What is a 1394 network connection?

I registered just to say THANKS. I didn't know what the heck the 1394 connection was OR that I could connect two FW-enabled devices.

Informative is to say the least.

Thank you for the informaiton posted but i'm still struggling to connect my firewire external HDD case to the laptop (dell inspiron 8200). I'm running WinXP and under network connections I can see 1394 connection enabled. I'm not sure whether I need to configure it to a serial/parallel busses. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

Hi, I can't turn off my 1394 connection. When I right click on Disable, I get the following message:
"It is not possible to disable the connection at this time. This connection may be using one or more protocols that do not support Plug-and-Play, or it may have been initiated by another user or the system account."
Any idea how I can disable it? Many thanks.

First, thanks to this site for not insisting on registration! What a blessing.

I'm currently in a fist fight with my home network, and it's beating the hell out of me. All three computers are connected by their network cards using a hub and standard CAT5 cable, but they're no longer speaking to each other. I'm currently on my wife's computer because it has an internet connection. My own computer shows a 1394 adaptor that's unfunctional, although I thought it was functional before my problems began.

If it was functional, does this mean that the machines were networked using the 1394? They were certainly never connected using USB, so I gather that the 1394 adaptor was used and that I should be trying to find the problem with that connection. I find that Windows XP's clarity in explaining all of this to consumers leaves a lot to be desired.

I'd sure appreciate a little guiding light.

support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307736