Sharing hard drives over a network

[mr_lizard13]

I want to set up a home network, and be able to view the hard drives on each machine.

The set up will be: my existing PC running Win XP Pro, and a new laptop, also running XP. My existing PC is connected to a Netgear Wireless Broadband router which also has ethernet sockets, one of which is currently used by my PC.

I will connect the laptop wirelessly. Is there anything I need to do before I can view the contents of the hard drives over the network? For example: If I want to view my E:\ drive on the PC from my Laptop.

Also, if I connect a USB hard disk to the laptop for external storage, would I be able to view it from the PC?

Any help is appreciated with this topic!

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[Heon2574]

All i can say is this:

If you add another file into, let's say a folder on a shared drive, you will have to reshare that drive again for that file to be accessible on the network.

if I connect a USB hard disk to the laptop for external storage, would I be able to view it from the PC?

You'll have to share it (from the laptop) as soon as you connect it though, then it'll be accessible.
Don't expect the usb drive to be shared again if you connect it again (not sure but you can try it).

VNC is best to use along with your configuration so you can make changes to each computer's share settings as needed, remotely.