File sharing between XP, Vista and OS X on a local network

By Craig Simms on 03 June 2008

Tags: file sharing | how to | local | mac os x | network | osx | smb | vista | windows vista | windows xp

Contents

You're a platform agnostic type of person. Maybe even just part of a family that swings several ways. Regardless, somehow you've ended up with a few different computers on your home network, all of them running different operating systems. While they're on the network and can access the internet fine, getting them to share files amongst each other is more complicated than dancing the Macarena in a hurricane, and you often feel just as wounded and confused afterwards. Let's see if we can get things untangled.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we're going to assume that all your machines are already networked correctly, as that topic in itself is more vast than the scope of this article can allow. For operating system versions, we have used Windows XP Professional SP2 (using the Classic Control Panel and Start Menu), Vista Home Premium SP1 (using the Classic Control Panel) and OS X 10.5.2. Procedures may vary on other versions of the operating systems.

Please note that this tutorial considers all firewalls and VPNs are turned off — if you're running one, clearing permissions there is your responsibility. On with the show!

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canberra_photographer
canberra_photographer
07/06/2008 06:02 PM

Difficult? File sharing in my experience has proven surprisingly easy with Mac OS and XP. You know how I got an XP SP2 and Mac OS 10.5.3 machine to network? I connected them to my network, enabled file sharing on both using the right click menu and... no, that's it. They worked fine. Didn't have to adjust firewalls or anything.

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Kubbin
10/06/2008 10:52 PM

Thank you...just the info I needed

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