[MacNewb]

Hello all!

My main area of expertise is with Linux and Windows. I dont know much about Macs, which is why Im here.

I have a new client who owns a Mac w/ OS X. These may seem like silly questions, but I dont own a Mac and dont have access to one to figure this stuff out.

I need to set her up so she can connect remotely to a Server 2k3 machine at her office. I know that there is a Remote Desktop Connection client for OS X, but she needs to be able to send files which are on occasion fairly large, to and from the server remotely. I cant find any documentation that states wether or not you can do this from within the Remote Desktop Connection client. Is this possible?

Also, when she is at her office she needs to be able to access local shared drives/peripherals on Win2k/XP workstations and and the server which is running Server 2k3. I know about Mac OS X Panther, but she runs a non-profit organization which is just starting up, so funds are obviously very limited. Are there any third party apps that you guys can recommend? Keep in mind that she needs to access the Windows based machines, but the Windows based machines do not need to access her Mac.

The last question is probably a fairly simple one. Whenever she goes to an unfamiliar wireless network, her Airport card can never seem to detect a signal. Is there a way to set up her Airport card so it automatically searches for new wireless networks or does she have to manually add a new network every time she needs to access an unfamiliar network? Keep in mind the solution needs to be as hassle-free as possible because she knows less about Macs than I do.

Thanks in advance for any advice you have to offer.

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by MacNewb:
I need to set her up so she can connect remotely to a Server 2k3 machine at her office. I know that there is a Remote Desktop Connection client for OS X, but she needs to be able to send files which are on occasion fairly large, to and from the server remotely. I cant find any documentation that states wether or not you can do this from within the Remote Desktop Connection client. Is this possible?

Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client seems to be a pretty good piece of software. I don't see why there would be any file transfer restrictions using it, other than the natural restriction of the particular Internet connection being used.

Also, when she is at her office she needs to be able to access local shared drives/peripherals on Win2k/XP workstations and and the server which is running Server 2k3. I know about Mac OS X Panther, but she runs a non-profit organization which is just starting up, so funds are obviously very limited. Are there any third party apps that you guys can recommend? Keep in mind that she needs to access the Windows based machines, but the Windows based machines do not need to access her Mac.

Mac OS X does not require additional software to connect to Windows shares. Just instruct your client to go to the Finder, go to the Go menu, and select Connect to Server. If the Mac finds local volumes, the dialog will present them in a popup menu and it will show their icons as well. If it does not find local volumes, she will have to type the address of the share she needs to access, which she can then bookmark. The rest is self-explanatory - click on the share desired, enter name and password, and the share mounts on the desktop. It's usually that simple. You may want to point her to this visual tutorial on the subject.

The last question is probably a fairly simple one. Whenever she goes to an unfamiliar wireless network, her Airport card can never seem to detect a signal. Is there a way to set up her Airport card so it automatically searches for new wireless networks or does she have to manually add a new network every time she needs to access an unfamiliar network? Keep in mind the solution needs to be as hassle-free as possible because she knows less about Macs than I do.

I don't really know why her card would not detect other networks. Mine automatically does this and asks if I wish to add new networks to my list of trusted networks. If the card is not detecting them, it would make me suspect that there's something wrong with the card. Perhaps it is detecting them but she does not realize it. (Have her check the Airport menu that should be to the left of the time on the menu bar.) Make sure she's running either Jaguar (10.2) or Panther (10.3).

[philm]

Originally posted by MacNewb:
The last question is probably a fairly simple one. Whenever she goes to an unfamiliar wireless network, her Airport card can never seem to detect a signal. Is there a way to set up her Airport card so it automatically searches for new wireless networks or does she have to manually add a new network every time she needs to access an unfamiliar network? Keep in mind the solution needs to be as hassle-free as possible because she knows less about Macs than I do.

This should work fine. Her Airport access needs to be switched on, of course. In System Preferences/Network/Show: Airport, get here to 'Show AirPort status in menu bar'. Then, in the menu bar, the Airport icon should show a series of 'waves' within a pizza segment shape. The waves reflect the strength of signal. If they are all grey, there is no signal. Black waves = signal.

If there are no waves/lines in the pizza slice, then Airport is off and it should be turned on by clicking on the pizza slice icon. Good luck.

[aaanorton]

Also in Sys Prefs > Network > Airport (Airport tab), make sure that By Default, Join has Automatic selected.

[MacNewb]

Awesome, thanks for the advice.

[audvidsvs]

I also would mention that if she has any security enabled on the wireless network then Airport will not show an active network to join.

I have the SSID broadcasting turned off on my network and so I have to manually join by clicking the Airport menu bar icon and selecting my network.