I am at my wits' end. Please bear in mind that I am computer literate, but only at a fairly basic level. I'm likely to struggle if advice isn't very step-by-step. OK...
All I want to do is transfer files from my old Mac G4 (running OS 9) to my new (ish) PC (running Windows XP). I have a crossover ethernet cable which I understand should be enough on its own. I do not want to spend any more money.
From browsing forums such as this one I have gathered that there should be several different ways of networking these two computers but so far I have managed to make none of them succeed fully.
However, yesterday I managed to gain access to the Mac from the PC using Web Sharing on the Mac. This didn't seem to be the best way, but it would do. I was happy.
But then today I try to do exactly the same thing again and I get asked for a username and password. The Web Sharing settings on the Mac don't even ask me to supply a password and I don't have it set to Use File Sharing to control user access. I tried my Owner username and password on the Mac anyway. Didn't work. Tried creating new user accounts on the Mac and using their passwords. Didn't work. Tried removing the passwords from all the user accounts on the Mac. None of them worked. Why? Why is it doing this to me? WHY?
So maybe I should go back to the proper networking method. But I had even less progress with that. Neither computer seems able to see any trace of the other, despite my trying every piece of advice I could find (and understand). I've run Network Setup Wizard a billion times on the PC, I've given each machine an IP address according to instructions found I don't remember where. I'm very confused and very angry and on the verge of getting a USB flash drive. But I don't want to more out of principle than anything else.
Can anyone help?
All I want to do is transfer files from my old Mac G4 (running OS 9) to my new (ish) PC (running Windows XP). I have a crossover ethernet cable which I understand should be enough on its own. I do not want to spend any more money.
From browsing forums such as this one I have gathered that there should be several different ways of networking these two computers but so far I have managed to make none of them succeed fully.
However, yesterday I managed to gain access to the Mac from the PC using Web Sharing on the Mac. This didn't seem to be the best way, but it would do. I was happy.
But then today I try to do exactly the same thing again and I get asked for a username and password. The Web Sharing settings on the Mac don't even ask me to supply a password and I don't have it set to Use File Sharing to control user access. I tried my Owner username and password on the Mac anyway. Didn't work. Tried creating new user accounts on the Mac and using their passwords. Didn't work. Tried removing the passwords from all the user accounts on the Mac. None of them worked. Why? Why is it doing this to me? WHY?
So maybe I should go back to the proper networking method. But I had even less progress with that. Neither computer seems able to see any trace of the other, despite my trying every piece of advice I could find (and understand). I've run Network Setup Wizard a billion times on the PC, I've given each machine an IP address according to instructions found I don't remember where. I'm very confused and very angry and on the verge of getting a USB flash drive. But I don't want to more out of principle than anything else.
Can anyone help?