Transferring between Mac & PC

Is there anyway that i can plug my old Dell into my MBP and transfer files between the 2? I heard that you can do that with an ethernet cable, at least that's how to connect a PC to an Xbox 360, so i was wondering if that would work with a PC and Mac?

Yup that'll work, connect both computers and transfer away, it appears that you have a newer MacBook Pro so you don't need a crossover cable or anything of that sort. Here's an info page from apple about all the ways to transfer files between your new Mac and your now old PC.

This is what I did, as well. It was definitely faster to connect the two via ethernet cable. With the Dell, go to My Network Connections and you'll see your MBP in the list. I wasn't able to figure out how to set the permissions on the drop box so I wasn't able actually open it and see what was inside (from the Windows-based machine). But dragging and dropping files from the Windows-based machine to the drop box folder itself worked just fine.

You will see the contents of the drop box on your mac. Be sure to give yourself permissions of on the files once they are copies over (from the mac)

Select all files in the drop box and hit  i



Note the unlock icon and apply to all enclosed items

I don't knw if i'm doing something wrong, but my Mac nor my Dell are able to detect each other. I turned sharing on my Mac, but it still doesn't show anything. And i went into Network Connections in XP, nothing comes up showing that any computer is connected to it.

Ok let me just clarify that your file sharing option in the Sharing pane of preferences looks like the image attached below.

You know, i just found this article on Apple's website: Direct connect

To move files by connecting your Mac directly to your PC:

1. Connect your Mac to your PC using a standard Ethernet cable.
2. Make sure that both computers are turned on.
3. In the Finder on your Mac, choose Connect to Server from the Go menu to open the window.
4. Type your PC's network address in the Server Address text box using one of these formats:
* smb://DNSname/ShareName
* smb://IPaddress/ShareName
5. Click Connect.
6. Follow the onscreen instructions to enter your PC's workgroup name, user name, password, and the volume or folder you wish to access.
7. Your PC volume should appear on your Mac Desktop.
8. Open the volume and drag and drop files directly from it to anywhere on your Mac.
9. When finished, drag your PC volume to the Trash to unmount it.

So i have a question about #4, how do i find that info on a PC?

Ok, go to start, than run and in the run box type in "cmd" without the quotes, now in the window type in "ip config" without the quotes, it should than display your windoze box's ip address.

And just do smb://IPaddress don't worry about the sharname (I could be wrong, but leaving the sharename out should work).

Ok, i got this error message: Connection failed: The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and your network connection and try again.

I had that problem with my windoze box before, what I want you to do is try turning off ALL firewalls on the windows box, including the windows built in firewall. Wait say 1 minute and than try connecting again from your Mac.

Ah, i got the infamous Error Code -36 when trying, and i did get the same error as before too. Maybe i'll try calling Mac support and see what they say. Thanks for lending me your advice though The Vindicat3d!

No problem glad to help! Hope apple can help you out (I'm sure they will) this issue has also been known to be caused by the router so while your on hold maybe try messing around with some of its settings.

I bought 2 Imacs for the wife and me. Double the pain on the transfer from 2 Dells. I tried the Apple instruction for direct transfer and networked through the TC.
I finally called Tech support on several occasions, one time with product support level for 2 1/2 hours, all to no avail. They even said, you have a microsoft problem, call them. Whoa, not a good marketing answer big fellow.

Went out bought a 4G thumb drive and did both in a couple of hours. My bad should done it the old fashion way day one.

Just finished constructive complaint feedback to Apple. They are missing the boat to keep new switchers from getting frustrated or really pi$%ed in their first Apple experience.

Now that I did the transfer, love the Mac experience

Still trying to transfer my files. I am trying to do the above procedure, but when I put in my IP address, it prompts me for a username and password. I don't know if this means for my PC, for my Mac, or for the network between the two. I don't have a p/w on my PC, and the p/w on my Mac didn't work, so now I have no idea what to do. It gives me the option of going on as a guest, but then says "Guests are not allowed on this network." even when I enable the guest account on my PC.

Any suggestions?

Nevermind... I finally figured out how to get it up and running on my PC side of things with the help of this unbelievable website: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm

w00t! so happy