Can somebody give me some advice on how to..

set a laptop to share internet access. Hoping that through this i can connect to xbox live.

My plan is to go through the laptop with an ethernet cable which is connected wireless to my pc internet connection.

Why not just use an wireless connection?

if you want to use an shared connection i can give you two links that will solve your problem

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/connecttolive/xbox360/connectionmethods/windowsics.htm

thats the first way it may be tricky theres another also

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/connecttolive/xbox360/connectionmethods/webconnectivitywizard.htm

hope that helps

i played with it some and could get connected to dl the updates, but couldnt get online to play games..

you mean you want to play xbox games or xbox 360 games?

well if u mean you arent able to play i can fix that for you

heres how to fix it

Start from the System area of the Xbox Dashboard or-if you're using the Xbox 360 system for the first time-from the Initial Setup Complete screen. Select family settings, xbox live controls  and sign in using the password for your Microsoft Passport Network account.

When you sign in, the system will load your child's profile (or, if there is more than one child profile, you'll be able to choose from all available child profiles). But the Passport Network account password you will need to provide is your own.

Select online gameplay , xbox 360 online games.

Choose one of the following settings:

Select allow to allow your child to play Xbox 360 games with others on Xbox Live.

Yeah thats called Windows ICS

you need to do alot to get that to work

the link is up there

you could always get the wireless adaptor and wireless service