[P1] Connecting iBook to Wintel machine / ethernet

[andy]

> If you don't know what the IP is of your PC, well then things get 
> interesting. What you can do is on your PC, click on Start, Run (I 
> think XP has this option?), then type in winipcfg and choose your 
> network card from the drop down menu. Look for the address, remember 
> this, type it into the "Connect to Server" window and _hopefully_ 
> you'll be away laughing.

	On my version of XP (Professional) when you type in 'winipcfg' it 
tells you it cannot find it, for one reason or another. I'm not sure if 
Microsoft renamed this app, or if it's no longer kept in the Path, but 
the way I've been hunting down my IP is this:
	click Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet Connections > 
Network Connections > 'Local Area Connection' (in my case, yours may 
vary) > then click the 'Support' tab. The IP address should be listed 
there.

	Before you can see your server on the network, however, you'll have to 
enable a share on your windows machine... again, using XP, I've 
selected my C: drive, right clicked and selected:
	'Sharing and Security...' > 'Sharing' > 'Share this folder on the 
network' as well as 'allow network users to change my files'.
Then you can use the Connect to Server item in the Go menu in the 
finder. If it's functioning for you as it is for me, the machine will 
show up automatically.

	I'll warn that when I set this all up, it took roughly two or three 
hours of tinkering in order for me to get the settings right on the XP 
machine-- and I don't remember 100% what I did. Once I did get it 
working, however, my iBook found the other machine within seconds over 
my AirPort network, and mounting was no problem.
	My ISP doles out IPs dynamically, though. If this is the case with 
you, too, I'd recommend checking out the free services
at http://www.no-ip.com/ or a similar Dynamic DNS solution. It saves 
the hassle of checking that IP every couple of days.


	I apologize that this was neither concise, nor clear. I blame it on 
XP. I'm going to create a new user on that machine right now and create 
an easy to follow, step-by-step howto, if that'd help. Otherwise, I'm 
sure we'll be able to answer any questions as they come up.


HTH,
    andy
    calgary, alberta, canada