Question: I need to move a large file from one laptop to another. Can I just join the two machines with an ethernet cable and create a shared folder on my desktop or is it more complicated than that?

**Update**

Windows versions - one laptop has XP the other is Vista  

File Size - approx 10G

Answer: 
Modern ethernet cards will do the crossover for you, so there's no need for a "special cable". Just connect to the two machines, set an IP for them and transfer files.
You'd need a special kind of ethernet cable called a "crossover" cable. Far easier to borrow a hub, or use a USB stick to transfer :)