[ashishn]

Hi,

I use Win Xp as desktop. I need to copy some files to Powerbook. Is there any way I can connect both machines using USB cable when both are on?

cheers,
ashish

[Big Mac]

No, ashishn, not through USB. Use ethernet instead (with a cross over cable or a router) and turn on file sharing.

[ashishn]

Thanks,

I have neither so must use an intermediate PC

[naphtali]

Do you have a 'normal' ethernet cable you use to connect to the Internet then? IIRC the PowerBook's Ethernet port will automatically allow you to use the standard patch (?) ethernet cable as a crossover cable to connect to your PC. Hope this helps!

[gbarill]

that's good advice, however i recommend NOT trying to network anything with windows xp...
i have a titanium powerbook and a computer with windows XP and i have NEVER been able to successfully network them, with a regular cable (i've read conflicting sources saying that for a regular cable to work as a cross-over, both computers have to be able to switch their ports, while others say only the one computer need to be able to do so).

what i recommend you do is get a firewire cable (i hope you have a firewire port on your PC), put your powerbook into target-disk mode (i believe you press the T key on startup), then plug your PB into your PC, and get TransMac (there are several programs which do the same thing, but this is the one i was able to find a serial for), which will allow you to access your mac formatted HD on the PC and copy files

Transmac: http://www.asy.com/scrtm.htm

[broxy5]

My ibook is networked to my PC via wireless router. It was very easy to do, and now anything on my PC is available on the ibook.

All that was needed was the address of of the PC, and make sure everything is shared.

[ibook_steve]

A USB flash drive would be the simplest solution if the files are small.

Steve

[gbarill]

broxy5, that's good to hear that it's possible.. i have a wireless router at home and all i ever got to share between the mac and xp was my itunes sharing (of course it was an apple product, lol, never had any problems networking macs, they make it SO easy), NONE of the file sharing worked properly (and i looked long and hard for solutions - nothing anyone suggested worked... and from what i've seen, networking on windows XP is pretty sketchy)

[broxy5]

I just allowed sharing, and reading/ writing on the whole drive on the PC, and my wife mainly uses it to move around powerpoint, and word files, and I copy the occasional video/ music file.

You can see who's workin' and who's playin'.

[Kvasir]

Originally Posted by gbarill

broxy5, that's good to hear that it's possible.. i have a wireless router at home and all i ever got to share between the mac and xp was my itunes sharing (of course it was an apple product, lol, never had any problems networking macs, they make it SO easy), NONE of the file sharing worked properly (and i looked long and hard for solutions - nothing anyone suggested worked... and from what i've seen, networking on windows XP is pretty sketchy)

My powerbook and my WinXP box both connect wirelessly (Linksys WRT54GS) - I've had no problems connecting to either machine from the other. My printer is physically hung off the XP box, and my powerbook prints over wireless to it, also just fine. So yeah, at least, it can work.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by broxy5

My ibook is networked to my PC via wireless router. It was very easy to do, and now anything on my PC is available on the ibook.

All that was needed was the address of of the PC, and make sure everything is shared.

Same here, Pismo too. Easier to hook up (in OS X) than the other PCs were.

[jokarak]

Originally Posted by gbarill

broxy5, that's good to hear that it's possible.. i have a wireless router at home and all i ever got to share between the mac and xp was my itunes sharing (of course it was an apple product, lol, never had any problems networking macs, they make it SO easy), NONE of the file sharing worked properly (and i looked long and hard for solutions - nothing anyone suggested worked... and from what i've seen, networking on windows XP is pretty sketchy)

If you use ZoneAlarm or a similar firewall on the PC, make sure to give your Mac permission to access the PC. Also, set your LAN networking to allow TCP/IP traffic in case you are using Novell's Netware or some other protocol. One of the nice things w/ windows is their support for the old Netware network protocol, which would allow one to set up a LAN at work/home via netware, and a WAN connection via TCP/IP, so that in theory, shared folders in the LAN would not be seen from outside. Macs, unfortunately, offer TCP/IP support, but not netware (which is an aging protocal, btw). I only mention this because this was one of the traditionally recommended safety steps to use on PCs and you might have done the same in your network.

Finally, remember to have the mac and PC on the same workgroup. Of course, you also have to have shared resources on the computer that you want to access remotely.

[tripletaker]

I just took a ethernet cable and hooked up both computers and turned on sharing on both computers and it worked.