Hi,

What is the simplest way to reliably link a PC running Me to one running XP ?

I'd like to a share a printer and exchange files from time to time between the two.

The two PC's are in two different rooms about 15 yards apart.

The simplest / most reliable way is to cable the two PCs up to a network hub/switch/router. You'll need a network card in both PCs or a network (LAN) port built onto the motherboards. You can use the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard to configure the settings on your XP system and that I think that that wizard will also allow you to create a disk that you can put into your Windows ME system to configure that one as well.

Most people these days are going down the wireless networking route. You still need a wireless network card (or USB wireless network adaptor) and a wireless network switch/router but the big benefit is that you don't have to run cables between it all. It can be a bit more troublesome to set up though.

Hope that helps

Thanks,

I was also looking at these USB cables that have a built in electronic bridge between them) as I wont be transferring data frequently between the two PC's.

Seen one on Amazon at about 20 quid but only USB 1. Unfortunately I haven't see much more
information about them.

I've used a USB link cable before - it's cheap and, theoretically, simple. In reality, I found it to be very temperamental and I've heard reports of others finding them unreliable as well. Once you do get it working, USB 1.1 is very slow in comparison to a wired network but this isn't an issue if you only want to transfer a few small files. If you're planning on copying your entire music or video collection, for example, where the files would be large, it could take a long time.

A cheap wired network switch and a couple of cables from an IT supplier shouldn't cost much more than the USB cable (check out the D-A-L auctions area for really cheap second-hand network cables).