Hi

I am trying to connect two computers together to transfer files / practice domain management.

I have tried connecting them at their NIC cards with cat 5 cable, setting the ip addresses under network connections > properties > tcp ip > for the adapters static and configuring them with 10.0.0.4 and 10.0.0.5 addresses, and then trying to ping them but it doesn't work.

I've also tried leaving the address to automatically obtain on the XP Pro and setting up DHCP on the one running Windows Server 2003, but the XP pro doesn't obtain an address from it.

The cable i'm using is the same type of cable used for connecting a dsl modem to a computer, but i'm unsure if this is crossover, but maybe this helps.

I have a book that i'm using to study, but it seems to assume that I must know these easy fundamentals perhaps.

If your going directly from one computer to another you need to get a crossover cable. This is different then a normal network cable. The send and receive wires are switched on one end on a crossover cable. You could also use a hub or a switch between the two computers.

Ok thanks, it must be the cable