xp pro xp home network no go

I have xp home on a Dell laptop and xp pro on a homemade desktop. Both are connected to a Linksys router which is connected to a digital "modem". They will ping one another and both connect to the internet with no problems. I am administrator on both.
When I click "View workgroup computers" on the desktop an icon for the laptop appears but when I click it I am told that:

" \\JOHN-LAPTOP is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator ...etc. The network path was not found."

When I click "View workgroup computers" on the laptop I am told:

"Workgroup is not accessible. etc. The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available."

Both machines are designated as members of WORKGROUP with unique names (which do not contain spaces or unusual characters). I have identical user names and passwords on both. Internet conection firewall is disabled on both. Third party firewalls are disabled on both.
I have run ipconfig /all from the command prompt on both machines.

Laptop:

Host Name.............:john-laptop
Primary Dns Suffix....:
Node Type.............:Peer-Peer
IP routing enabled...:No
WINS Proxy Enabled:No
Connection-specific DNS Suffix:
Description............: Broadcom 440x 10/100 etc.
Physical Address.....: 00-0D-56-A8-65-8C
Dhcp Enabled..........:Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes
IP Address................:192.168.1.102
Subnet Mask..............:255.255.255.0
Default Gateway..........:192.168.1.1
DHCP Server................:192.168.1.1
DNS Servers.................:205.152.37.254
205.152.144.235

Desktop:

Host Name.............:john-desktop
Primary Dns Suffix....:
Node Type.............:Unkown
IP routing enabled...:No
WINS Proxy Enabled:No
Connection-specific DNS Suffix: workgroup
Description............: National Semiconductor DP83815-Based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address.....: 00-40-F4-6C-98-15
Dhcp Enabled..........:Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled: Yes
IP Address................:192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask..............:255.255.255.0
Default Gateway..........:192.168.1.1
DHCP Server................:192.168.1.1
DNS Servers.................:205.152.37.254
205.152.144.235
Both have 24 hour lease.
The router was set up by my roommate who is a fairly astute individual. Its IP address is 192.168.1.1 and the starting IP address is 192.168.1.100, which is roommates computer.
All I want to do is copy MP3s from the desktop to the laptop because the 1394 card in the desktop will not allow communication with the iPod (some other time, perhaps) and to share a printer.
Any suggestions?

You say you've got a 1394 connection? Can you disable this for the time being? Sometimes this can cause problems.

On the XP pro computer can you confirm that simple file sharing in the folder options is disabled.

Have you enabled sharing and actually configured a folder to share on each computer?

Instructions I've seen which have helped elsewhere:

1- Open dos prompt, type ipconfig -all.
2- Look at the 'Node Type' it probably says Peer-Peer or something (this is what mine said)
... we want it to say 'Hybrid'
3- Press 'Start' button > Run... > In the box type regedit. This opens your system's registry.
4- Navigate the tree to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/NetBT/Parameters
5- Rt. mouse click and select New > DWORD Value
6- Name it 'NodeType' (without the quotes)
7- Rt. mouse click on it and select Modify
8- Set Value Data to '8' (no quotes)
9- Leave Base alone. 'Hexadecimal' should be selected
10- Press 'ok'
11- Close regedit and reboot. (Your done!)
12- Open dos prompt and type ipconfig -all
For node type it should now say 'Hybrid'
13- Do this to the other computer that you cannot network. Your computers should be able to see one another.

Also have a look at this link: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318030

Thanks.
I did exactly what you suggested on both computers but the Node Type in ipconfig did not change on either machine. I haven't checked the other page you linked yet.

OK
I have now followed the instructions on the page linked above. The situation now is that "View workgroup computers" on the laptop shows the laptop and the desktop but clicking the desktop gives the "\\John-desktop is not accessible...Network path not found" message. "View workgroup computers" on the desktop gives the "WORKGROUP is not accessible...List of servers not available" message. Maybe this is a little progress?

Umm... this is strange. Have you tried running the wizard yet? I doubt this will help, but I think it's worth a try.

What about your firewalls? if you're running Zonealarm or some other firewall, you may need to tell it that the LAN is trusted. I always have this problem when I'm setting up home networks. If the firewall is blocking it, the error messages you get in Windows are never very helpful.

Just a thought.

I ran (once again) the network wizard which reset the netBIOS over TCP/IP to default (contrary to the instructions on the MS page referenced above) and still nothing.
I am curious about the registry edit we tried yesterday. Is there some reason why that would not have had any effect?

OK,
More info: Roommate's computer running win2k. Shows up in "View network connections" on the desktop. I click on its icon enter user name and password. Et viola! I'm in. Roommate's computer shows Node Type as Hybrid in ipconfig. That's gotta be it, but, as mentioned, the regedit failed to change this parameter. (I tried a few times.)

Are you sure that you are rebooting after applying the change? After rebooting, if you return to the registry, is the value still the same or is it set back to the default?

Just looking back at your ipconfigs from the beginning, your desktop has its Connection-specific DNS Suffix set to workgroup. On the laptop, this isn't set to anything. Can you make sure that all the settings on the laptop are the same as on the desktop? (check in the System applet under the Computer Name tab)

I am rebooting after regedit. Parameter in regedit shows as 8 after reboot on both machines but remains unchanged in ipconfig.
Also, running network wizard installs a network bridge.
All computers are in WORKGROUP.

OK, get rid of the network bridge for now.

If you open the System applet from the Control Panel, select Computer Name and click the Change button then More, are the settings here identical for both computers (apart from the computer name obviously)?

primary DNS suffix is blank on both. pro machine has "Change primary DNS..." checkbox checked. No such checkbox on home machine.

Do you have any other network connections on either computer. Try disabling all of these for now.

All is well now. I did something very stupid. Rather than naming the registry key 'NodeType' I named it 'Node Type". Sorry for all the bother. Thank you very much for all your help. If you lived in Atlanta I'd send you flowers.

How kind! Glad you've got it working