Some folks have trouble networking their Windows XP computers with a legacy Windows 9x platform. Well, it can be done, but it's a little tricky. Remember, this will be a simple peer-topeer setup, and you must have matching workgroup names on all computers being networked. Also, remember to configure both platforms with the same protocol, preferably TCP/IP. Make sure your usernames and passwords match. On a Windows 98 system, it is best to manually assign an IP address by accessing your network properties setup, then enter an IP address in this range: 192.168.x.x with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. You can PING both computers in command line to verify their connections.

For File and Printer Sharing, the feature is already installed by default in Windows XP. For Windows 9x, the feature must be installed manually. Remember, a username and password must be defined to access other computers on a peer-to-peer network. For more information, visit Microsoft's knowledge database related article.

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