Any Windows Networking Guru's here?

[pmudesign]

Hi All,

 

I need help setting up a very small home-office network. I've got an Apple iMac and a homebrew box running Windows XP Pro. Right now the iMac is connected to the internet DSL through a Westell Versalink 327W router/modem.

 

What I would like to do is connect the Windows XP Pro box to the router/modem, but only allow it file sharing capabilities with the iMac. All three machines are mine and I only use the iMac for internet access, but I'd like to be able to share files with the Windows machine.

 

Any advice on how to set this up? Thanks!

[lord_muad_dib]

easy.

go in the network control panel... then go to the tcp-ip settings of the lan and setup a static ip instead of a dynamic addressing, then just do not set the "gateway" ip... leave it blank.

[pmudesign]

Thanks, but excuse my Noobiness, when I give it a "static IP", what IP do I use?

[lord_muad_dib]

it depends on the router's ip

i.e. if it's x.x.x.254 set something like x.x.x.10

 

the same but the last part

[embries]

it depends on the router's ip

i.e. if it's x.x.x.254 set something like x.x.x.10

 

the same but the last part

 

Err. generally if you don't set the gateway, it won't be able to find the router, hence no DNS, hence no hostname resolution, hence no browsing by hostname.

 

My question is ... why would you put the windows box on the network and not connect it's internet? I mean, realistically. Even if you didn't surf with it, you'll still occasionally want something. Some bit of sotware, or some driver, or some whatever. You might want some windows updates occasionally (unless you're hiding something from big brother) but then you can just turn off automatic updates service. But let's "push" the envelope. If you wanted it to "simply" fileshare with your mac, but have no possible internet connection, it would be safer to install a 2nd NIC in your mac, and connect the two directly via crossover cable (or usb hub, or firewire hub, or bluetooth).

[blan]

Err. generally if you don't set the gateway, it won't be able to find the router, hence no DNS, hence no hostname resolution, hence no browsing by hostname.

 

My question is ... why would you put the windows box on the network and not connect it's internet? I mean, realistically. Even if you didn't surf with it, you'll still occasionally want something. Some bit of sotware, or some driver, or some whatever. You might want some windows updates occasionally (unless you're hiding something from big brother) but then you can just turn off automatic updates service. But let's "push" the envelope. If you wanted it to "simply" fileshare with your mac, but have no possible internet connection, it would be safer to install a 2nd NIC in your mac, and connect the two directly via crossover cable (or usb hub, or firewire hub, or bluetooth).

I'm guessing its some innacurate knowledge that by giving the Windows Box internet access it will automatically be magically affected by a virus or some other malware.

[pmudesign]

My question is ... why would you put the windows box on the network and not connect it's internet?

The biggest reason is I'm tired of messing with virus protection crud and the like. About a year ago I switched one of my older computers to Linux and used that as my main "internet only" machine. I got the iMac primarilly to use a development system that's Mac only, but love it so much I'm using it for most everything else as well.

 

But let's "push" the envelope. If you wanted it to "simply" fileshare with your mac, but have no possible internet connection, it would be safer to install a 2nd NIC in your mac, and connect the two directly via crossover cable (or usb hub, or firewire hub, or bluetooth).

That's exactly what I did when I used the Linux box as my "internet only" machine. Problem is now a. don't have room on my desk for 3 computers, so I'm giving the Linux box to my wife and b. my iMac doesn't have any room to add a NIC card c) I'm thinking that using a usb or firewire network would be slow. I sometimes download files that are pretty huge.

 

Until I get things set up I'm just using a 1 GB usb flash drive, and that's working out OK. I thought that since I had a router/modem with 4 connections, I may as well use that to connect up my computers. Is there a problem using the router for file sharing only?

[embries]

Is there a problem using the router for file sharing only?

 

It's just somewhat hard to do since you're sharing between windows and mac. The windows box will need the full monty on TCP/IP to make it work, which means it will have internet. But realistically, your dsl modem/router should have a firewall on it, so it shouldn't be a problem as far as someone actively hacking into your box. Unless you actively browse out to the internet from your windows machine and/or install some software on it that might contain something, then I wouldn't worry about it.

[lord_muad_dib]

Err. generally if you don't set the gateway, it won't be able to find the router, hence no DNS, hence no hostname resolution, hence no browsing by hostname.

 

that's wrong.. i tested this thing right now and works(cleared dns caching, linux windows box)... anyway if you have issues just use the host file to resolve lan names

 

anyway.. .it's kinda unusefull cos if a file has got a virus no metter if you download it tru mac... when you'll run it in your windows box youll get the virus

 

you always need an antivirus in the windows box(nod32 is the best)... for other treats a good antispyware as windows defender+ any firewall that blocks outgoing connections

 

and you're "safe"

[pmudesign]

Let me give you a little background on -why- I even started with Linux in the first place:

 

About 2 years ago I was using Windows XP on my Duron cpu notebook and a dial up connection. That system was constantly plagued with crashes and other problems, alot which I attributed to XP and Internet Explorer. It seemed that most my my time connected to the internet was spent downloading "critical updates" for either Windows, IE, my virus scanner, or some other "protective" application. At about the same time that I started to tire of waiting hours to just retrieve my email, all my "protective" software needed to be "renewed": the virus app, the registry cleaner, the email app, etc. etc., each at about $30 - $40 a pop. That's when I decided to check out Linux, and have been happy ever since. Funny thing was, once I removed IE, Outlook Express, the virus scanners and all that other crud, my notebook started working perfectly. Hasn't crashed since.

 

I've recently upgraded my internet connection to ADSL and just bought an iMac Intel Duo (Christmas came early this year ).

 

I'm probably being overly "protective" by not wanting my Windows box to connect to the internet, but to be honest, not having to deal with all those protective apps and all the rest has been a very pleasant experience.

 

Incidently, there are other ways of intruding on your computer other than just email or downloads. While trying to Google for info on something, I'll often hit on a site that want's to download a malicious .wmv or .exe file in the background. The guys who design these sites are much better at causing problems than I am at preventing them. It's nice to know that even if this .exe file is downloaded on my iMac or Linux machine it can do absolutely nothing to my machine.

 

I guess I need to do a bit more homework. I'd still prefer to connect my Windows box to my Mac, but without a second NIC I'm left with Firewire (not easy to connect from what I've heard), USB (I'm already short on these), or Bluetooth (something about broadcasting my network data over radio waves makes me nervous). I'll have to give this some more thought....