Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Copying files from Mac To Pc via network

Sep 25, 2007 2:26PM PDT

I purchased a new 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 8600M GT Macbook Pro just a few weeks ago. Its been great, but now I have run into a networking issue. BTW, I'm an advanced PC user, but still a learner for Mac. Anyway, I have setup a home network via router and both the Vista Ultimate 32-bit PC and the Macbook Pro see each other no problem. The Vista PC can read and modify files on the Mac. But for some reason, from my Mac I can only read and copy files off of the Vista PC. I cannot modify any of the Vista PC's files when accessing them from the Mac. I get the following error:-

"The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items."

I don't get this. I am the only user on the Mac. There is only one user on the PC, and it has no password set. I tried logging in as root and modifying files, but it does not help. I tried both wireless and wired connections to the router, but no change. When I "Get Info" the network folder in the Mac, the permissions say "You can read and write". But this is not actually true. I also know about some issue that Mac cannot write to an NTFS drive, but the Vista PC was able to modify the Mac files. So there must be something else that I am doing wrong.

Long story short, how can I modify the Vista PC files from the Mac?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
User permissions need to be set on the Vista O/S
Sep 25, 2007 5:32PM PDT

On the Vista unit you need to create a user with a password.

The shared file(s) will need to be configured to allow the user to have access to it with appropriate rights.

Once that has been set up you will have to log in using username and password authentication and all should be fine.

Cheers

- Collapse -
Yep, that will work
Sep 25, 2007 9:52PM PDT

I do the same but only have one folder, My Documents, shared on the WinBox.
I log into the WinBox, from the Mac, using the name and password of my account on the WInbox.

Gives me unlimited access.

Good Luck


P

- Collapse -
Need more information
Sep 25, 2007 11:52PM PDT

I understand what you want me to do, but I don't know how. I do not want to put a password on the Vista PC because everyone else in my family uses that computer.

I saw a setting in the Network and Sharing Center called "Password protected Sharing". When I enable it, I can no longer access the network through the Mac. Furthermore, when I enabled that option, it did not ask me for a username and password.

So how do i do this? Is there a way to set a password for what is being shared instead of passwording the entire account?


BTW, I am sharing an NTFS data drive on the Vista PC.

- Collapse -
OK,
Sep 26, 2007 12:51AM PDT

Let's see where we are right now.
You are running Windows Vista with an account that has Administrative Rights but is not password protected because "everyone" in the family uses that account.

Sorry, but I have to cringe at that and suggest that this is not the work of an Advanced Windows user.

So, back to the problem at hand.
Choose the folder that you want to share, Right Click and choose "Sharing and Security".
Put a checkmark in the "Share this folder on the Network" box
Click Apply

On the Mac, make sure that you have Windows file sharing turned on. System Prefs > Sharing
On the Mac, from the menubar, choose Go > Network.
Choose the PC. You should see the Share Name of the folder you just shared
You may also get a prompt for Username and Password. It will most likely have your Mac username already in there.
Change the name to the name of the account on the PC.
Leave the password blank
You should now have the icon of the shared PC folder on the desktop.
Open it and you should be looking at the contents of that shared folder.

Now, on the subject of passwords and accounts.
Each user on that PC should have their OWN account, complete with usernames and passwords. NONE of them should have Administrative rights.
YOU should be the only one that can, or is allowed, to install any software.

Everyone would be able to share the programs but the data produced by those programs would be stored in that users account and not be available to the other users.
Each user gets their own My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and stuff like that.

Running an Admin account without a password and being on the internet and allowing others to use that account is just asking for trouble.

P

- Collapse -
Still not working
Oct 5, 2007 10:20AM PDT

The point of letting you know that I am an Advanced PC user is not for the label; I just wanted people who are helping me out to understand that I can understand even the hardest of instructions, down to command prompt usage and even a little C++. At the same time, sometimes the simplest of instructions may be hard for me because it's probably some function I don't use. I think I've also mentioned that I'm a newbie to Vista.

The Vista PC has NO important data on it, not even the data I am trying to share. It is mainly used to browse the internet. Most of my family who use the computer do not know anything besides move the mouse to click on the Internet Explorer icon and click on Favorite links to their websites. I maintain the computer and use all the other programs when need be. This is why I do not use a password on it; there's no point. And it's a pain to have to make like 10+ accounts for all the people who use the computer. Point is, my computer setup is different from your situation. That's why Vista offers the option of setting a password or not. I do understand your concerns, but I could care less what happened to the Vista PC.

I have already been able to modify files on the Mac from the PC. I cannot do it on the PC from the Mac. I tried using the PC's username, but it still gives me the same error mentioned in the first post. I have already tried the things mentioned by mrmacfixit, but no success.

At this point, I'm starting to think that the Vista PC has not allowed proper permissions, even though I have allowed them in the sharing properties. It's probably one of those security features of Vista, which means I need to set a password in the Vista PC to access the files. Well, the more I think about it, the more I realize it would be a better investment to buy an external hard drive enclosure for the drive I am trying to share.

- Collapse -
Let's see
Oct 5, 2007 11:56PM PDT

Point taken on the Advanced and Password thing.

I note in the earlier posts that you are sharing the entire drive on the PC.
Step back from there and concentrate on one folder. Once you have that working, move up.

On the subject of the password, give your Vista account a password, you do not have to use it as you can set Vista to log-on onto that account without asking for the password. You then have a password for the account(there but not asked for) and for sharing(used to connect and validates you for permissions). It may be that Vista does not play well if there is not a password involved.
I've always considered it a fault, not a benefit, that Windows allows the Administrator to have an account without a password but that's the way it is.

Anyway, try the one folder route and take it from there. A small thing, remember that the name presented in the log on window that appears on the Mac is usually not the name of the Vista administrators account and will need to be changed. (I know you know that, but is sometimes slips)

Oh yes, when you say modify files, what is it you are doing?


Good Luck

P

- Collapse -
Amen.
Oct 25, 2007 5:18AM PDT

"Sorry, but I have to cringe at that and suggest that this is not the work of an Advanced Windows user."

Exactly right. As I've said before, people ***** at Windows Security and state it's "too much hassle" to have a password, and yet complain at MSFT when their unsecure machine gets breached.

I say leave them to their Linux; that should teach them some ROOT LOL.

- Collapse -
Windows Update and Linux
Nov 7, 2007 12:12PM PST

Heh, I think there was a time when Windows Update relied on linux because their own software was not stable enough.

- Collapse -
(NT) I'll pass on that one.
Nov 7, 2007 8:15PM PST
- Collapse -
Bad news
Oct 24, 2007 3:12PM PDT

The old way I have ever been able to modify files on a vista pc from a mac is for the files to be on a fat32 formatted drive. Even worse is that you can't format your drives to fat32 in Vista unless you use some 3rd party software or divide the drive into 32gb partitions.

The "best" way I can think of is too, take the drive you want to use on both and format it on a Win XP machine. That way u'll be able to modify files on both. That or get an external drive that is supported by both windows and mac. It would have to be pre-formatted for fat32.