how to access my windows laptop's hd through wireless network?

[volcom883]

hi,
i do not want the windows laptop to gain access to my mac but i wanna access and transfer files from the windows laptop to my mac.
im basically using my xp laptop as a downloading device.

is it something easy to set up?

what will the speed be like?

by the way i also have a firewire cable. i did connect the firewire cable to my xp laptop but the mac cant see it. something on xp came up saying it should install a software but couldnt find it when looking up on the net..
i would prefer wireless connection but if firewire is easier and much faster then yeah firewire is ok.
or, do i need an ethernet cable to connect them?

thanks

 

[spinnerlys]

Firewire would be best, as it offers at least 35 MBytes/s (with hard drives), compared to maybe 10 MByte/s (maximum?) with the best and fastest wireless.

Here is a guide for setting up Mac OS X (10.3 in this guide, but 10.5 shouldn't be that different) and Windows XP:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031112091634533&query=firewire+ip+xp

 

[volcom883]

hi thanks for your reply however i'd prefer the wifi connection. plus on the guide it says:
Make a new network location in System Prefs (Network Port Configurations -> New, FireWire). I called mine "Direct Connection (FireWire)."
on leopard i dont see those options

anybody knows how i can access my windows hd through macs wifi?

 

[spinnerlys]

http://guides.macrumors.com/Networking_Windows_with_Mac_OS_X

Normally you have to share the Windows folder(s) you want to access, and have both computers on the same wifi network.
Then in Finder > Go > Connect to server (Cmd + K) > smb://192.168.xxx.xxx, where the 192.168.xxx.xxx stands for the Windows PC's IP.
To find out the Windows IP, if you have set it to dynamic, just press Windows key + R > type in "cmd", without the " ", then type "ipconfig /all".

Or ....