after loads of googling and trolling through these forums, i somehow wasn't able to find good info for ubuntu guest / xp host networking, until i came upon this site:
http://opensourceexperiments.wordpress. ... ista-host/
great detailed steps and explanations, though i was only trying to get on Vmachine to run ubuntu (he details getting two ubuntu Vm's to network with each other on a windows host).
apparently his method works for vista and xp, with some minor differences between the two.
i'm running:
host: xp pro sp3
guest: ubuntu "feisty"
(i read through the forum posting guide and didn't see anything about <not>posting external links or posting answers as an initial thread, so i hope this isn't breaking any posting rules, and hopes it helps someone in a similar boat.)
[now to figure out why i still can't up the resolution...]