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puckhead193

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 25, 2004
9,582
874
NY
I want to transfer some files from my laptop, which is upstairs, to my imac down stairs. I would like to do this wirelessly but can't figure it out. I do have wi-fi/airport. Any ideas?
Josh
 
Turn on the Personal File Sharing on one of the Macs, then from the other one Select the Connect to Server... from the Go menu in the Finder.

Once the window comes up, type "afp://<name of other Mac>.local" and click on the Connect button.

e.g. If your iMac is called "My-iMac" you need to type "afp://My-iMac.local"

You will then be prompted for a valid username and password on the other computer. Enter them and you're there.

An icon for the other computer should also appear in the Network section of the Finder, but I've found that the above method is more reliable.
 
I want to transfer some files from my laptop, which is upstairs, to my imac down stairs. I would like to do this wirelessly but can't figure it out. I do have wi-fi/airport. Any ideas?
Josh

I would not recommend using wi-fi if you plan on transferring a lot of data (> a few GB).

Enable Personal File Sharing by following these steps on the computer that is sharing the files:
1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Sharing
3. Check Personal File Sharing

On Guest computer:
1. Open Finder
2. Select Network
3. Wait a second until the Host Computer appears
4. Select the Volume or Folder you want to connect to and type in Login Name & Password.

Tip: Connect both computers together with a standard CAT 5 cable for a fast direct connection.
 
I think it would be easiest to use 'target mode'. To do this:

1. shut down your (apple) laptop
2. connect you laptop with a firewire cable to your iMac
3. turn the laptop on and press the 'T' key untill the firewire icon appears
4. on your iMac you should now see a new external drive (your laptop's drive)
5. copy what you want and when you're done eject your laptop's drive on the iMac and disconnect them.

Good luck :)
 
both methods don't work... :(
Then substitute the IP address of the Mac you wish to connect to into my method above.

The IP address can be obtained from the System Preferences>>Network>>Airport>>TCP/IP panel. Look in there on the computer you've enabled Sharing on and make a note of the numbers. It should be something along the lines of 192.168.0.4 or similar.

Then from the other computer, get the Connect to Server... window up and type

afp://192.168.0.4 (or whatever your IP address is) & click Connect.
 
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