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best way to transfer files between pc and mac

twoodcc

twoodcc

macrumors P6
Original poster
Feb 3, 2005
15,307
26
Right side of wrong
ok i finally put 1 gb of RAM in my mac mini, and i've been playing around with imovie. i don't have a superdrive, so i can't burn my movies to dvd. i have a dvd burner on my pc. what's the best thing to do to burn my movie to a dvd? i also have an external enclosure that's usb. it's kinda old, but i got a hard-drive to work in it with the mini, but no luck with a dvd-rw drive. do you think i can get the external dvd-rw to work? should i buy a new one? set-up a network between my pc and mac? what should i do?

thanks in advance
 
Personally, I think you should go with a new external DVD drive for your mini. Here's why...

1. To hook up the pc and the mac, you'd have to go through a router or use a crossover cable to connect them and then go through the hassle (its not always a hassle, but sometimes you just have to work it out a different way)

2. Even though your PC has a DVD burner doesn't mean that the software is anywhere near iDVD's caliber for usability and ease(and I doubt that it would be)

So pretty much, without a new drive you could be moving up to 26 gigs (2 hours of dv) from one computer to another and then having a pc's crappy dvd authoring software take even more time making a dvd that is nowhere close to what iDVD can do.
 
as far as idvd goes, can't i burn to an image, and then just burn the dvd with my pc?

i do agree with you though, cuz i've tried before to network my pc and mac and i couldn't get it to work. not saying that it isn't possible.

i'm a college student on a tight budget, so if i can get through this without spending any money, that'd be great. i do have a router, but it's kinda old (at least 2 years, maybe 2.5).

do you think there's any way of getting my current enclosure to work with my mac?
 
Play with it an get file sharing to work over your router or an ethernet cable.

Make your DVD image with iDVD. Convert the image to a disk image format the PC can read. Transfer the converted disk image to the PC over your network. Burn the CD.
 
thanks for the replies.

so it looks like no hope for the enclosure? i know it's going to be hard to setup a network with the pc and mac. maybe i can get it too work. wish me luck
 
If you can get Windows to cooperate, networking a Mac and a PC isn't bad at all. I do it daily with very little trouble. As for burning DVDs, you should be able to save an image from iDVD, then send it over the network to the PC and burn it from there with Nero or similar software. I did the other way around with an image created on a PC and burned on a Mac and it worked fine.
 
i was wondering if my mac and pc can share an external hard-drive? in other words, if i put files from my mac on it, and then hook it up to my pc and copy them. is that possible?
 
twoodcc said:
i was wondering if my mac and pc can share an external hard-drive? in other words, if i put files from my mac on it, and then hook it up to my pc and copy them. is that possible?
Click to expand...
Yes, just format the drive to FAT 32, which is limited to a 32GB drive I think (I know FAT32 limits the size, its the 32GB I'm not absolutely sure about). SO either get a small external drive or you can partition a larger one.
 
Heb1228 said:
Yes, just format the drive to FAT 32, which is limited to a 32GB drive I think (I know FAT32 limits the size, its the 32GB I'm not absolutely sure about). SO either get a small external drive or you can partition a larger one.
Click to expand...

fat32 is limited to files to individual files of 4Gb not a total size of 32GB or else my 200GB drives woulodn't work :p
 
twoodcc said:
thanks for the replies.

so it looks like no hope for the enclosure? i know it's going to be hard to setup a network with the pc and mac. maybe i can get it too work. wish me luck
Click to expand...

Transfering files between a PC and Mac is very easy using FTP. Here is what you do.

To connect two machines using ftp, one has to act as a server and one as a
client.

OS X comes already with a built-in ftp server (enable from System
Preferences->sharing>ftp access).

Now you need a client, download a free windows FTP client off the internet
(smart ftp IIRC) and install it on the PC.

Connect directly both machines with a network cable.

Now you need to setup IPs of both machines to indicate that they are on the
same network. Set the Mac machine IP address to 192.168.6.1 Netmask to
255.255.255.0. The PC address to 192.168.6.2 Netmask to 255.255.255.0.

To make sure both machines can see each other open a terminal and try
to ping the PC (ping 192.168.6.2). Try same from PC, open a command
window (run->cmd) to ping the Mac (ping 192.168.6.1). If you get replies
then everything should be fine.

Now open, the ftp client (smartFTP) in windows and enter the IP address
username and pass for the Mac machine and hit connect. :D
 
well i tried the FTP thing, and i couldn't get it to work. i changed my mac ip address, but how do i change my pc's?

i think i'm going to just buy an external dvd burner. that seems the best thing to do, and that way i could burn dvds with idvd. what do ya'll think? i know i already have a dvd burner in my pc desktop and laptop, but still
 
twoodcc said:
well i tried the FTP thing, and i couldn't get it to work. i changed my mac ip address, but how do i change my pc's?
Click to expand...
1. Log on to the computer.
2. Click Start, click Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click Network and Dial-up Connections. The Network and Dial-up Connections dialog box opens.
4. Right-click the local area connection that you want, and then click Properties. The Local Area Network Connection Properties dialog box opens.
5. In the Components checked are used by this connection box, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties. The Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box appears. There change the IP to static and enter the IP address and subnetmask.​
 
thanks, i'll try again. what about changing my mac ip address? do i go to network, then change from DCHP (or whatever it is) to DCHP manual?
 
twoodcc said:
thanks, i'll try again. what about changing my mac ip address? do i go to network, then change from DCHP (or whatever it is) to DCHP manual?
Click to expand...

Well, are you setting things up as a private network or not? If yes, then you'll need to assign private addressing to both machines, using a private Class C address (192.168.x.x) - I'm not sure exactly how you are planning on setting things up though.

Oh, and it's DHCP, not DCHP - Dynamic Host Control Protocol. :cool:
 
~Shard~ said:
Well, are you setting things up as a private network or not? If yes, then you'll need to assign private addressing to both machines, using a private Class C address (192.168.x.x) - I'm not sure exactly how you are planning on setting things up though.

Oh, and it's DHCP, not DCHP - Dynamic Host Control Protocol. :cool:
Click to expand...

Not to be nitpicky but since you are correcting people...

DHCP is "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol".

Also, you don't have to use a private class C address. You could use a class A address (10.x.x.x) or a class B address (172.16.x.x).
 
twoodcc said:
thanks, i'll try it. so i just have a regular network cable between the two?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you mean by "regular". You'll need a cross-over cable since you are directly connecting two PCs.
 
hmmfe said:
Depends on what you mean by "regular". You'll need a cross-over cable since you are directly connecting two PCs.
Click to expand...

When using a Mac, you don't need a cross-over cable for direct machine-
machine connection :).
 
barneygumble said:
fat32 is limited to files to individual files of 4Gb not a total size of 32GB or else my 200GB drives woulodn't work :p
Click to expand...
Exactly, but many DVD ISOs are over 4Gb, so keep this in mind! An external may not be the right choice.
 
Compile 'em all said:
When using a Mac, you don't need a cross-over cable for direct machine-
machine connection :).
Click to expand...

I know higher-end Macs will auto-correct if you use the wrong cable--which has been a lifesaver for me sometimes! Has that feature spread to all Macs?
 
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