P2P: "network ... no longer available"

Hello:

On my rather dated PC--with it's dated NIC--I find that
Windows Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network communication *almost*
works. Unfortunately, almost is not nearly enough.

I have a Home Network with four PCs connected via a
D-Link DI-704P router--so they all can share an ADSL modem.
Two of the PCs are running WinXP, and two are running Win98SE.
WEB browsing and email works great with all four PCs.

My current urgent quest (because of a nasty Trojan virus) is
to copy my data files from my Older Win98SE machine, "233", to
the not quite as old Win98SE machine, "AMD".

I'm trying to use Windows P2P to do this copy. All of the
PCs can "Windows Explorer" (WExp) browse the files on "each other's"
disks. Also, they all can do file transfers successfully to/from
"each other" except "233". File transfers *from* "233" don't work.

By the way, "233" is the one with the virus. This inability to
transfer files from "233" "predates" the virus. P2P file transfers
haven't ever worked from "233".

I typically have been bringing up WExp on "AMD" and can successfully
browsing files on "233". When I try to transfer files from "233"
to "AMD", I get the following message.

coping ... network resource or device is no longer available


I get the same error if I try to run WExp on "233". Interestingly,
whenever I try to copy a folder full of files, the new folder is
always created on "AMD", but none of the files transfer successfully.
It seems the connection stays up long enough to create a directory
on the target machine--but then dies when file transfer tries to
start.

I have searched on "network resource or device is no longer available"
and found that many others have seen this string--and been puzzled by
it. The messages that correlate with my situation seem to have to do
with my network interface card.

Realtek RTL8029 PCI Ethernet NIC


Also, a couple folks mentioned that they can't ping with larger
packet sizes when they get the above message. All of the PCs on
our home network can ping each other.

"AMD" has no problem with ping packet sizes of 1472 bytes or greater.
"233" can't ping at all with packet sizes that large. Even at ping
packet sizes of 736, "233" can "miss-ping". [ Is that a word? ]
I think this is another symptom of "the problem".

P2P coping from "AMD" to "233" works fine. So, apparently, the problem
has to do with "233" transmitting large packets. (?) My message
searches indicate that many others have experienced such a "one
directional" problem.

I have made sure that I have the latest Realtek driver from the
vendor's site. I have checked all of the Network settings between
"233" and "AMD". They are all the same--except for NIC driver related
differences. "AMD" has a different NIC card.

I tried setting the NIC on "233" to "full duplex". That seemed to
make pinging of large packets even more of a problem on "233".

I don't really want to mess with replacing the NIC card on "233" at
this point. I just want to get my data files off of "233" and onto
"AMD". If I succeed at that, I plan to get a new XP PC to replace
"233".

I hope that my above description is a bit clearer "than mud". I'm
hoping that someone has some hot tips that I haven't managed to find
from my searching so far.

Thank you--just for reading this far.

--Less Entropy

[ This is my "posting to news groups" name. It doesn't seem to
actually cause entropy to decrease. ]


================================================== =================

Network Components
==================
Client for Microsoft Networks
Microsoft Family Logon
Realtek RTL8029 PCI Ethernet NIC
IPX/SPX-compatible Protocol
TCP/IP
File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks


Realtek RTL8029 PCI Ethernet NIC Properties under "Network"
================================================== =========

Bindings
--------
IPX/SPX-compatile Protocol
TCP/IP

Advanced
--------
Duplex Mode: Half Duplex (Default)
Network Address: Not Present



"Driver File Details" Window of Device Manager
==============================================

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\NDIS.VXD
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\vmm32.vxd(ntkern.vxd)
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RTL8029.SYS
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\NWLINK.VXD
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VREDIR.VXD
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSERVER.VXD
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VTDI.386
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VIP.386
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VTCP.386
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VDHCP.386
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VNBT.386
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VSERVER.VXD
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VREDIR.VXD


C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RTL8029.SYS
-----------------------------
Provider: Realteck Semiconductor Corporation
File version: 5.508.0803.2000