need help!

[the_butcher]

anyone would know how to connect a pc and a mac through LAN for sharing/transferring files? i have a lan wire that transfers files at 100+Mb/s (a little slow compared to firewire/usb) but I don't want to spend extra money for a fw/usb portable hdd.

any info re: other means of file transfer is certainly appreciated

[booblanco]

My first post!

I managed to exchange shared files between my iBook and PC by plugging a LAN cable to our router. Just make sure you enable Windows Sharing in your Mac's System Prefs -> Sharing -> Firewall and do likewise with your PC's firewall settings.

You then click on 'Network' in your Mac's HD, locate the PC's shared folder, and copy&paste away!

Good luck.

[lamb8192]

You should be able to connect the two computers directly, although it might be a bit tricky to get them to "see" each other. In my experience it took some experimentation.

They have to come up with their own private IP addresses (APIPA - Automatic Private IP Address, I think) which will be something like 254.169.x.x. On a PC you can get its IP address by running "ipconfig" at the command prompt. On a Mac you should be able to see it in network prefs. Then I think you need to just open one computer in the other by either putting "\\254.169.x.x" in the "Run" window in Windows, or by using "open server" in Finder. Of course you should share folders, etc, before that.

Another possibility: USB thumb drives

[angel_benet]

my iMac and my Win XP pc are connected directly through ethernet.

Try what I did:

1. Connect the two computers via ethernet (direct connection).
2. On the Mac: Open system preferences, click network, click location, choose New Location, give it any name, choose built in ethernet, then click Proxies, choose FTP and HTTP proxy, click Apply Now, then click Sharing, make sure you enable Windows file sharing.
3. On the Mac, double click the hard drive, then click network. Wait a couple of seconds until you see MSHome. Click that. You should then see an icon with your PC's computer name- double click that and you should see your shared folder on the PC.
4. On the PC, click on My Network Places, then click on Workgroup.

This is what I did and I share files between the two computers everyday. In fact, my Win XP PC just serves as a backup hard drive for my Mac. lol :-)

[the_butcher]

is the ethernet and lan the same? what i know is that lan uses wires/cables and ethernet is wireless? pls correct me if im wrong.

how do i set-up the physical address for the mac?

[Gomi]

there are also relatively cheap usb2usb connectors that you can use.

[the_butcher]

hal9000: how does this work? is it easier to set-up?

[elbert]

Hi butcher.

Just a few suggestions:

I would like to suggest that you make better use of the Subject field. A subject line line 'need help!' is way too vague, it could mean anything. By narrowing it down to a specific subject (i.e. need help connecting Mac to PC), then it would easier for the experts in the community to spot your problem and answer quickly.

Also, this thread would be more in place at the Wired - NOT! forum since it has to do with connections (just check out the thread description: All together now, class - TCP/IP, PPPoE, LANs, WANs, NICs, VPN, APE, BT, WiFi... Connect your Mac to the world (even Windows machines) with or without wires.)

Lastly, the Internet is a vast resource. You can easily get information and help on basic stuff outside of PhilMUG. For instance, to find out what LAN and Ethernet mean, check out Webopedia.

You are in the right place to ask about PC and Mac connectivity though.

Good luck, and hope this helps.