[vcutag]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, but it's better to beg forgiveness than permission, so here I go:

I'm buying (assuming the Short Pump Apple Store has them in stock) a 15" PowerBook w/ SuperDrive this weekend, and I'm wondering if there's a way to network it to my existing PC (an old Dell Dimension 4400) to transfer files over. The alternative would involve burning about 30 gigs of CDs, which I'd rather avoid if possible. I've no experience with networking (of any kind), and I use dial-up (a travesty, I know, but I'm a poor humble college student who gets it for cheap from my school) for internet access. Help!!

This is my first Mac in many years (last time I used a Mac regularly was on an LC II), and hopefully my last PC ever, so I hope it'll go smoothly.

Thanks in advance!

[larkost]

This is going to be relatively simple. Here is what you need:

A ethernet cable (since you are using a gigbit ethernet port it does not matter if it is strait or crossover).

Your Windows disk (it will probably ask for it)

(there is no item three...)

Plug the two computers into each other, and assign them both static IP addresses. You can choose any old numbers, but good addresses would be: 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2. Assigning the address on the PC will probably ask for the disk and a restart. On the MacOS X side, it is simply pushing the "Apply" button.

Once you have both of the computers with assigned IP addresses, then go to "System Preferences" on the Mac, and open the Sharing control panel. Then turn on "Windows FileSharing". Once this starts up, go to the Windows computer and open up network neighborhood.

If you are lucky, then your Windows box will show you the mac... but networking on Windows is a chancy thing, so you might have to fight it. A usual way of getting this to work is to right click on "Network Neighborhood" and choose to "map network drive", and then to put in //192.168.0.1/username where the address is that of the Mac, and the username is your "short user name" on MacOS X.

Once you have connected to the "server" (your mac), you can start dumping files in. Other than convincing Windows to network with other computers (truest me, windows->windows is no better... in fact it is usually worse unless you are on a network already), it is a simple process....

[vcutag]

Originally posted by larkost:
This is going to be relatively simple. Here is what you need:

A ethernet cable (since you are using a gigbit ethernet port it does not matter if it is strait or crossover).

Your Windows disk (it will probably ask for it)

(there is no item three...)

Plug the two computers into each other, and assign them both static IP addresses. You can choose any old numbers, but good addresses would be: 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2. Assigning the address on the PC will probably ask for the disk and a restart. On the MacOS X side, it is simply pushing the "Apply" button.

Once you have both of the computers with assigned IP addresses, then go to "System Preferences" on the Mac, and open the Sharing control panel. Then turn on "Windows FileSharing". Once this starts up, go to the Windows computer and open up network neighborhood.

If you are lucky, then your Windows box will show you the mac... but networking on Windows is a chancy thing, so you might have to fight it. A usual way of getting this to work is to right click on "Network Neighborhood" and choose to "map network drive", and then to put in //192.168.0.1/username where the address is that of the Mac, and the username is your "short user name" on MacOS X.

Once you have connected to the "server" (your mac), you can start dumping files in. Other than convincing Windows to network with other computers (truest me, windows->windows is no better... in fact it is usually worse unless you are on a network already), it is a simple process....

Excellent, thanks a lot. I'll post back here once I finally get the PB and see if it works... hopefully this weekend, more likely sometime next week.

[si_lance]

if the windows sharing doesn't work you can turn on FTP Access also... good luck.