I recently tried to share files between my two PCs (one with Vista; the other XP) through a straight cable with default OS configuration. It worked.Then I tried connecting my XP PC with another XP PC, neither of them responded. Does that mean Vista automatically converts a pc into a hub in that case no cross-over cable is needed?
cables are not controlled by the operating system windows vista has nothing to do with it. in fact, windows cannot tell at all - it is completely controlled at the hardware level. some network cards (more and more) espeically hubs and routers now automatically switch if needed.
It depends on your network adapter/driver. Newer devices detect and electronically switch all by themselves. Some allow you to set it in the drivers. Odds are, it's just because the network cards are older in your XP machines. Try updating your drivers. That may get you going. Unless you're daisy-chaining, I can't imagine why you would want to do that, though. I can't even really imagine why you're daisy chaining. Get a router or switch already.
