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How to connect to windows via LAN cable

I

iWonder

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 2, 2007
22
0
I have not much experience in networking . I had bought a 2 m LAN cable and connected my PC with win XP and my MacBook Pro . but now I don't know how to start. I read the guide http://guides.macrumors.com/Networking_Windows_with_Mac_OS_X but in the beginning it says ..

Remote Computers

* In the Finder, click on the Network icon in the upper left of a finder window
* Wait a few moments.
* You should see Workgroups or Computers begin to appear.
Click to expand...

But I never see the workgroup or Computers . All the networking window show is two Icons "Library" which shows some not found error and "Servers" which has a link to my Mac.


Also, how do I know my Mac and PC's IP address ?
 
I'm no expert but...

Well you need a cross-over network cable to connect the two together. You can check if you have a crossover cable by comparing the two cable heads- if the coloured wires don't match then it's crossover.

You will also need to select Windows File sharing under the 'Sharing' section in system preferences.

If the Windows machine you are connecting to has wireless, then turn that off. When I've tried this, the files seem to want to transfer via wireless. This could just be an issue with me though.

When I connected my iMac to my Windows laptop, I couldn't get an IP address. But panic not. I just clicked on My Network Places and 'Simons-imac' appeared. I double cicked on that, enetered my short username and password and I was in.

Hope my experiences can help solve your problem

EDIT - I've also found that it's just much easier to connect to the Mac from the windows machine. I have'nt been able to look at my Windows laptop from my Mac. I'm probably doing something wrong though.
 
My cable color do match , so I guess its NOT crossover . And I need a cross-over one, right ?
 
simontarr said:
Yeah, if you are connecting two computers together without something in between (ie switch) then it's needs to be crossover.
Click to expand...
No, this is no longer true with newer Macs. Now, I haven't tried it in some time (the cable I keep in my bag is crossover), but I don't think it matters what's on the other end of the cable, as long as the Mac is new enough to be able to deal with the non-crossover cable. I could be wrong.

iWonder: The "Before you Begin..." section of that guide only makes sense if you already have file sharing on the PC enabled. I have no idea why it's at the beginning because you're definitely not going to see anything under Network if you don't have Windows file sharing enabled.

If you're having trouble connecting from the Mac try the instructions from the "Accessing your PC from your Mac" section. That's how I've always done it and it works every time.
 
Just to help you sort this out let me give you a quick guide

1) Connect the two computers together via ethernet

2) Switch on Windows Sharing on the Mac

3) In the Network Settings go to the Ethernet profile and setup the IP manually, set it to something like 192.168.1.1

4) Go to the PC, go into the Network settings there and for the Connection that is using the ethernet cable (usually Local Connection etc) go into properties and set the IP to manual as well but use 192.168.1.2

5) One thing to make sure is that both are on the same Workgroup, they have to be on the same one, OS X I believe defaults on WORKGROUP but if you have an XP Home machine it might be MSHOME.

Now on the Mac you should be able to go into the Finder, click on the Go in the Menu Bar at the top and then select "Connect to Server." A window will pop up and there you type in "smb://192.168.1.2" or you can type in the PC's name for example "smb://MYPCSNAME."

Let me know if you need any further assistance.
 
Hmm, you have used last number different in IP's of 3`rd & 4`th points, was that like that or just a typo ?


Also, do I connect with a cross-wire or not ?
 
I tried your steps but when in 4`th step,

As I open network connection in windows I have 2 options under "LAN or High-Speed Internet"
- 1394 Connection &
- Local area connection .

In Local area connection > Properties > TCP/IP > Properties I entered the IP address set (192.168.1.2) . Still on the "Local area connection" icon there is a red cross sign and a pop-up saying "A network cable is unplugged" .
 
I tried your steps but when in 4`th step,

As I open network connection in windows I have 2 options under "LAN or High-Speed Internet"
- 1394 Connection &
- Local area connection .

In Local area connection > Properties > TCP/IP > Properties I entered the IP address set (192.168.1.2) . Still on the "Local area connection" icon there is a red cross sign and a pop-up saying "A network cable is unplugged" .
 
Maybe a dodgo cable. Have you tried another/got one to hand? I spent about a good while the other day messing with my airport trying to get a PC to connect to it via its ethernet and it turned out my ethernet cable was dead - it had faced little/no abuse and wasn't a dirt cheap one either.
 
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