[iamcenz]

hey im trying to set up a home networking in my house using XPs thingy, what i did was i put 2 NICs in my computer. then i need to hook up my moms so i ran crossover cable to my moms, i think that might be the problem, but everyone said it will work
any ideas?

[Cookie Mobster]

Yeah to directly connect to NICs you need to use a crossover cable. If it isn't working check the cable to see that none of the wires are broken or bent badly. What exactly is your problem are both NICs being loaded by the OS and are they conversing with the wires alright. Check for a flashing light on the back. Sometimes they don't seat in the PCI slot well.

Cheers Sam :)

[iamcenz]

they are detected fine, but my mom cant hit the web, i set us both up under my little workgroup, and nothing. we cant even see each other

[Cookie Mobster]

Can you ping across? If you can try this... go to the command prompt on one system:
C:>net use j: othersystemsIPshared folder
This will force the sharing of data about a share location and map a network drive.

For internet connection open your dial up adapter properties and look for internet connection sharing (location changes depending on other settings). Set your computer as the host (this will reset your IP addr to 192.168.0.1, there is no way to change it without trouble). Net on your mom's computer set the default gateway as 192.168.0.1. In your browser set the default connection to be the ethernet connection with 192.168.0.1 as the gateway.

You should now be able to browse the net with her computer (make sure that her computer is on the 192.168.0.0/24 naetwork)

Cheers Sam :)

[iamcenz]

ummm.... huh?

[Vetritus03]

i think i understand what you said.  you put two NICs in your box because you have cable/DSL coming in there and you want to network to your mom's PC to your second NIC so she can see the internet connection.  right?  well, this approach will be almost impossible.  i spent 2 days trying to get a similar setup working when my friend alfred got cable in his house.  conclusion: router + hub works.  the other never did work.  we even had so called "experts" help us try to figure it out.  we never got it to work.  the hard thing is trying to get your computer to wake up and realize that the two network cards need to pass data to each other.  you should be able to bridge the two connections so you can connect the two subnets.  
from what it looks like is you have essentially 2 networks going.  on one NIC you have your broadband connection working fine.  on the other NIC you have your mom's computer transferring data back and forth to yours.  but the incomming internet isn't getting routed to the second NIC and out to your mom's computer.  try as you might, the built-in windows wizard is just not up to the task of making this happen.  essentially your computer will be acting as router and hub.  M$ figures that 3Com and Netgear and others make these devices already and don't need to make an easy software method to take the place of these things.  can you imagine networking hardware mfgs going after M$ saying that M$ is putting them out business with their OS?  ummm... no.  anywho... where was i?  
bottom line: WindowsNT/2k Server editions have this ability (to route) and it's hard if not impossible to make a client machine do this.  not to mention if your computer is off your mom's computer has no connection to the internet.  and, as this would be software routing it'll slow down your computer slightly (maybe not noticably).  my suggestion: get a router/hub combo thing and you'll be set in about 20 minutes. or, go find yourself an "expert" and i'll wish you luck!