Transferring data from Windows PC to Powerbook G4

klpguy

Registered
I have 7-8 GB of data on a Dell laptop running Windows XP Pro
that I'm trying to transfer to my Titanium Powerbook G4. I
don't have access to a DVD burner, so I'm trying to transfer
this data by directly connecting the two laptops with an
ethernet cable. I haven't been able to get this method to work.

As instructed in the OS 10.3 Help, I turn on the relevant
file-sharing port in Sharing Preferences and attempt to add
the Powerbook to My Network Connections on the PC.
Unfortunately, the PC does not recognize the Powerbook as
being on the same network. Any ideas where I'm getting
tripped up? Or better ways of transferring this data painlessly?

I've been using a straight ethernet cable for the connections.
From the Apple website, I understand that a crossover
ethernet cable is not necessary and that a straight ethernet
cable is sufficient for my model of Powerbook.
---

Titanium Powerbook G4 15", OS X Version 10.3.7 with combo drive (CD RW, DVD R).
 
Do you have identical user accounts (login name & password) on both machines? What are the network settings for each and are they in the same workgroup? Is there a firewall enabled?

It might be easier to just share the folder on the Windows machine that has your files, then connect to it via the PB and copy the files over.
 
I've always thought that Network card to Network card required a crossover cable - but I could be wrong...
I'd agree it's probably easier to mount the PC on the Mac via SMB://<ip address of PC>/<share name> rather than the other way round - (don't forget to share the folder or drive in XP with users having 'all access'). But primary culprit is probably IP numbers - they must be in the same range - only the last three numbers must differ, also ensure subnet mask is identical.
oh, and the name that you use to mount with must have permissions to read all the files on the 'client' machine... HTH.
 
Thanks to all for your advice. I mounted the PC on the Powerbook via SMB. It turns out that originally, the IP addresses were the problem. My PC had an IP address that differed from the IP address of my Powerbook in all 4 numbers. I manually set the IP address of the PC to match that of the Powerbook in the first 3 numbers, and made the 4th number different. Voila! I successfully mounted the PC on my Powerbook and transferred the 7 GB of data in minutes.

Just to clarify, I consider an IP address 221.156.23.135 to have 4 different numbers.
 
Clivey said:
I've always thought that Network card to Network card required a crossover cable

Newer Apple laptops have auto-sensing ethernet cards/ports. As long as one of the machines has that feature, you don't need the crossover cable.

I of course found this out AFTER I hacked a perfectly good cable apart when I first got my iBook to transfer stuff off my desktop. Oops.
 
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