virtualbox.org

I have been trying as many settings as I can find but I still can't figure out how to have my guest OS see the host, local network, and internet at the same time.
If I use a single NIC in the guest set as host only I can see the host and share files just fine but there are other machines on the same network that the host is on and I can't see them. If I add a second NIC I can connect to machines on the local network but not automatically. If I try to ping with two NICs it resolves to a machine on the internet not on my local network. If I ping or map the ip address directly (192.168.1.101 for example) it works fine.
How do I get the guest to check DNS in the correct order?
Host OS = XP
Guest OS = XP
Home network with router

Just set the NIC in the vm to use bridged networking. It will get its IP config from DHCP on the router and look just like another machine on the LAN.

I have tested with single NIC on the guest in both NAT and Bridged and I get the same result.
I can connect using absolute IP addresses so I can share files when I need to but I still want to understand what is happening.
I have read the virtualbox documentation but still don't understand it well enough to figure out what is going on.
Is there a better document or tutorial on this subject?
Maybe it's something about the way my network is set up? Is there a good software tool for network analysis?

Bridged mode is fairly cut and dry if the router has dhcp in it and you have not set it to not allow connections other than those you have entered.
For automatic discovery in Windows you need to make sure that you have file sharing enabled (in windows) and are in the same workgroup or domain.
Also Firewall issues can prevent this from working properly, so make sure that you have allowed the local network access in the firewall.