Alexander Lorenz wrote:
> Hi Group,
> just a general question. Is it possible to access the Mac's hard disc
from
> a Windows XP computer?
Absolutely. I have a mixed-OS network which has included at various times:
Win98, WinXP, Vista, Linux, Tiger, and now Leopard.
Have you tried and are having difficulties? If so, post back with the
errors
you're getting and the versions of OS X and XP. Otherwise, here are a few
basic guidelines:
1. On the Mac, set up Windows sharing. IIRC, Tiger only lets you share the
public folder and your user directory. With Leopard, make sure you're
using
SMB. Adjust the firewall to allow this.
2. On XP, run the Network Setup Wizard. If you are using a third-party
firewall, you'll need to go back and turn off the Windows Firewall (which
will be activated by the Wizard) and configure the third-party firewall to
allow Local Area Network traffic. Share out desired resources. See below
for sharing differences under XP Pro/Media Center/Home.
3. On both machines, create identical user accounts and passwords. You do
not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the
passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. If you
wish XP to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's
account) for convenience, you can do this.
Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
Additional notes relative to XP:
If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
1. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.
2. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled. Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is
enabled. This means that anyone without a user account on the target
system
can use its resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if
it matters in your situation.
3. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home
directories (My Do***ents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Do***ents folder.
HTH,
..
Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!
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