I'm OK, in that my laptop runs Linux not Windows, so I can SSH/SCP to it to remote-control or transfer files to/from it......had problems getting network-shares working between XP Pro (on the laptop - it's dual-booted with debian sarge) and 2k Pro (on the desktop), so I just didn't bother trying.

This way, there's no need to bother trying to keep myself from ripping my hair out, I just set the internet connection up......when that's working, I use either puTTY (remote-control client) or WinSCP (secure FTP client) to communicate with the laptop from my desktop......easy to set up, just needs the IP address and username/password details for the laptop!