XP networking problem

[mc2phat]

Alrighty then, here goes. My father built two new systems, and networked them with a third existing one. The two new ones have XP Home on them, the old one has 98SE. The SE machine and one of the XP boxes have Netgear FA-310TX nic's, the other XP box has the onboard LAN (it's an Intel P-4 board). He has ICS setup, which works fine. The box with the onboard LAN is the proxy for ICS. He has file sharing set up, but on the XP boxes it ONLY works when he's connected to the internet. If he logs off the internet, the two XP machines can't see any of the other computers. He can run the Network Wizard again and all is well, until he logs onto and off the internet again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ,
-phat

[reboot]

Install NETBEUI on all the machines and use it for the LAN. Unbind all NETBEUI protocalls from the net in Networking to keep it safe from the internet.
Check Steve Gibsons site (www.grc.com) for details on how to set it all up.
The idea is to use TCP/IP for ONLY the internet, and NETBEUI for the LAN.

[mc2phat]

Thank ye reboot.