Apple mac mini and desktop pc - transferring/ connecting/ networking...

bgscotty

Hello!

I've had some great replies to previous, separate posts on networking and Apple mac mini. Now I'm about to combine the two over the weekend.

"takes big breath cos I've kinda been putting it off!!" ...

It's probably quite simple, and I've done research which I just need to pull together, but I'd welcome any tips before I begin to make it as painless as possible.

The background...

• I have a desktop pc
• I have a Livebox from Orange (my pc is connected by cable to the internet via the Livebox)
• I have a printer
• My flatmate has a brand new Apple mac mini waiting in its box!
• The desktop pc and Apple mac will be in separate rooms, separated by about 12 feet through 2 plasterboard walls

* I want to transfer all- or as much as is possible- of the information on his profile on the desktop pc to the Apple mac mini

(Any tips on how to do this?)

(Can software he has previously downloaded on the desktop pc e.g. Flash, Dreamweaver also be transferred to the Apple mac mini?)

* I want to connect the Apple mac mini to the Livebox so that it can get the internet, either wired or wireless

(Any tips on how to do this?)

* I want to establish a network- either wired or wireless- between the desktop pc and the Apple mac mini so that we can back up the two hard drives, share files, and share the printer

(Any tips on how to do this?)

(Is this a good solution to backing up data on the two machines, sharing files and sharing the printer?)


I know I'm asking a lot and, while I've researched much of the above, most of it deals with how to do stuff with the desktop pc OR how to do stuff with the Apple mac mini separately, and it would be great if anyone could help me make it easier by giving advice on how to do stuff with them together!

Any comments gratefully received.

Thank you all in advance.

Scotty

isofa

Network together using Ethernet first. Then to transfer the files (and network) from the PC to the Mac (or vice-versa) is dead easy, set-up and allow Windows / SMB sharing in the Mac's network control panel, and you should then be able to see the Mac's user document folder from the PC, when you browse for the IP address.

Make sure your PCs firewall allows the Mac IP address.

Wired or wireless networking between the two will work in the same way, we have many OS X Macs and XP Pro PCs networked together.

If you want to share other folders and volumes, use SharePoints from HornWare.

I'm not familiar with the Livebox, so hopefully someone in the know will be able to point you in the right direction. Also try the forum at www.macuser.co.uk

You might be able to share the printer one way or the other, but you'll need to check, we only use network Ethernet printers, but I know OS X has printer sharing built-in for USB devices, and obviously Windows does too, so it should be okay...

To backup, you could sync or copy/echo files from the Mac to the PC (from Mac to PC, try Microsoft's free SyncToy v1.4) and then backup as normal from the PC, or the opposite was around using a Mac OS X tool.
Or use a network backup system, like the older Retrospect which will suck files from the Mac and PC and back them up somewhere else.

(PS Microsoft currently has SyncToy v2 in beta - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&displaylang=en&tmm)

Moneymaker

Take a look at "Migrate your files" http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

If it's an Intel Mac Mini it can run Windows.

If it has an "Airport" card (I think they all have) it will detect your wireless network automatically and ask if you want to connect. If it doesn't detect it automatically, try [Apple icon] -> System Preferences -> Networks
and click on "Assist me".

If you have any more questions, please state whether it's an Intel Mac Mini and which Operating System it's running. Note that the largest Hard Drive fitted to any standard Mac Mini is 80GB which may be a bit limiting. I recommend using an external Firewire drive if you need to store a lot of files (movies, music etc.)

bgscotty

Hello!!!

"Pheeew"!

I eventually managed to get the Apple mac mini to connect wirelessly to the Livebox via its Airport device.

On my XP Home desktop pc, I have tried to use both

• the "Network Set up" facility -

can someone tell me why doesn't it recognise a dvd or cd as a "removable storage device" to let me then run the saved network settings across to the Apple?

• the "Wireless Network Set up" facility

this is the same basic method as above but uses a usb flash driver, which IS recognised


However, it says for both the above facilities that "The Network Setup Wizard can only be run on computers running Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, and Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)."


Does this mean that the Apple mac mini MUST have XP installed before I can do this?

If this is the case, in the future will the Apple always have to be switched to the XP operating system to access any shared network files from the desktop?

Conversely, how will the desktop pc be able to access any information shared by the mac on the network unless it is always saved in XP mode rather than the mac operating system?



I would really appreciate any advice as I have gone through all Microsoft's help pages relating to networking and can find nothing about networking a desktop pc with an Apple- I'm sure it's simple when you know how! ;-)

Thank you.

Scotty

isofa

Set-up the sharing manually on the Mac, you can't run the Windows network wizard on a Mac.

You cannot take a settings disc from XP and install on the Mac.

Pretty much follow the basics I wrote in my my post. Then the PC can see the Mac, and you can also set it up vice-versa too, although sometimes it's easier just for the PC to see the Mac.

You definitely do not need XP installed on the Mac, just allow sharing on both, and as above, connect to the Mac's IP address from the PC... Nothing needs to be saved in a special XP format, and XP does not need to be install nor running on the Mac!

These tutorials might help:

http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3020.html

and

http://macs.about.com/cs/tipstutorials/a/xp_osx_sharing.htm

and from Apple:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=19652

You might have more issues with XP Home rather than XP Pro, as some of the advanced networking isn't available in the Home version.

bgscotty

Hello!

As usual, a brilliant reply from isofa ;-)

Scotty