[andrewas]

Sounds like the laptop isnt setup for the right IP address, subnet mask and gateway. How you fix this depends on the network.

If you have a router, then turn everything onto DHCP resolution. For XP, go into network connections, bring up the properties for the Ethernet adapter, bring up the properties for the TCP/IP protocol, make sure the 'obtain IP address automaticly' box is checked. For win98, bring up the properties for network neighborhood, bring up the properties of the TCP/IP protocol bount to the ethernet card, and make sure the same box is checked.

If you dont have a router, its a little more complicated but still doable. With no router there is no reliable way for autoconfiguration to set up a network. (I know, I know, but the day I trust a microsoft algorithm to set up a peer to peer network and get it right will never come). Same screen as before, but now we have to give it the numbers by hand. Gateway in the following refers to the computer that is sharing the internet connection, if you arent using internet connection sharing you can ignore those sections.

Ip address - 192.168.0.1, the second machine gets 192.168.0.2 and so on

Subnet mask - 255.255.255.0 for all machines

Default gateway - this depends on how you set up the network. If the internet is visible only on one machine, leave this blank. If one machine is using internet connection sharing, put the IP address of that machine in here.

DNS - Again, this one is only for the internet. The gateway will fetch it from the ISP when it connects. The other computers will need to be given it by hand. The programs ipconfig and winipcfg (run them from a DOS prompt) will give the address if you run them while the gateway is connected.