I've always used one computer only at any given time for the the best part of 15 years but recently, I find that -
1 - I'm getting fed up of poor performance from a computer that is usually jam packed with about a zillion drivers and items of software - they tend to impair the performance of the computer as a whole and make it that little bit more prone to a potential screw ups.
2 - if a pc decides to go belly up (as mine has on several occasions), your left in the lurch.
My computer is (was) primarily a games machine and the specs reflect this so I made the decision to purchase a second computer to handle non gaming tasks like printing, scanning, internet, and a million other non game uses therefore freeing up valueable resources on the gaming machine.
However, I'd like to be able to transfer data from one to the other so my question is this - whats required to physically connect one computer to another and is any software required for this?

What OS are they running?
What connection method would you like to use and would you like them to share your internet connection?

Start with a network card in each and a crossover ethernet cable. You'd then go into network settings and use the wizard and it should take care of you. If you're on broadband then a router (Linksys BEFSR4 is my favorite) and 3 straight cables (one may come with the router). The router has pretty good instructions on how to get set up. I like the router setup because the router handles your internet connection and keeps the DSL modem connected, cable modems always stay connected anyway.

Stormbringer, I'm currently using w2000 pro.
Tarkus, I'm afraid all of that advice went right over my head - I assumed that as both computers would be directly connected to each other, all that was required was a simple lead to connect both computers together - are these network cards essential?

Well, you can do it with a com port but ethernet cards are much faster and only cost about $10-20 each. With a ethernet card (as that's what I'm familiar with) you'll need a crossover ethernet patch cord which runs about $7. (there are two types of ethernet patch cords, straight through and crossover) You won't need an ethernet card if your motherboard has built in ethernet.

I imagine you could also do it with firewire or USB but I have no idea on what's involved.

you can use a direct connect parallel cable. i got one at compusa for about $15. you connect the comps with this cable and setup a direct connection thru windows (pretty easy, i did it last week) you can transfer files directly. It's not very fast, but it gets the job done. post back if you ever get one and need help getting it going.
-Krugger