IP address of one computer (e.g. if both have the same ip address that could be a problem?)

So i ask the humble tech people here to help me out!
Thank you very much!

Laptop network card = realtek RTL8139/810X
Desktop network card = SiS 900-based PCI fast ethernet adapter
Both run windows XP

Laptop specs:
-intel duo 1.5ghz processor
-2.0ghz ram
-Intel chipset

Desktop specs:
-Pentium 4 3.0ghz processor
-1.5ghz ram
-Geforce 5500+ graphics card

setup:

Hi
I don't believe your drawing! Both machines should connect to the router direct.
some basics:
The router will issue the IP addresses if DHCP is enabled. You should check that the IP address for each PC is set to automatic. (Do this by opening the connect to or network connections box - right click on the network connection > properties > go to TCP/IP and set IP and DNS to auto).
Next - each machine on the network must belong to the same network - go to control panel > system > computer name and change the workgroup name to make it the same on all network PCs - keep it simple, something like dudenet. Click OK. You will have to reboot after changing this.
Next each machine has to have a shared resource to be visible to others - easiest is to right click on a folder in my documents and share it. Just share it.
With any luck, this should work - if not, let us know!

Well i tryed everything you said, exept for about the router.
About the "I dont believe", well my desktop isnt connected to the internet (it used to be but i now use the laptop for the internet) also i thought i could share the internet through the network to my desktop.

So anyways yeah i did all that you said, and it seemed to look like it was going to work but now both laptop and desktop say "Limited or no connectivity"
When i click repair it says it cannot be completed because it cannot renew my IP address.

What now?

Btw thank you for your help so far!

limited connectivity usually means a password or IP address problem.
1. In the box you pasted local area connection properties, click on internet protocol TCP/IP and then properties. Make sure it is set to auto.
2. Click start > run and type cmd and then enter. At the prompt type ipconfig and then enter. You should see a list of ethernet adapter details - one should have details such as IP address 192.168.1.2, subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and default gateway 192.168.1.1. These value will change from one setup to another but note the default gateway number.
Go to internet explorer and enter the default gateway number into the browser address line - this should open the management software on the router and that will let you confirm you are connected.
3. For later. Also check the connection settings in Internet Explorer (Tools > Connections > ) are set to never dial a connections and check that the LAN settings are set to auto and other boxes blank.

1) Done that, both computers are set to fully auto
2) On the laptop it says "ipconfig is not recognized as an internal or external command" On the desktop it flashes a few details about the iPs then closes immideatly, i've had this problem before(with it exiting) and i don't remember how i fixed it.
also i know how to get into the router settings (By typing the ip address into the url bar and it comes up with router settings, this works on the laptop but not on the desktop(obviously because desktop isnt connected to the router))
3) I'm using firefox, but i don't think this has anything to do with my connections.

Also when i click repair on both connections they both get stuck on the "renewing IP address"

edit - When one was set to fully auto and one was set to non auto tcp settings, the one without auto on was connecting fine (it seemed).
But now i've clicked auto on both i don't know how to un-auto them because i don't know what Ip address's to input. Just saying that because i think it's worth a try to see if it will work if i un-auto both of them.

edit2 - disregard the thing about the cmd exiting and let me reformat my statement; When i type "ipconfig" into the cmd window it says that it is not recognized as an internal or external command, but when i type in "ipconfig" into start>run it flashes up with ip details and then exits. This happens on both computers.

Ok now i am completely confused, its working because i can change the files in the shared folder... but both still say limited or no connectivity... Well its working so nobody has to help but i still dont understand.