Thanks – this is the best tutorial on the topic on the web. I still had some problems getting Windows 7 to see the shared folders (other than Public) until I followed these directions http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841215 (following the Vista directions).
ema
13 years ago
OMG thank you for this. 🙂 After hours of searching and alot of headaches, i have finally solved my networking problem.
amazed
12 years ago
amaaazing!!!
your way works, and i dont have to change the security setting on the windows 7 registry either… wow.
I’m amazed, you, sir, are a genious 😀
david
12 years ago
thanks for the info. I’m still having trouble, as my Mac is the server in our network. I can see it in my Windows work group, but it won’t allow me to go into it. I’m a user in the Work group in the server, and I’ve checked that SMB is enabled in the server. There aren’t the same options under File Sharing in the Server Admin as you’ve described above. Do you have any ideas where else to look?
thanks a lot
Sachin
12 years ago
Dude, this is the best tut i could find.
Zac
12 years ago
Everything here works great, except for that it won’t take the alternate user credentials that I’ve set up on the Mac, when I go to make the mapping on the Windows side of things. If I don’t try to do the “other credentials” thing, I suppose I’m going in under the “Everyone” umbrella, but I’d really like to use a specific user account, as described in the article.
In the username field, write the name of the compute first and then the name of the user account. Something like “\ComputerUser”.
Zac
12 years ago
I think that I got it figured out. I was indeed using the \computeruser format, but it was still rejecting the drive mapping, stating that I already had an existing connection. I tried it from my laptop and it worked just fine.
What had happened was that I initially set up the mapped drive (on the desktop PC) without adding extra credential information, so I think that it connected me as my current domain user. I subsequently deleted that mapped drive and then tried to connect using the specific user account I had set up on the Mac, but either the Mac or the PC must have remembered that I had previously set it up under my domain account (I checked NET USE, but the mapping was really gone). Since I hadn’t done that previously on the laptop, that’s probably why it let me do it. I imagine that if I reboot the desktop PC (and maybe the Mac, too) and try it again, it would probably work.
Hmmm, my I am on OS 10.4.11 it looks different than your tutorial , I do not see all the options you show. I only have a “Windows Sharing” box to click, I have none of the other SMB stuff. My road block is that my PC keeps asking for a Network Password, which I cannot get by… any help would be much appreciated….thanks
Mario
11 years ago
“For the folder name, use your Mac’s IP address plus the name of the shared folder – for example: “\192.168.1.6shared”
Couldn’t you just use the Mac’s computer name instead the Mac’s IP address? In your example, it would be “\JACK-MACBOOKshared”
That seems to work for me.
Thomas
11 years ago
Hi and thanks for the great tutorial.
I followed all the steps exactly as described but still I am not able to see any shared folders on my windows 7 PC even though I have already refreshen and searched for wireless devices etc
Regards,
Thomas
Daniel Muresanu
10 years ago
Great tutorials. I can access MAC’s folders from my Win7 and can edit, change files etc on both sides. However, I spent several days trying to access folders others than Users but from the MAC. I’m talking about accessing the other drives of my PC. I’ve gone to all Sharing options, Security (I can’t change Owner) but I get the same error on MAC: “You do not have permission to access this server.” Also, on the MAC I cannot modify anything on files transferred with the Migration Assistant.
Is there anyone who can help us to access all drives and folders of our PCs from the MAC?
Thank you so much.
Brenton Watt
10 years ago
The best answer I found all day. Thank you for this post. Worked perfectly one time!
Alexandre Rodichevski
10 years ago
Thank you for very clear tutorial.
Haw can I access DVD o CD from Windows PC after being enabled DVD or CD sharing on MAC side?
blisssan
10 years ago
Hi, Thank you for the tutorial. I have a problem while sharing as u said.. All of my Volumes in my macbook are getting shared to the windows users and it lists the hidden folders in those. How to prevent the volumes from getting shared.
Phillip Wilkie
10 years ago
This does not work with Windows 8. I continuously get told by my credentials are wrong. I am entering machinenameusername then password that I know works as I log onto the machine every day.
same here, I even created new user but it still says wrong credentials
Riccardo
10 years ago
Hi, thanks for the tutorial. One side point which is quite unclear to me is why Mac OS X by default shares also the whole “Macintosh HD” (it’s clearly visible in your picture) by enabling the samba sharing? How can i prevent the full hdd sharing to be 100% visible?
I’m sorry but I don’t know the answer to this question.
Alger
9 years ago
Great tutorial!
Is there any way other users in the network can access my shared folders without entering any credentials? I can’t find a way to do it 🙁
IMO that’s the whole purpose of sharing files, isn’t it? 😀
Thank you in advance 🙂
What you want is possible only when sharing from Windows to Windows, with the use of the Homegroup feature.
Guy
9 years ago
@Riccardo – Map your drive, but when you map it on Win7 browse down to the folder you want to share on the Mac… you are only then mapping to the exact folder location.
WindowsAdminHelpingAMacVictim
9 years ago
Windows can see the Mac share. Windows can create a new text file into the Mac share. Primary Mac user account is Folder owner, has Read & Write, but a new text file from Windows via a Secondary Mac user account and Primary doesn’t have permissions. Can Apply to enclosed items and Primary can access but have to repeat this each time Windows sends in a file. Huge AppleFail.
Bill Bako
9 years ago
Hi there. Before one week, my mac was using 10.6.8!
Now, I use lion 10.7.5 and I hate to type the user name (and press enter), each time I want to access my mac’s files (from a PC).
This didn’t happened, when I use 10.6.8! My mac’s behavior from the network, was exactly as a PC.
Is there any way NOT to type the user name of my mac (on the security window) of my pc?
mamoon
9 years ago
How to share my Usb printer from mac book pro to window px
Gerald Aboud
9 years ago
Great tutorial had problems logging on then figured out Windows is very specific about logging in. You must use the same user name as what is stored on your mac including your sir name if it is stored. So for example JohnsimacJohn Doe
Password
JImmy
9 years ago
really concise and clear explanation thanks 🙂
Larry
9 years ago
I followed your instructions however my Windows laptop does not show my Macbookpro anywhere. These are the simplest instruction I could find but I am not getting the connection that I need. Is there something that I am not doing. I’ve done everythin gthat was asked and still no home network access
The problem you are having is that you are following instructions from an article that is incorrect. The solution is to find different articles elsewhere that resolve the issue correctly. This article is best ignored.
Gotta love comments like this. “This article is wrong but I’m not going to say why. You should follow another article, but even though I sound like I know what I’m talking about, I’m not going to suggest one.”
Thanks for advice champ!!
Lesley
9 years ago
Thank you! Had been trying to achieve this for two hours when I found your instructions. Success!
Lesley
ashish
9 years ago
it shares everything on ma mac,, as i can see in ur snapshot too.. how do i share only the shared folder i made instead sharing everything on mac
Andrew Barnes
8 years ago
Awesome! Many thanks. After struggling for days I found this and it worked great for OS X 10.10.4 🙂
Mike
8 years ago
I can see my Mac on the network, which is not set up with a password. On the Windows side when I attempt to log onto the shared folders, it will not let me proceed without a password, which the Mac does not have. What and where does this password come from?
Julio
8 years ago
FOUND IT! The login user is the Mac name, not the user. The password is the same you use to log in on Mac
Vivian
8 years ago
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Yours is the only tutorial I understood completely and was able to execute without any problems (and I have looked at many). I can now – finally – access my MacBook Pro’s files from my Windows 7 PC.
Alexander
8 years ago
It worked perfectly!
Vielen Dank!
Ak
8 years ago
No matter how many times I do this, I keep getting it wrong when it comes to specifying the username when I connect from Windows to Mac.
To my surprise (and I can just remember that I keep getting surprised each time I try it), what worked finally was to put in the user name field the following: WindowsComputerNameusername and the the password. I have 2 user accounts on both machines, with the same password, so this might not be ideal I know. However, I tried for almost an hour all possible combinations (capital small letters, with or without machine anme, etc.) on filling the username field, and it should be actually the MacMachineNameusername that works, but it never did. I finally explicitly worte MyWindowsComputerNameusername and that worked!!. Hope it’s useful for you, and for myself the next time I forget which username worked.
Gerrit Jan Scheggetman
8 years ago
Dear Mr Adrian Russen
Awesome , Great Genius , Finally got work together my three music computers in a network , running W7 , W10 , and Yosemith on a MacBook pro together , because of your brillant clear contribution above.
Greetings from the Netherlands
khemicalzz
8 years ago
when I’m on OS X Yosemite this tutorial work very well to sharing both of mac and pc, now I already upgrade to El Capitan on System Preferences>Sharing>File Sharing options a account box bottom of Share files and folder using AFP my account was grey can’t check the box of account.
Need help.
Jordan
8 years ago
Thank you. I’ve been trying to figure how to do this for a while now. You explanation of using the proper domain name at login did the trick. Thank You!!!
LZain
8 years ago
Hi, I’m having a trouble in the Option Pane. The AFP & SMB boxes are ticked, but the “On” box on the left of my account name can not be ticked. The account name is grey so I can’t select it. What should I do?
Thanks – this is the best tutorial on the topic on the web. I still had some problems getting Windows 7 to see the shared folders (other than Public) until I followed these directions http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841215 (following the Vista directions).
OMG thank you for this. 🙂 After hours of searching and alot of headaches, i have finally solved my networking problem.
amaaazing!!!
your way works, and i dont have to change the security setting on the windows 7 registry either… wow.
I’m amazed, you, sir, are a genious 😀
thanks for the info. I’m still having trouble, as my Mac is the server in our network. I can see it in my Windows work group, but it won’t allow me to go into it. I’m a user in the Work group in the server, and I’ve checked that SMB is enabled in the server. There aren’t the same options under File Sharing in the Server Admin as you’ve described above. Do you have any ideas where else to look?
thanks a lot
Dude, this is the best tut i could find.
Everything here works great, except for that it won’t take the alternate user credentials that I’ve set up on the Mac, when I go to make the mapping on the Windows side of things. If I don’t try to do the “other credentials” thing, I suppose I’m going in under the “Everyone” umbrella, but I’d really like to use a specific user account, as described in the article.
In the username field, write the name of the compute first and then the name of the user account. Something like “\ComputerUser”.
I think that I got it figured out. I was indeed using the \computeruser format, but it was still rejecting the drive mapping, stating that I already had an existing connection. I tried it from my laptop and it worked just fine.
What had happened was that I initially set up the mapped drive (on the desktop PC) without adding extra credential information, so I think that it connected me as my current domain user. I subsequently deleted that mapped drive and then tried to connect using the specific user account I had set up on the Mac, but either the Mac or the PC must have remembered that I had previously set it up under my domain account (I checked NET USE, but the mapping was really gone). Since I hadn’t done that previously on the laptop, that’s probably why it let me do it. I imagine that if I reboot the desktop PC (and maybe the Mac, too) and try it again, it would probably work.
It should work after a restart.
Hmmm, my I am on OS 10.4.11 it looks different than your tutorial , I do not see all the options you show. I only have a “Windows Sharing” box to click, I have none of the other SMB stuff. My road block is that my PC keeps asking for a Network Password, which I cannot get by… any help would be much appreciated….thanks
“For the folder name, use your Mac’s IP address plus the name of the shared folder – for example: “\192.168.1.6shared”
Couldn’t you just use the Mac’s computer name instead the Mac’s IP address? In your example, it would be “\JACK-MACBOOKshared”
That seems to work for me.
Hi and thanks for the great tutorial.
I followed all the steps exactly as described but still I am not able to see any shared folders on my windows 7 PC even though I have already refreshen and searched for wireless devices etc
Regards,
Thomas
Great tutorials. I can access MAC’s folders from my Win7 and can edit, change files etc on both sides. However, I spent several days trying to access folders others than Users but from the MAC. I’m talking about accessing the other drives of my PC. I’ve gone to all Sharing options, Security (I can’t change Owner) but I get the same error on MAC: “You do not have permission to access this server.” Also, on the MAC I cannot modify anything on files transferred with the Migration Assistant.
Is there anyone who can help us to access all drives and folders of our PCs from the MAC?
Thank you so much.
The best answer I found all day. Thank you for this post. Worked perfectly one time!
Thank you for very clear tutorial.
Haw can I access DVD o CD from Windows PC after being enabled DVD or CD sharing on MAC side?
Hi, Thank you for the tutorial. I have a problem while sharing as u said.. All of my Volumes in my macbook are getting shared to the windows users and it lists the hidden folders in those. How to prevent the volumes from getting shared.
This does not work with Windows 8. I continuously get told by my credentials are wrong. I am entering machinenameusername then password that I know works as I log onto the machine every day.
same here, I even created new user but it still says wrong credentials
Hi, thanks for the tutorial. One side point which is quite unclear to me is why Mac OS X by default shares also the whole “Macintosh HD” (it’s clearly visible in your picture) by enabling the samba sharing? How can i prevent the full hdd sharing to be 100% visible?
I’m sorry but I don’t know the answer to this question.
Great tutorial!
Is there any way other users in the network can access my shared folders without entering any credentials? I can’t find a way to do it 🙁
IMO that’s the whole purpose of sharing files, isn’t it? 😀
Thank you in advance 🙂
What you want is possible only when sharing from Windows to Windows, with the use of the Homegroup feature.
@Riccardo – Map your drive, but when you map it on Win7 browse down to the folder you want to share on the Mac… you are only then mapping to the exact folder location.
Windows can see the Mac share. Windows can create a new text file into the Mac share. Primary Mac user account is Folder owner, has Read & Write, but a new text file from Windows via a Secondary Mac user account and Primary doesn’t have permissions. Can Apply to enclosed items and Primary can access but have to repeat this each time Windows sends in a file. Huge AppleFail.
Hi there. Before one week, my mac was using 10.6.8!
Now, I use lion 10.7.5 and I hate to type the user name (and press enter), each time I want to access my mac’s files (from a PC).
This didn’t happened, when I use 10.6.8! My mac’s behavior from the network, was exactly as a PC.
Is there any way NOT to type the user name of my mac (on the security window) of my pc?
How to share my Usb printer from mac book pro to window px
Great tutorial had problems logging on then figured out Windows is very specific about logging in. You must use the same user name as what is stored on your mac including your sir name if it is stored. So for example JohnsimacJohn Doe
Password
really concise and clear explanation thanks 🙂
I followed your instructions however my Windows laptop does not show my Macbookpro anywhere. These are the simplest instruction I could find but I am not getting the connection that I need. Is there something that I am not doing. I’ve done everythin gthat was asked and still no home network access
The problem you are having is that you are following instructions from an article that is incorrect. The solution is to find different articles elsewhere that resolve the issue correctly. This article is best ignored.
Gotta love comments like this. “This article is wrong but I’m not going to say why. You should follow another article, but even though I sound like I know what I’m talking about, I’m not going to suggest one.”
Thanks for advice champ!!
Thank you! Had been trying to achieve this for two hours when I found your instructions. Success!
Lesley
it shares everything on ma mac,, as i can see in ur snapshot too.. how do i share only the shared folder i made instead sharing everything on mac
Awesome! Many thanks. After struggling for days I found this and it worked great for OS X 10.10.4 🙂
I can see my Mac on the network, which is not set up with a password. On the Windows side when I attempt to log onto the shared folders, it will not let me proceed without a password, which the Mac does not have. What and where does this password come from?
FOUND IT! The login user is the Mac name, not the user. The password is the same you use to log in on Mac
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Yours is the only tutorial I understood completely and was able to execute without any problems (and I have looked at many). I can now – finally – access my MacBook Pro’s files from my Windows 7 PC.
It worked perfectly!
Vielen Dank!
No matter how many times I do this, I keep getting it wrong when it comes to specifying the username when I connect from Windows to Mac.
To my surprise (and I can just remember that I keep getting surprised each time I try it), what worked finally was to put in the user name field the following: WindowsComputerNameusername and the the password. I have 2 user accounts on both machines, with the same password, so this might not be ideal I know. However, I tried for almost an hour all possible combinations (capital small letters, with or without machine anme, etc.) on filling the username field, and it should be actually the MacMachineNameusername that works, but it never did. I finally explicitly worte MyWindowsComputerNameusername and that worked!!. Hope it’s useful for you, and for myself the next time I forget which username worked.
Dear Mr Adrian Russen
Awesome , Great Genius , Finally got work together my three music computers in a network , running W7 , W10 , and Yosemith on a MacBook pro together , because of your brillant clear contribution above.
Greetings from the Netherlands
when I’m on OS X Yosemite this tutorial work very well to sharing both of mac and pc, now I already upgrade to El Capitan on System Preferences>Sharing>File Sharing options a account box bottom of Share files and folder using AFP my account was grey can’t check the box of account.
Need help.
Thank you. I’ve been trying to figure how to do this for a while now. You explanation of using the proper domain name at login did the trick. Thank You!!!
Hi, I’m having a trouble in the Option Pane. The AFP & SMB boxes are ticked, but the “On” box on the left of my account name can not be ticked. The account name is grey so I can’t select it. What should I do?