Accessing Files Over A Network

[UnsavingHalo]

What I want to do is quite simple, but I just cant seem to figure out how to go about doing it. I have this laptop that I don't use anymore, and I want to use it to store files, and have them accessible to another computer on the same network. Preferably I would like to target one specific destination to share, for example an external drive that's connected to the laptop or a single folder on the desktop. As far as operating systems, the old laptop is running Windows XP, and my new ones are running Windows 8. What steps can I take to achieve my goal?

[solomongrundy]

Have you gone through all the steps here? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/sharing-files-printers-help#sharing-files-and-printers=windows-7&v1h=win81tab1&v2h=win7tab1&v3h=winvistatab1&v4h=winxptab1