Getting Win2K and Win XP to communicate

I am having the worst time trying to get my two computers, one with Win 2K Pro the other with XP Pro, to talk!
Does anybody have a clear cut set of directions on how to configure the two to see each other?
The Win XP computer saysthat I should be able to link between the two LAN cards as peer to peer, is this true or do I need to hook up a hub?