XP Wireless setup woes

[fasgadh]

Hi all
Could you help me set up a wireless network between my Pc and a laptop as I seem to be getting nowhere!
System
Win XP Pro SP2
Wireless lan adapter (no Name) for PC and Dell Laptop installed and devices have no problems in device manager

Have followed multiple instructions for setting this up including Wireless networking Wizard but I always have a red cross over my network connection icon in taskbar saying no connection and cannot get the two pcs to see each other.

Do you think one of my networking cards is not working properly and if so how do I test it.
Any help is appreciated

[Panama Red]

Are you planning to share an internet connection or just share files and printer between the two computers? What other hardware do you have installed besides the wireless adpaters?

[fasgadh]

I am hoping to share the PC's internet connection as well as .
PC Hardware
I have 2 realtek ethernet adapters one used for Broadband the other for a cabled Local Area Network which I have disabled until I solve this problem
Sound Blaster Sound Card

Laptop Hardware
Just the Wireless Network Card

[Panama Red]

Sounds like all you need now is a wireless router. Something like the Linksys WRT54G or a D-Link DI-624. Connect the cable modem to the router and connect the router to the desktop unit with the wired nic. Then connect the laptop via the wireless nic built in.

If you want both machine to be wirelss, use the laptop initially to setup the router using a wired connection. Then set up the wireless connection for the desktop and finally switch the laptop from wired to wireless and configure the laptop in wireless mode.

Set both machines to the same Work Group and have separate names for each one. Then select the folders you want to share on each computer and use the Add a printer wizard to share a printer on the network. I have one customer with one totally wireless configuration and that's how I set his up.

[fasgadh]

Thankyou for your help
Can't the wireless connection work without a router? I was told that all I needed was the 2 wireless lan cards when I bought them

[Panama Red]

Nope. Need the router to allow each coputer to share the internet connection.

[fasgadh]

Thanks for the info, just one more thing.
Do I need a router just to get a connection up and running and to share files without internet connection sharing.

[glc]

No, you do not need a router, but it's the RIGHT way to do it. You can do it the same way you now do it with a wired connection between the 2 computers, you simply set up the 2 wireless adapters to communicate in the "ad hoc" (workgroup) mode instead of in infrastructure (access point) mode.