ICS XP HOME AND DSL

I HAVE TWO COMPUTERS I NEED TO CONNECT, I AM USING A CROSSOVER CABLE. BOTH COMPUTERS HAVE XP HOME EDITION; COMPUTER1 HAS TWO NICS ONE FOR THE DSL AND ONE FOR THE NETWORK TO BE CONNECTED TO COMPUTER2.; COMPUTER2 IS A LAPTOP. FOR SOME REASON I AM HAVING A HARD TIME CONNECTING THEM, THEY DON’T “SEE” EACH OTHER. WORKGROUP IS THE SAME, THE IP ADDRESSES ARE IN THE SAME RANGE AND MASKS ARE THE SAME. HELP