Connecting to Windows Network from OS X

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I am sorry if this has already asked and answered but I cannot find a solutions. Here is my situation. I have a macbook laptop that I take pretty much with me everywhere. I also have a couple PCs at home both running Vista, I know I know. I have a router set up. I don't know much about networking so here is my question. I want to be able to access my files on my vista computers from my laptop over the internet. Is there a way to do that?
Are there programs that make it easier?
Is there a way to ssh into my PC?
I tried to set up cygwin but it failed.
I have also tried to set up an FTP sever using Filezilla but I cannot get that to work either.
One way I would think is to set up a VPN on the network and connect to that and something with port forwarding with the router, but other than that I have no real idea.
Thank you in advanced for the help.

 

[richard.mac]

your making it too hard for yourself! 😀 to share files over the network with your PC dont worry about ssh or VPN just use file sharing.

first of all make sure "File Sharing" is ticked in Sharing in System Preferences. then in Options make sure "Share files using SMB" is ticked. you can tick your username if you want. this will share you whole home folder instead of just the folder added in the Shared Folders list. then to access your Mac's shared folder on the PC open Run and type the smb address shown in File Sharing i.e. "smb://your Mac's IP address".

if you want to just share your Mac's public folder follow my guide .

to access your PC's share folder open the properties sheet for Shared Documents and make sure sharing is enabled. then you need to find the name of your PC's workgroup. im not sure about vista but in XP you just look under the Computer Name tab in the properties sheet for My Computer. i assume its the same for vista. your workgroup name is probably "WORKGROUP" or "MSHOME". then on your Mac open System Preferences, search for "wins" and hit enter then enter your workgroup name beside "Workgroup:" (in lower case letters). make sure you apply the settings afterwards.

then your PC should show up under shared in the Finder sidebar. if the Finder asks you for a username and password use your the one for your PC's account.