XP Home network resource not available.

I am having difficulty sharing files and folders between 2 computers on a home workgroup setup. Both PCs have XP Home sp2, and they are connected to a Linksys nr041 router.

One is a desktop, and when both PCs are connected to the router, the desktop "sees" the laptop under workgroup computers. The laptop cannot see the desktop, and gets the "network resource not available message" The laptop cannot even ping the desktop.

I tried rebooting the laptop into safe mode/w networking, thinking it was a Norton issue or Windows firewall, but no luck. I tried a different router, but still no luck.

However, when I moved the laptop to my office, I can view other workgroup computers there (I made the office workgroup the same name as the home). The computers DO NOT share the same name. I wish it were that easy.

One odd thing is that I did try another router on the home setup, my laptop said that my network connection had limited or no connectivity" even though the other PC could use the router without any changes.

And to further muddy the waters, today I logged in to the NR041 router, turned off dhcp just to try anything, and now the laptop cannot access the internet even after I renewed the IP, etc.,

Oh, and the thing that's making me really crazy, I thought it might be the onboard NIC, so I used a PCMCIA card and duplicated the problem.