Why did I create
these pages?

Related information:

Mac to PC
file sharing
Instructions for sharing files on your PC with your Mac

PC to Mac
file sharing
Instructions for sharing files on your Mac with your PC

JoelandFaith.com Forum
Post questions and get answers

Ping how-to
Directions for pinging one computer from another

Download a .PDF copy (107 Kb) of this page for future reference


Additional info.

MacWindows (Panther)

Sharing Your Printer With Windows
Apple KBase article

Print to a Printer Shared By Windows
Apple KBase article

Sharing files between Panther and Windows





Note: The following information assumes you already have both your
Mac and PC computers connected to a network (ethernet or wireless) or
that they are directly connected via an ethernet crossover cable.

Introduction

 In conjunction with the cross-platform file sharing pages we have already put together (linked to in the frame at left), this page will hopefully assist you in sharing files when using Apple's Panther system software along with any and all versions of Windows.

While there are slight variations in how things appear and are setup when you compare Panther (Mac OS X 10.3.x) and Jaguar (10.2.x, upon which my other file sharing pages are based), overall the two operating systems work fairly similarly. That being the case, we decided to make a single file sharing page for use with Panther, rather than re-create multiple pages that would (due to the similarities of Panther and Jaguar) essentially duplicate the information already posted.

Instead, this page will compare and contrast those two operating systems, noting the differences between Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.2 (as related to file sharing), as well as provide Panther-only tips and fixes. Our previous file sharing pages will serve as the step-by-step instructions which you will need to follow to share files between a Mac and a PC (in either direction), while this page will give you Panther-specific information for performing that same file sharing procedure.

Preparation

 Prior to attempting file sharing using Panther, we strenuously suggest you first doing the following:
  1. Check the integrity of your hard drive by:
    • Booting from the Panther install CD, choosing Disk Utility from the Install menu, then selecting your startup disk and switching to the First Aid tab, then clicking Verify Disk.
    • Starting up in single-user mode by holding down Command-S at bootup, then once to a "#" prompt typing in "fsck -y -f" (without the quotes) and hitting Return. If errors are found, continue to run the same command again and again until "[Your hard disk] appears to be OK," then type in "reboot" and hit Return and your Mac should restart.

  2. Repair Permissions on your startup disk
    • After booting normally, go to Applications, then Utilities, and open Disk Utility. Select your Mac OS X hard drive, switch to the First Aid tab, then click "Repair Permissions."


  3. Specify the SMB workgroup on your Mac
    • Go to Applications, then Utilities, and open Directory Access. If necessary, click on the padlock and enter your password, then highlight the SMB option and click the Configure button. Next to "Workgroup" type in the workgroup/domain that is used on the PC that you will be connecting to, then click OK and quit the Directory Access program.

Note: Be sure to restart your Mac after completing all of the above.

Comparison
Mac to PC file sharing
Depicted below are some of the more notable differences between Panther and Jaguar that you will run across when attempting to connect to a PC from your Mac:

Panther Jaguar
Panther Jaguar
Also shown here are some other changes made to Panther that will come into play when trying to connect to your Mac from a PC:



PC to Mac file sharing


Panther Jaguar
No longer available

Another thing to note is that, unlike with Jaguar, if you use exactly the same user account name and password to login to Windows (either the "long" name, e.g. "Joel Shoemaker", or short name, e.g. "shoemkr") that is setup within Panther, when you try to connect to your Mac from your PC those login credentials are automatically used and you are never prompted to login. (If we remember correctly this behavior is more similar to how PC-to-PC connections work, therefore actually is an improvement to how Mac OS X 10.3 works.)

On the other hand, if you login to Windows using a different user account name and/or password, when you try to connect to Panther you should be prompted for both a username and password (even if one or the other already match for the user account logged in with on the PC). This apparently also applies even if you don't have a password assigned to a Windows user account, or if you are not prompted to login to Windows at startup.

Having problems?

 There are any number of Apple Knowledge Base articles concerning file sharing using Panther. Below are some to note in particular if you are having problems getting things up-and-running: We would also suggest dropping by the following message boards to get assistance and input from other users, including "helpers" that are often times more familiar with a wider range of network setups and configurations than I am:
Please keep in mind that you may run into some problems specific to your machine and network setup when trying to get your computers connected that could keep things from functioning properly. Be sure to refer to the above, as well as both the Apple and Microsoft knowledge bases for help in fixing the particular issues you need to resolve to get things working.

If you need additional assistance or would like to share your thoughts on this or any of our web pages, please visit our forum. There you can post questions, view previously answered topics, as well as submit feedback regarding this site.



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