I have as computer 1 a Vista home pro machine connected to wired cisco cable/dsl router switch BEFSR41 V4.3 router connected to cable modem, router connected to computer 2 an old compaq OS windows 98 . I can connect to internet with both machines however the 98 machine is slower. I cannot share files or printers. I downloaded network magic 7day trial version from cisco it does not seem to know that the 98 machine is there. Have been unable to locate a patch at cisco or data for that matter on what operating systems network magic supports.

WHAT GIVES? any one know of software fix. OR KEY PRESS BY KEYPRESS instructions to fix problem remember your not dealing with a computer whiz Networking is fun when it comes to Vista and Win98!

Make sure you have the same IP scheme, for example: 192.168.0.XX, where XX is an unique number per computer.

Ensure you have the same Subnet Mask, Gateway, and DNS IP addresses.

To find this, right-click on your taskbar network icon (bottom right near the clock), open and select 'Local AREA CONNECTION Status' and then 'Details'. IP address should be the same on all except the last two digits which must be unique. If you think they are wrong, REPLY so we can advice how to fix it.

Attempt to ping between the machines through there IPs.
Start > Run > type 'cmd' (without quotes), enter.
type ping (followed by the IP address or name, for example: 192.168.0.1) and press enter.

Make sure you have the same workgroup name (watch for trailing spaces).

If there are 3rd party firewalls installed, check they allow networking discovery and sharing.

Ensure Win98 has file sharing enabled and is sharing a directory or printer.

Don't use NetBEUI if your trying to connect Win98 through that as Vista doesn't have it.

Thanks will get back to you in a day or two with results.