I am currently trying to get two pc's connected together (both Win XP) to run a multiplayer session of Baldur's Gate... both computers can see each other... I tried to manually type in the ip address, but still to no avail... can anyone give me a hand?

I've played across a LAN many times without trouble. I've never had to type in the ip address (maybe the first time, I don't recall). If both computers can see each other, there shouldn't be any problem with the computer's settings. Check the settings within the game.