TCP/IP home networking tutorial

I had this same problem untill now. (settup was correct, netbeui enabled on both computers, shared files properly, etc.), and kept - from win 98 - getting the message "no permission to acess this resource".. problem solver was to map the shared drive of Win XP. Not sure it would be helpfull for everyone cause i asure you the earlier setup (same home network, sam pc, minor changes) worked without this but maybe someone finds it useful.

I have the same problem XpPro notebook & Win98se on tower. Both access internet through a linksys router to cable modem. from the notebook can share files back and forth with the tower, also can use both printers on tower from the notebook, but on the tower cannot see anything on network neighborhood. Everything pings out ok. Two days ago I lost printer and file shareing from xp to 98se and found that in Zonealarm somehow the ip's had been switched xp had been a$$igned in ZA 192...100 and win98 ...101 Somehow ip's had switched on the machines, I fixed it by a$$igning a range 192.168.1.100 - 101 in ZA trusted zone on both machines, now am back to original problem of 98 maching not seeing xp. This seem to be a common issue between xp and 98.

I've looked allover the web for a step by step guide to home networking and just came out confused. I even thought of buying a book for 20 bucks, but as I was reading it in the bookstore I found it too overwhelming. Thanks for explaining things in a simple to understand format.
thanks!
Sue