Vista - Vista ICS problems

Hey guys, I'm having some trouble with Vista's ICS feature.

I have a custom built desktop running Vista Home Premium x64
motherboard is Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P
there's 2 wired NICs, one getting internet from my dorm room, the other going out to my other pc

the second is an Asus EEEPC 1000HE, running Vista Business x32

I've tried a myriad of static, dynamic, IPv6 on/off, windows firewall off/on, etc.

ping in CMD gives a "destination host unreachable" on both computers
wireshark doesn't show any traffic going to or from the PCs

I've spent about 3 weeks tinkering with this.

Anyone got any ideas? Thanks in advance!

So you can get the internet but one of the other PC's cannot connect, am I reading this right?

yes sir. my desktop is grabbing internet in my dorm room. i want to use ICS to allow my netbook access to the web as well. However all my efforts have ended in shear frustration...

So at the moment you are trying to connect your EEePC to your desktop or to your other pc? (are you using a wireless router?) If you are connecting to another pc to get their IC, you need to use an ad hoc connection.

Do you have any wireless connections to connect one of your pc's to your EEEPC

i have no routers.

i have 1 desktop.

i have 1 netbook, the eeepc.

i have a plethora of network cables, wifi on the netbook, but other than that, my university's IT department would revoke my rights if i threw in a wireless access point or anything of that nature (they're very fussy when it comes to protecting their ancient and outdated baby).

[Internet]----->[ResidenceHalls]----->[Desktop]----X--->[Netbook]

thats my rudimentary illustration. both computers realize there is a cable connected, but neither will acknowledge each other in terms of IP addressing or networking.

also, while I may eventually use an ad hoc network broadcasted from the netbook for my iphone, that isn't an immediate concern. my main problem is that the netbook and the desktop will not talk to each other at all.

with the PC, update the drivers for the motherboard. Also when you go to "manage network connections" what comes up(on your desktop)? does it even "show" that you have 2 ethernet adapters?

i have already searched for the best drivers available, and all are up to date. network connections shows local area connection and local area connection 2. lac1 has the internet, i tried enabling ics on there, rebooting, etc, lac2 shows cable connected, is in unknown public network, has ip of 192.168.0.1, subnet of 255.255.255.0, which was set by ICS not me. the dhcp server ics is supposed to have doesnt issue an IP to my netbook, i put a static on that of 192.168.0.5 255.255.255.0, default gateway and dns server both pointing to desktop. this does nothing, and leaves me with no networking capabilities.

Also i have been working on this problem for a good 2 weeks now, and gave already gone thru the basic troubleshooting steps (including restarting the machines) to no avail.

run the internet connection again, bridge the network to the other ethernet adapter and set it as adhoc

So just to confirm the cable you're using is from the ethernet port of your pc to the ethernet port of your netbook. If that's the case you need to ensure the cable you're using is a crossover cable.
A standard straight through CAT5 cable won't work.