Windows computer doesn't see name of linux machine

[talmage at somtel.com]

The Windows computer needs to know what IP address to associate with 
the name of your linux system.
For just a few computers on a home network, the easiest way is to 
probably just put entries in the hosts file which should be in your 
Windows sub directory.  If you don't have a hosts file there, just 
create one.  The entries should be in the form IP-Address computer-name
something like-
192.168.1.2 sleepy
192.168.1.3 doc
192.168.1.4 dopey
Hosts should be a text file and there should be no filename extension.

hth
Dave