printer interoperability

[regre7]

I'm switching from PC/Win to Apple in a few months, but I highly doubt the rest of my family will switch with me. I'm pretty new to home networking, so I've got a few questions:

First, if I share my printer (hooked up to PC), will I be able to print from it using a MacBook Pro (through Airport)? The only networking my PC has is to a wireless internet router.

Second, if the above won't work, how would I go about accessing my printer without using a direct cable (wireless is preferred)?

Third, would it be a catastrophic disaster if I were to try to find out how to access my PC's HDDs? I have three, two direct IDE to mobo, one indirect IDE to a PCI adapter.

Thanks.

 

[blodwyn]

I'm switching from PC/Win to Apple in a few months, but I highly doubt the rest of my family will switch with me. I'm pretty new to home networking, so I've got a few questions:

First, if I share my printer (hooked up to PC), will I be able to print from it using a MacBook Pro (through Airport)? The only networking my PC has is to a wireless internet router.

Second, if the above won't work, how would I go about accessing my printer without using a direct cable (wireless is preferred)?

Third, would it be a catastrophic disaster if I were to try to find out how to access my PC's HDDs? I have three, two direct IDE to mobo, one indirect IDE to a PCI adapter.

Thanks.

1. If the MBP and the PC are connected to the same router, i.e. on the same network, then you should be able to share the Windows printer just fine whether by wireless or cable

2. Shouldn't be necessary, but you could alternatively use a network printer adapter made by DLink or Linksys or whoever

3. You should also be able to access your PC's hard drives no problem. You have to set them as shared, but it's pretty easy.

To put your questions into context, I use my Mac at work in an environment that's 99% Windows. I can connect to any of the shared disks and printers without any problems whatsoever. The only problem you might have is that the network drives get disconnected when you sleep the Mac and wake it up again. There are various workarounds involving scripts that have been posted on this board, and also I think someone has written a utility that automatically reconnects. I can't recall any of the details though - maybe someone else on the forum can help?