Some easy steps will restore view of home network

Helpline

Our home network of a Windows 98 machine and a Windows XP machine linked by a cable/DSL router box has stopped working. The computers can share the Internet connection, but they no longer can be used to exchange files. The file sharing worked at first but no longer. The Windows 98 computer was set up on the network using a set-up disk created by the XP computer.

I have done all the XP upgrades recommended, but nothing helps. I've also tried resetting the network once, and that worked for a short time and then stopped working for file sharing. Do you have any suggestions?

To find the lost icons for your network, open the My Network Places icon in Windows XP and then look for the line "View workgroup computers" in the pane on the left. Click on that, and you will see the icons you need. Click on each of them, and you will get a display showing the folders that you have set for file sharing, and your network once again will be available.

James Coates writes for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. Send e-mail to [e-mail].