transfer from desktop to laptop

I have a new laptop (Vista Home Premium) wirelessly linked to a
wireless G router and an old desktop (XP Professional) wired by
network cable to that router. Both can successfully access the
internet. I want to move all my work permanently from desktop to
laptop. I have a new install of Office on the laptop. Beyond that
what is the easiest procedure for transferring files. I was told by
someone in a computer store that this could be done via the router but
it's not obvious how. I can't view the source and destination
computer from either of the computers. If this is explained somewhere
on a technical website please point me to it. If I can also somehow
tranfer the settings for all my Office programs that would be
wonderful too. Thanks.

"cambridge" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
>I have a new laptop (Vista Home Premium) wirelessly linked to a
> wireless G router and an old desktop (XP Professional) wired by
> network cable to that router. Both can successfully access the
> internet. I want to move all my work permanently from desktop to
> laptop. I have a new install of Office on the laptop. Beyond that
> what is the easiest procedure for transferring files. I was told by
> someone in a computer store that this could be done via the router but
> it's not obvious how. I can't view the source and destination
> computer from either of the computers. If this is explained somewhere
> on a technical website please point me to it. If I can also somehow
> tranfer the settings for all my Office programs that would be
> wonderful too. Thanks.
>
This is not relly about wireless, it is a simple peer to peer networking
situation.
However, the mix of Vista and XP makes it much more complex.
If both machines ran XP, the solution would be:

On Desktop - host machine
- designate a workgroup - default is 'mshome' for home edition
- specify a name for the desktop machine
- activate file & printer sharing
these are all in network settings
- declare specific folders as shares
right click on folder
- move all relevant documents to this shared folder

On the laptop - client machine
- go to 'network places'
- click on 'add places'
- browse until you find the desktop
- open the shared folder from the desktop machine
- copy files as needed

I have tried this process in Vista, but I can not make it locate the network
shares properly
sometimes it will find the shares, sometimes it will not, after 5 hours I
quite trying
Firewall must be off, defender must be off
Network sharing and network discovery must be on

I gave up with vista, and sent the laptop back. Dealer was nice enough to
find me an XP machine, and I had it working on the network in about 15
minutes.

Now, the fact that I have a linux file server here may have affected vista's
ability to find the network - I know that the default authentication
protocol has been changed, and I have heard that vista is outright hostile
to SMB servers.

If it is a one time move, buy a 4 gig usb drive for about $50 and move the
files that way, save yourself a lot of aggravation.

Stuart