need help please!!!

hi guys id realy appreciate some help please, iv been working on this for days.

i have connected two of my computers (both runnning on xp pro) with a cross-over ethernet cable.
i keep getting the 'a network cable is unplugged' sign on both of them, the little lights on the ends of the cable wont even come on.

the hardware is fine because if i change it to the modem cable it works but when i try to use my network card for connecting to the other computer it doesn't work.

when i tried connecting the cross-over to a laptop it worked but it doesn't with my other computer, can someone please help me please!!!

PS.ive even tries changes the hardware slot, installing and uninstalling everything, and even tried changing the the card into the other computer.

Try swapping the NIC cards from computer to computer. If one of the NIC cards is bad the problem will follow the bad card.

thanks for the quick reply.

But it didn't help, both NIC's are working fine.
both of them work good when connected to anything else (Modem, laptop, etc.)
but when connected to each other they don't.

you should probably know they're both the same brand, i don't know if that has anything to do with it caus when i use my second NIC to connect to the other PC it doesn't work.

PLEASE i could use more help.

one thing to consider is the age of the cards. older NICs had jumpers on them which is fine if youre using an old card and a newer card..cus the newer card will adjust to what the old one is set on..but if its 2 old cards and the jumpers arent set right there will be problems.

Also, ive come across a few cards that are perfectly fine except they wont work on some motherboards, but others they will. i never understood why tho.

Look into any firmware or driver updates for the type of card you have.

Check the bios on both pc's. Alot of motherboards had options for LAN hardware even though it wasnt onboard, so double check that.

Next try checking to make sure thier isnt an IRQ conflict with other hardware.

Try another cat5 cable. just to make sure its not the cable.

Also try intstalling the NetBios protocol onto those connections.

thats all i can think of in my dealings with networks.

the thing is my mother board accept two NIC's but they dont work on that specific computer, when i try it on a laptop it works.

both my cards are new, i think it might be the software caus it works on the laptop, so mayber you guys can help me out a bit more please.

Do all of the computers have the same O.S. ?

do you use static IP addresses for your computers or not. If you do your two computers might have the same IP address or they might be on a different subnet.
If you use dynamic IP addresses, try giving each computer it own static ip address,
something like 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2 with the subnet 255.255.255.0. And then try pinging one of the IP addresses. Oh ya that reminds me. The first thing you absolutely need to do is go into the run prompt in the start menu, on both computers, and type "ping localhost" (no qoutes), with everything plugged in and on. If it does not say reply from 127.0.0.1 and says something like Request Timed Out, then there is a problem with the NIC on the computer you pinged from. That can range from bad driver to the network being disabled in my network connections in the control panel.

Guys nothing has worked, but theres one thing i want to try...

can i connect pc A to the internet and then connect pc B to pc A using a router or a hub?

so in other words can i access the internet on the first PC using a hub/router?

NOT connecting the modem to the router and then from the router to the two computers.

I mean computer to another cmputer to the internet.

Sorry for repeating myself but its very important i get this working, and i need all the help i can get.

and yes i have the same OS on both PC's.

Thanks a lot.

What is you end goal?

Both computers accessing the internet I assume.

Forget the shared internet and crossover cable stuff; just purchase a-in-one router/switch

Here is a link to get you started.

http://www.netgear.com/products/details/RP614.php

Read the info and look at the picture.

thanks hawkers, im going to look into it, but routers are quite expensive and hubs a re much cheeaper, but i had one already, it connected the the two pcs together, but wouldn't let us connect at the same time.
ill try a router but if there anyway to make the cross-over thing work so i wouldn't have to buy the router, id prefer that.

Quote:

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...routers are quite expensive...

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???

Here is one for 14.99

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...4190&CatId=198

Quote:

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...it connected the the two pcs together, but wouldn't let us connect at the same time...

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Sounds like your ISP will only allow you to have 1 IP address at a time. A router will solve this issue.

More Info:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network8.htm

Make sure the RJ 45 connectors are tightly gripped to the cable.( Bye a RJ 45 tool gripper thing) if not no info will be passed.