GUIDE: Networking Windows with OS X

[4JNA]

I want to configure my Windows to share the internet connection to my powerbook... Any ideas??

depends on the version of windows. in w2k/xp open the 'network connections' window in control panel, right-click on the wired lan network connection and select properties, then click on the 'advanced' tab. about in the middle of the sheet, you should see the 'internet connection sharing'. put a tick in the 'allow' box and click ok. after windows gets done mucking about with settings and such, your lan connection will show a 'share' or hand, your wireless card will have a static ip of 192.168.0.1, and will be set to handle DHCP from any allowed connection (ie have the powerbook set to receive address automatically, or static in the .0.x range and the .0.1 as gateway and DNS). older version of windows needed proxy software. i can recommend proxy from analogx, but you are on your own for setting it up. you could also use proxy on w2k/xp, but it adds more software and setup stuff to deal with.

http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/proxy.htm

no connection, just a happy admin with lots of happy proxy'ed users.

good luck.

 

[SoOpAfLy]

Hummm... I've tried about everything but I just can't do it.. LoL...
I've done what you said, but don't i have to configure my wireless card?? on the TCP/IP properties of the wireless card I just have on the IP: 192.168.0.1 and on the Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0... What about the default Gateway and the DNS servers??

...your wireless card...will be set to handle DHCP from any allowed connection

How do I do this? is it automatic??
What about in the powerbook?? Do I just have to connect to the wireless network that he finds?? The problem is that he doesn't find anyone...

 

[4JNA]

What about in the powerbook?? Do I just have to connect to the wireless network that he finds?? The problem is that he doesn't find anyone...

all sounds good so far. the pc wireless ip/dns are correct. no gateway ip because your pc wireless IS the gateway (for the powerbook). so the next step would be to set up the pc's wireless network info for ad-hoc (computer to computer, no access point) instead of infastructure (waiting for access point, and the reason the power book never finds anyone).

i will try to be brief i promise... i assume that your pc is a desktop and that you don't plan to move it around and connect to lots of different wifi points. we are using your pc as a home router/gateway, and the settings will be set for that purpose. we need to set it up for ad-hoc connection only so that the powerbook has something to talk to. you could change later, just not something i would want to have to do several times a day.

1. on the pc, open network connections sheet, check to see that lan has a working ip address and that you can access the internet.

2. right click on wireless connection, properties, wireless networks tab, advanced button on lower right, and select the 'computer-to-computer network only' button, click close. in the 'preferred networks section, clear out anything that is showing (highlight and click remove), then click on the 'add' button. give your wifi a name (ssid), choose your security settings (you might want to start with 'Open' and 'Disabled' just for testing, but turn on WEP/WPA/? later for security!). my wireless card only does WEP, so i don't know what the WPA/? screens will look like. for WEP, remove the 'key is provided for me' check mark and enter a network key (need to be 5 or 13 ascii characters OR 10 or 26 hex characters). click ok, and you should have the wireless connections properties sheet showing with your new network showing in the middle of the page. click ok to close and apply the settings.

3. fire up the powerbook and see if it will find your new network. i don't have any mac wireless hardware to play with, so i can't give you step by step. i would expect the powerbook to find the new ad-hoc network and connect. the pc is set by default (internet sharing) to be a DHCP server, so it should give the powerbook an IP. if not, then into the system preferences, network, airport tab to setup your connection. if nothing works for getting a DHCP address, you could assign a static address of 192.168.0.2-253, with gateway and DNS of 192.168.0.1 and try it that way.

4. should get you going. to keep your neighbors off the wireless connection, you can always right click on the pc/wireless connection and choose disable when you are not around/using the connection. this just turns off the pc's wireless card. right click and enable to turn it back on. wait a few seconds before trying the powerbook after turning it back on.

 

[derajfast]

whenever i try to connect to the shared folder from my mac, i get to the last step, but it says my password and/or username are incorrect, even though i know for a fact they arent. what could be the problem? the workgroup is correct too.

please help!!!

 

[4JNA]

whenever i try to connect to the shared folder from my mac, i get to the last step, but it says my password and/or username are incorrect, even though i know for a fact they arent. what could be the problem? the workgroup is correct too.

which version of windows? if xp/w2k, the account you use to authenticate must have a password on the windows box. for example, xp home, you have only one account, no password, it logs onto the desktop from boot without clicking anything. that means you have no password, or you are geeky and have enabled auto-logon and don't need my help! if xp, i would recommend restarting your pc, when the first black boot screen with the lines at the bottom shows on the screen, hit f8 and select 'safe mode'. it should boot to the logon screen, and show you your account and 'administrator'. if you have never been here before, the administrator account will not have a password, so just hit enter. goto control panel, user accounts, add a password, type password, remember password, logout, restart machine, should start as normal by going straight to your account.

now when you try to connect on the mac (go>network>'your workgroup'>'your computer'>connect) you could enter 'administrator' and new password you just set up, click 'remember in my keychain' if you don't want to type it every time you connect.

if i didn't understand the question, or answered the wrong question, try again 🙂

 

[derajfast]

well its xp home, and the administrator has a password and name, that i type in to that screen after finder>go>connect to server

then it connects and asks for my name and password, i type them in, and it says they are incorrect, when they arent...

 

[4JNA]

well its xp home, and the administrator has a password and name...

😕 what do you mean 'has a name'? i meant the 'administrator' account, not 'owner' which is a 'computer administrator' account.

i guess a few more questions then. do you type a password when xp starts up, or does the computer just boot straight to the desktop? any other windows boxes/anything else sharing on the network?

usually xp home is setup by default with file sharing enabled, but lets go check. open control panel, network connections, right click on your lan connection, select properties. in the 'connection uses the following items' list, you should see 'file and printer sharing for microsoft networks' and it should have a checkmark in the box to the left of it. if no checkmark, click the box to add a checkmark. if not on the list, click install, service, add, and see if it is listed. if it is on the list and has a checkmark, then click on the advanced tab, click on the firewall settings button, and check if the firewall is on or off. if on, and you run the computer with it on, click on the exceptions tab and make sure that 'file and printer sharing' is on the list and has a checkmark in the box to the left. click ok, and ok to get out.

if that doesn't sound like it, mabey running the 'network setup wizard' in the control panel will get it going. i don't trust windows 'wizards' but it might be worth a go. good luck.

 

[iPhil]

well its xp home, and the administrator has a password and name, that i type in to that screen after finder>go>connect to server

then it connects and asks for my name and password, i type them in, and it says they are incorrect, when they arent...

Try this to connect to a xp home box..

Open finder> click on server icon (sidebar) > find the xp name like (Mshome)> click on the computer name >Connect

 

[SoOpAfLy]

Humm... Strange, I can't do the second step, because I can't find this 😛

2. right click on wireless connection, properties, wireless networks tab, advanced button on lower right, and select the 'computer-to-computer network only' button, click close.

I go to the properties of the wireless network and I can only find 3 tabs: General, Authentication and Advanced, no Wireless networks tab.. Strange...
My Wireless card is a "Linksys Wireless USB Network Adapter WUSB11 ver.2.6"...
Thanks a lot for Help...

 

[yellow]

That's what you see when you right-click/properties on the WIRED connection, not the WIRELESS connection. Strange.

 

[SoOpAfLy]

That's what you see when you right-click/properties on the WIRED connection, not the WIRELESS connection. Strange.

Nop... just check it:

 

[derajfast]

😕 what do you mean 'has a name'? i meant the 'administrator' account, not 'owner' which is a 'computer administrator' account.

i guess a few more questions then. do you type a password when xp starts up, or does the computer just boot straight to the desktop? any other windows boxes/anything else sharing on the network?

usually xp home is setup by default with file sharing enabled, but lets go check. open control panel, network connections, right click on your lan connection, select properties. in the 'connection uses the following items' list, you should see 'file and printer sharing for microsoft networks' and it should have a checkmark in the box to the left of it. if no checkmark, click the box to add a checkmark. if not on the list, click install, service, add, and see if it is listed. if it is on the list and has a checkmark, then click on the advanced tab, click on the firewall settings button, and check if the firewall is on or off. if on, and you run the computer with it on, click on the exceptions tab and make sure that 'file and printer sharing' is on the list and has a checkmark in the box to the left. click ok, and ok to get out.

if that doesn't sound like it, mabey running the 'network setup wizard' in the control panel will get it going. i don't trust windows 'wizards' but it might be worth a go. good luck.

when i restart the pc, i get a screen with all the diff users on the comp

then i click on mine (the admin), and type in the password


when im trying to connect to the folder via my mac, i try to type in that name "Evan" and the password for that account, and it doesnt work

 

[derajfast]

when i try to connect via finer->go->network->etc, i click on the connect button

and i get the error message saying "the alias slowcomputers couldnt be opened, because the original item cannot be found"

then it says "delete alias", fix alias, and ok


also, every time i restart the winblows computer, i get an error message saying "Windows system error: a duplicate name exists on the network"

 

[derajfast]

😕 what do you mean 'has a name'? i meant the 'administrator' account, not 'owner' which is a 'computer administrator' account.

i guess a few more questions then. do you type a password when xp starts up, or does the computer just boot straight to the desktop? any other windows boxes/anything else sharing on the network?

usually xp home is setup by default with file sharing enabled, but lets go check. open control panel, network connections, right click on your lan connection, select properties. in the 'connection uses the following items' list, you should see 'file and printer sharing for microsoft networks' and it should have a checkmark in the box to the left of it. if no checkmark, click the box to add a checkmark. if not on the list, click install, service, add, and see if it is listed. if it is on the list and has a checkmark, then click on the advanced tab, click on the firewall settings button, and check if the firewall is on or off. if on, and you run the computer with it on, click on the exceptions tab and make sure that 'file and printer sharing' is on the list and has a checkmark in the box to the left. click ok, and ok to get out.

if that doesn't sound like it, mabey running the 'network setup wizard' in the control panel will get it going. i don't trust windows 'wizards' but it might be worth a go. good luck.

and yes that box is checked....

 

[4JNA]

when i try to connect via finer->go->network->etc, i click on the connect button

and i get the error message saying "the alias slowcomputers couldnt be opened, because the original item cannot be found"

then it says "delete alias", fix alias, and ok


also, every time i restart the winblows computer, i get an error message saying "Windows system error: a duplicate name exists on the network"

BINGO! xp will disable the NIC at boot up if there is a duplicate name on the network, so that is the 'item can't be found' and the reason you can't connect. right click on 'my computer click the 'computer name' tab, click the 'change' box and give your machine a new name. click ok, and ok to get out and then reboot. should fix the 'name error' thing, and that should solve the connection to the mac also. you also said 'box is checked' which i took to mean that the firewall is set to allow 'file and printer' sharing. you should be set.

 

[derajfast]

rename the workgroup, or the computer name?

 

[derajfast]

its still not working....can you IM me or something?

 

[derajfast]

ok i really cant take this anymore.....can someone please IM me and help me out?

 

[4JNA]

Humm... Strange, I can't do the second step, because I can't find this 😛

I go to the properties of the wireless network and I can only find 3 tabs: General, Authentication and Advanced, no Wireless networks tab.. Strange...
My Wireless card is a "Linksys Wireless USB Network Adapter WUSB11 ver.2.6"...
Thanks a lot for Help...

wow, my bad. i have no idea which version of windows you are on. right click on 'my computer' either on the desktop or in the start menu to find out (will show you the version, and any service packs that are installed). from the pic, looks like windows 2000 or xp non-sp2. both ok, just not going to work with the step by step. if your os is ANYTHING other than xp sp2 (service pack 2), you will need to use the linksys wifi setup/config app to do the setup. don't have a linksys usb to play with right now, but the general setup idea will be the same.

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...goBlobs&blobwhere=1131004154047&ssbinary=true

find page 24 for instructions on how to setup a new profile. you need to create an ad-hoc wifi profile. i assume that it will allow you to leave the gateway and dns blank which is what we want for window internet connection sharing. if not, put in the ip of the wired lan adapter for both. if that won't work, then i would recommend getting through the linksys config, and then 'unsharing' the lan connection, reboot, and 'share' the lan connection again to get windows to reset the share settings. once the linksys setup is done, fire up the powerbook. the rest should be about the same. sorry for the mix-up 🙄 windows.... what an adventure....

 

[4JNA]

rename the workgroup, or the computer name?

computer name.

 

[derajfast]

can i please IM you? its still not working, and i REALLY REALLY need this done by tomorrow night

 

[derajfast]

i sent you a PM., if you dont want to help me, just say so. just respond either way please

 

[4JNA]

i sent you a PM.

pm was a request for IM. i have a 12 month old, and 28 month old. IM will never happen! and for the record, AIM (or anything from AOL) has no chance in hell of ending up on any computer i touch. lots of virus and spyware apps that are easier to get rid of than anything AOL. now back to our regular program...

from the top. you said xp home. which service pack (right click on my computer, properties) if not SP2, why? have you run windows update? any virus software running, is it updated, have you run a full scan? any spyware blocking software running, is it updated, have you run a full scan? any firewall software running other than XP's? you mentioned the 'duplicate name error'. what else do you have on the network? any other windows boxes? have you been able to share files from this computer to anything else in the past, or is this a new setup? can you ping the mac from the windows box, or the windows box from the mac? how are the two connected? switch, crossover, wireless? DHCP or static address? on the windows box, what address is showing on the support tab of the NIC? (or start>run>command>ipconfig) how about the mac's address? anything else going on with the windows box that didn't fall into one of the questions above?

sounds like windows network trouble, and without a clear picture of whats involved, i have no way of knowing what the problem is or helping you fix it. there were 4 or 5 messages before you mentioned the 'duplicate name' error. stuff like that makes a huge difference!

again, the xp 'network setup wizard' in the control panel might help if you haven't already run it, as it will setup up sharing, change permissions, and handle a lot of the little setup tasks for you.

happy to answer questions when i can/if i can.

 

[SoOpAfLy]

wow, my bad. i have no idea which version of windows you are on. right click on 'my computer' either on the desktop or in the start menu to find out (will show you the version, and any service packs that are installed). from the pic, looks like windows 2000 or xp non-sp2. both ok, just not going to work with the step by step. if your os is ANYTHING other than xp sp2 (service pack 2), you will need to use the linksys wifi setup/config app to do the setup. don't have a linksys usb to play with right now, but the general setup idea will be the same.

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...goBlobs&blobwhere=1131004154047&ssbinary=true

find page 24 for instructions on how to setup a new profile. you need to create an ad-hoc wifi profile. i assume that it will allow you to leave the gateway and dns blank which is what we want for window internet connection sharing. if not, put in the ip of the wired lan adapter for both. if that won't work, then i would recommend getting through the linksys config, and then 'unsharing' the lan connection, reboot, and 'share' the lan connection again to get windows to reset the share settings. once the linksys setup is done, fire up the powerbook. the rest should be about the same. sorry for the mix-up 🙄 windows.... what an adventure....

The OS I'm using is Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2...

 

[4JNA]

The OS I'm using is Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2...

in xp sp2, when you plug in the usb wireless nic, it should pop up the 'xp wireless zero configuration' thingy in the system tray (bottom right), looks like a laptop with a red X and two )) on the right side. does yours do this? again, no linksys usb wifi nic's around, but a d-link usb and a buffalo usb both do this?! also wondering if the linksys adapter installed any 'control' application, like site survey, security setup, and that kind of thing. per the install guide for xp, the config thing should not have been installed, just pop in the adapter, the cd, and xp does the rest if you believe the guide. couple of last questions, when you open up 'control panel>network connection' what is showing? when you right click on the wireless NIC, does the 'short cut menu' that pops up show 'view available wireless networks' near the top?

also have a problem with the photo you posted... i would expect the linksys adapter to be showing by name, instead of 'Instant Wireless USB Adapter'. in the install guide for your adapter, the screen shot shows the adapter listed in windows as 'Linksys Wireless-B USB Adapter'. you could check by right clicking on 'my computer>properties>hardware tab>device manager>network adapters' and see how it is listed there. mabey older drivers? i don't think the original version supported the 'zero config' thing, and mabey that's the reason for the disconnect. i would recommend going out to the linksys site and downloading or checking for updated xp drivers for your adapter. i know you posted v2.6, but double-check to sticker on the bottom of your adapter to verify. drivers are here for the moment; ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/network/ and look for your model and version. the actual linksys site is down as of now?! but you might prefer to go through the support/download thing when linksys comes back up. i will agree with the last two observations... strange 🙁 😕

edit: just had a thought while changing yet another diaper, funny changing diapers always makes me think of windows... anyway, wonder if this machine has always been xp pro, or was this an upgrade from something else? still strange !?! oh, and linksys.com seems to be back up and running.