networking win 2000 and OS X

[jane]

we have the above computers (OS X v 10.2.8) connected via
a peer-to-peer cable netowrk and have been sharing an
internet connection just fine for 2+ years. But we cannot
share files or folders between the 2 machines.

I cannot see the Mac from the Win 2000 machine at all, and
while the Mac can see the Win 2000 machine, it asks for a
username and password to access shared folders (file
sharing turned on on both machines). Nothing we try lets
the Mac access the PC. Any idea what is going on? I
always log onto the PC as administraor with no password
and even this doesn't work.

BTW, networking worked fine under Win 98. Go figure.

Any ideas? Thanks for your help.
Jane

 

[William M. Smith]

we have the above computers (OS X v 10.2.8) connected via
a peer-to-peer cable netowrk and have been sharing an
internet connection just fine for 2+ years. But we cannot
share files or folders between the 2 machines.

I cannot see the Mac from the Win 2000 machine at all, and
while the Mac can see the Win 2000 machine, it asks for a
username and password to access shared folders (file
sharing turned on on both machines). Nothing we try lets
the Mac access the PC. Any idea what is going on? I
always log onto the PC as administraor with no password
and even this doesn't work.

BTW, networking worked fine under Win 98. Go figure.

Hi Jane!

Your networking is set up just fine since you're sharing the Internet, so
your problem is related to just user authentication between machines. Do the
following:

1.) To make things much easier (and safer) stop using the "Administrator"
account on your PC. While logged in as Administrator create user accounts
for each person who will use the computers. These accounts should not be
administrators. This will prevent viruses from using your Administrator
login to run. Any damage done while a regular user is logged in will be
limited to that user and not the entire system.

Use the Administrator account only when you need to install new software or
hardware.

2.) Create the same user accounts with the same passwords on the Mac as
well. Be sure that each account has the ability to login from Windows while
you're setting up these accounts. Be sure the user names are identical as
well as the passwords. Uppercase/lowercase is important for passwords.
"PASSWORD" is not the same as "password".

3.) Both of your machines should be in the same Windows Workgroup. On your
Mac go to Applications --> Utilities --> Directory Accesss --> SMB. Enter a
Workgroup name. The default is WORKGROUP, which is OK for a small home
network. Don't worry about WINS.

On your Windows machine, right-click My Computer --> Properties. Set your
workgroup name here to the same as the Mac.

Doing this will make both machines appear together when you browse the
network from either machine.

At this point, so long as you're logged in as a user on one machine, you'll
be able to see the files of the same user on the other machine.

Hope this helps! bill