Hi I want to find out how to set up a home network between a Microsoft PC (XP) and an Apple laptop. I have been trying to no avail and was unable to find any written assistance on the Microsoft support pages __Please come to my rescue____Jo
I seem to be getting a prob with needing a 'user name and password' but the PCs 6 years old and we do not remember it... sorry1 person needs an answerI do too
November 18th, 2009 7:30am

On OS X, make sure you have File sharing ticked in System Preferences>Sharing. Click the Options button and select "Share files and folders using SMB". Add shared directories as desired. You must create matching user accounts/passwords on both the Mac and Windows*. You do not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES . If you wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop in Windows (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you can do this. Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) - http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm You will find the automatic logon options for OS X in System Preferences>Accounts. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, setting File and Printer Sharing ON will take care of this for those machines and if you aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus/security program with its own firewall component, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct subnet. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall. DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY . The OS X Firewall settings are in System Preferences>Security. Click the lock to make changes and click the Advanced button to make sure SMB Sharing is allowed. If you set it up in the Sharing module, it will be. *If your XP box is already automatically logging in and/or you don't remember the password to change it, log into the built-in Administrator account and change your own user account's password to something you will remember. You will not be asked for the old password if you do it this way. To get to the built-in Administrator account in XP: In XP Home, boot the computer into Safe Mode. Do this by repeatedly tapping the F8 key as the computer is starting up. This will get you to the right menu. Navigate using your Up arrow key; the mouse will not work here. Once in Safe Mode, you will see the normally hidden Administrator account. The default password is a blank. In XP Pro, you do not need to go into Safe Mode. At the Welcome Screen, do Ctrl-Alt-Del twice to get the classic Windows logon box. Type in "Administrator" and whatever password you assigned when you set up Windows. If you reset the built-in Administrator account's password in Home or have Pro and don't remember the password, use NTpasswd to change the built-in Administrator account's password to a blank. Download the bootable CD .iso, burn with third-party burning software such as Roxio, Nero, or the free ImgBurn . Burnas an image, not as data. Boot with the media you created. You may need to change the boot order in the BIOS or get a temporary boot order menu with a special keypress. NTpasswd will run. Follow the instructions carefully. http://home.eunet.no/pnordahl/ntpasswd/ MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
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November 18th, 2009 7:01pm

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