I need to connect a W98SE machine to my SP Pro machine via a Peer to Peer network. The XP Machine is already connected to a LAN via a regular NIC. Is it possible to connect the W98 machine via a USB hub, or is there a better way? The W98 machine is not allowed on the LAN, but needs to share software and other resources on the XP machine.

Why can the 98 be on the lan? is it you can see it? or you dont want it there. the Easiest way is to get yourself a hub/switch, and connect all machines to see eachother the just deny permissions so teh 98 machine cant enter the other machines.

If there are too many [very good] reasons that you can't put the 98 system on the LAN, then you can use a USB2USB link between the two PC's. Buy the cable and then use the New Connection Wizard. Start, All Programs, Accessories, Coomunications, New Connection Wizard, Then choose 'Set up an advanced connection', choose 'Connect Directly to another computer', select if HOST or GUEST and follow the rest of the guided instructions. All that said, BUZZ makes a good case for the 'SIMPLE' solution which is a BETTER one.

Thanks for the response. The short answer to Buzz is "yes" the folks with the network don't want the 98 machine on it. I thought that was the best solution, too. Also, the Net Admin doesn't want to install the shared application on the server. Plan B was the P2P with the application on the XP box shared with the 98 box and then work to hide the rest of the network from it. Thanks again. I can do the hardware, but I don't know enough about networking to even make good suggestions, let alone set it up, and the net admin in this case is physically remote and not particularly helpful. You'd think, for what they pay him he'd be interested in helping, but that's a different story.