How to Connect a Mac to a PC on a Local Network

Macs running OS X are more compatible with PCs than ever. There is no need to use PC-Mac LAN, and you can even print to Windows printers through your PC. This focuses on getting a Mac to connect to your PC not the other way around.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Start up your Mac and PC. Make sure they are both connected to the network before attempting to access the PC's files.

2. On the PC, go to Control Panel>System. Check the name of the workgroup on the network. If you are having trouble, the default for Windows XP is MSHOME and for Vista is WORKGROUP.

3. On your Mac, open up the Directory Access application in Utilities. You might need to click the lock in the lower left-hand corner in order to make changes. Double-click on SMB/CIFS, and change the Workgroup name to the same name as the workgroup on Windows XP.

4. In Finder, click on Go>Network. Locate the name of your Windows PC. Login using your Windows login.

Tips & Warnings

• Connecting the other direction is completely different. It is easier to turn on FTP in your Mac's preferences and connect to your Mac with a web browser.
• When using a firewall, it must be configured to allow the IP address of your Mac to connect. You can test this by trying to connect with your firewall temporarily off.