HELP PLS, no idea what is wrong. cant connect my Vista to my XP via LAN

ok before i start, i must admit; i suck with computers..
anyways
i wanted to play a LAN game with someone but it didnt work. i asked for help other places and they asked me if i was able to even share files using LAN..

and.. i just dont know how to get that done.
i have been looking at soo many posts and google links, but i still cant get it to work

this is what i have done and tried:

both firewalls are off, they are connected to a modem via LAN caples.
the second time i tried, my vista was also connected to the internet via a dial up modem.. i wanted to see if atleast i could get internet from my vista over to my xp but that didnt work.

anyways
on my Vista, in "Network and Sharing Center" the LAN network is there, and its called "unidentified network(public network)" and underneath it says Access: Local only Connection: Local area network.
on my XP, the LAN connection is also connected..
on the modem, their ports are lighting, so basicly they are connected to each other.

so now when i try to share a file from my vista over to my xp;
right click on file = Share.. = now here is the problem. i cant find anything to do with LAN. but it says that i should choose one of the users of the computer.. so maybe i cant choose the LAN? but i should be able to?
maybe its because i need to "create" a network where i can then configure it to use the LAN modem... but i dont know how to =(

on my XP.. when i go to my network places, i see alot of folders that i am sharing.. lol .. .. im so lost

however, long time ago someone already helped me share some stuff from my vista to xp. but i cant get in any contact with him and when he did it, he hardly explained it to me. i remember that he did alot of stuff on my vista.. so im guessing thats where the problem is.

i read some stuff aabout vista's "publicj folder" but all that i understood from mine, is that i can enable it to share between users on the vista.. and not to the other network.. if there even is LAN network?

im really sorry if i may sound negative, but i have tried for about 5 hours now.. (not in a row, with breaks ofcourse

help would be 10000x appriciated.
cos if i can get my file sharing to work, im one step closer in fixing my main problem lol..

thanks so much in advanced
ktadie

Have you tried linking the two computers together with normal networking cables. You will not need modems to do this just the networking card. Make sure that both computers are on the same workgroup. The ip ranges also have to be similar.

For more info look at,
Windows Vista Networking

how do i get them on the same workgroup? =(((
edit:

here is a screen "network conections" "network folder" and "Network and sharing center" from my vista.. i hope that the pic will make it abit clearer.
sry for double post.

Right click MyComputer, then "properties", then "remote system", then "computer name", "change", then put in the names.

All the computers on your LAN should have the same workgroup name,and different system names.

Dont give up. For me, it seems that about 90% of the time computers almost connect themselves. Then the other 10% takes a week. The problem is that so much has to work right--cables, network adapters, protocols, addresses, permissions, routers, OSs. Any one thing wrong, it is just broke. It gets easier, particularly after you get one connection working. Then you can try incremental tweaks to improve things.

ok, i changed the workgroup name to the same one. but it still dosnt work argh..
its as if, my vista for some reason, cant find or get access to my other computer. i took some more screens: i went through all the windows-fix-it-up/Diagnous

I suppose it is cheating, here on a Vista forum, to suggest trying the XP computer, and running the little "Setup a Home of small office LAN" wizard in Network connections?

I have a home network, 1 Vista machine 3 xp machines and can access them all from Vista. Make sure there all on the same workgroup, next instead on using the Network shortcut use the Computer shortcut. Once that window opens right click in it and choose Add A Network Location follow the wizard's instructions and and you will be good to go for accessing the xp machines from the Computer shortcut instead of the Network shortcut.

Hope this helps

meh, i did that on my xp..
but the problem is my vista :S how do i create a network/workgroup using LAN?
all i can do is make a damn internet connection or wireless connection :S

Try this.
Click on network under the start menu.
Click on add a wireless device.
Now click on add a wireless device using a flash drive.
Now follow the onscreen instructions for whichever choice you make.
I am thinking that your ip address as so far out the computers are not talking to each other.