i greatly appreciate everyone's help and patience... as a total newbie to networking i was totally lost... your help guided my online research to fill in the gaps...
one thing i discovered is that "cmd" doesn't exist for win98, you must use "command", cmd works fine for winxp
my dad sent home his newer laptop with the crossover lan cable so i could figure this out on my computer at home... so here is what happened...
having figured out how to ping my own computer, i tried hooking up the two computers, but pinging couldn't find each other
so, i followed the most comprehensive help site that i found...
being sure both firewalls were off
my-computer-properties: names were different, workgroup was the same
Network-connections, Local-area-connection, Internet-protocol-properties:
IP = 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.2 for the other computer)
subnetmask = 255.255.255.0
pref-dsn = 208.67.222.222
alt-dsn = 208.67.220.220
i then tested with ping, and they found each other
i then tested outpost, and they found each other!! :)
i tested various variables of computers turning on and off, cable plugged in one way or the other, and unplugging and plugging cable back in... no matter how i tried to foil their ability to find each other, each time the 2 outposts on the 2 computers joined and allowed joined play!! :)
... so now i have to take the laptop back to my dad's and set him up with his computer... theoretically, i think that if i repeat what i did, it should work... i'll be over sunday to do it, i'll let you know how it goes!!
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now, he bought a swich box for the possibility of wiring more than 2 computers together for gameplay... i'm guessing this will require more than what i did with just the 2 computers and a crossover wire... i reckon i won't bother with that until i need to cross that bridge... i want to first make sure i can set my dad up with the 2 computers - which will bring him great relief!! :)