Does anyone here have experience with this? I've got a setup here where I'm trying to replace an old Win 2003 server. The thing is really only used as a network file share, so it could be any computer and not a server. I'd like to use an old G4 that's laying around, and do indeed have it set up with a share going out onto the network, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to get the Windows computers to see it.

This should be easy, but I can't seem to find any really clear information on the web. I don't want to have to use third party software.

So: there's an external firewire hard drive on this G4. I want to share this drive over the network to several Macs and Windows XP and Vista machines. Discuss.

Make sure you have smb enabled in OS X Sharing, 10.4 and 10.5 are different so I can't give specifics without knowing which you'll be using.

Then in winders got to My Network Places, Add a Network place. Enter the address as \\ip of OS X machine\share path.

If you're connecting to a user's folder \\ip\user name.

Also since this seems to be on a windows network, make sure to set your workgroup and WINS info in /applications/utilities/directory access.app. Then the winders boxes should simply be able to connect by the machine name and share instead of IP.

That's only needed if one uses the Browse function in Windows, then the workgroup names much match or something like that.

If one knows the IP and share name that's not needed I believe.

Thanks for the replies guys.

The Macs here are all 10.4.11.

I am able to browse the USER accounts of the new file "server" that I"m setting up, but I can't get to the mounted firewire drive I'd like to see.

So... \\192.x.x.x\User Name works just fine. But \\192.x.x.x\Volumes\DriveIWantToUse doesn't. Neither does \\192.x.x.x\DriveIWantToUse.

Do a Get Info on the FW drive, Ignore File Permissions on this Volume should be unchecked.

You may need to get Sharepoints to set the mount point in your smb.conf.

Yeah, bummer. I've been checking out Sharepoint, but was hoping for something more simple. You hear that Apple?!? SOMETHING MORE SIMPLE! like you normally do. And did in OS 9.

Thanks guys.