Basically I want to join the 2 computers together and be able to access things on each of them from the other. essentially I want to be able to take my laptop to say school for example. Take notes and things like that, come home and say I want to open the notes on the tower....instead of putting it all on a flash drive and transferring it that way I would like to just plug it all in and move to the laptop's files and see what I need and open it up on my tower which has much larger screens and a lot more real estate. Any idea's I have it on Linux but still unsure on windows

Look in Help & Support. There is a walkthrough on basic home networking. If both systems already have RJ45 NICs then all you need is a crossover cable. Goin' Fishin' (Some day)

You might not even need a crossover cable. Some of the newer NICs allow connectivity with a straight-through CAT5 or 6 cable. "So won’t you give this man his wings What a shame To have to beg you to see We’re not all the same What a shame" - Shinedown

Another option might be a USB 'PC to PC' adapter cable like the one below: http://www.harddrives4less.com/busu...

Presuming a NIC in both systems (and if they're current/recent there will be...); all you need is a cross-over cat-5 cable. The rest you already have... This cross-over cable approach is good for 2 computers only. If you want to expand to 3 or more later you need a hub (or an access-router if also sharing a dsl service) and then 2 straight thru (standard/non-crossover) cat-5 cables. Software you already have in the OS; and the link below covers all aspects of (SoHo) networking from basic upwards... http://www.windowsnetworking.com/Jo... http://www.home-network-help.com/cr... http://www.networking.windowsreinst... The two links links below are more basic (simpler detail etc. - more specific to a 2 PC network); but it's all there one way or t'other...