1. On the Vista machine open "Contol panel" -> "Network and Internet" -> "Network and sharing center" -> "Manage network connections"
2. Rignt click on the connection for your Eithernet port (default name will be "Local Area Connection") and choose "Properties"
3. Select the "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" line and click the properties button
4. Click the "Use the following IP adress" button and enter 192.168.0.2 in the address field and 255.255.255.0 in the Subnet mask don't worry about the DNS or Gateway then click OK
5. click "Start" then right click "Computer" and choose "Properties" verify the name listed under Workgroup (both machine will need to be in the same workgroup)
6. on the XP machine open "Control Panel" -> "Network and Internet Connections" -> "Network Connections"
7. Rignt click on the connection for your Eithernet port (default name will be "Local Area Connection") and choose "Properties"
8. Select the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" line and click the properties button
9. Click the "Use the following IP adress" button and enter 192.168.0.3 in the address field and 255.255.255.0 in the Subnet mask don't worry about the DNS or Gateway then click OK
10. click "Start" then right click "My Computer" and choose "Properties" then choose the "Computer Name" tab and verify the name listed under Workgroup (both machine will need to be in the same workgroup)
11. Click the "change" button and change the workgroup to match the Vista machine's workgroup if needed then click OK