Connected w/o "Local Area Connection"?

[ksw1631]

Several PCs on home network. 3 "XP Pro sp3", 1 "Win 7Pro".

Three have "Local Area Connection" defined under 'LAN or High-Speed Internet' section of Network Connection listing.

These three can all see all the shared files and folders on all three of the others.

The fourth (Win XP Pro sp3, old ThinkPad w/ 'Thinkvantage Access Connections' manager software) has NO 'LAN or High-Speed Internet' section in the Network Connection listing.

Instead, it has a 'Network Bridge' section which says 'Network Cable Unplugged' and an 'Internet Gateway' section whose 'Internet Connection' line has a status of 'Connected'

The fourth can be 'seen' on the network by the other three, but NO file and NO share on that PC can be accessed.

"... is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource."

Both the RJ45 and the wi-fi connections work on that PC. It can see and read any share on the other three PCs. I was told to drop the old connection and build a new one. Not only would it NOT build, but it then had NO connections that worked at all, and I had to return to yesterday's Restore Point.

How do I make this PC visible to the others? If it is because this connection stack is so weird, how do I build a normal one?

Man, I HATE networking.

[Tripredacus]

In my Sony days, I remember a lot of people had problems when there was a Network Bridge in there. I haven't dealt with XP in a while and I don't want to just have you get rid of the bridge because I don't remember the procedure and more importantly, not sure if you actually need it like that.