Stupid Router Question - Sharing Files Between Different Operating Systems

[rob86 2]

I don't know anything about routers, so I have a question. If I have two computers hooked up to the same router, is it possible to transfer files from one computer to another? Without using the internet, I mean. I would have assumed so (isn`t that how a network works). I don`t see my other computer listed as part of the network.

[-Sky- 0]

You would have to setup a server if you want files synchronized throughout your network. If you have a spare un-used computer, use that and install Windows Server Enterprise 2003 or latest. I cannot give much since I don't know much either.

[BuffaloHelp 24]

Windows Vista and higher makes it easy to share folders or transfer files. But if you have any lesser version of Windows you will need to set both computers to be in the same Workgroup.To change your computer's workgroup, right click on My Computer > Properties > Computer Name > ChangeSet both computers to the same workgroup. You may need to restart both computers. After the restart make sure your shared folder is shared correctly. When you are ready, click on Start > My Network Places and you should be able to see each computer's shared folder. If you do no see it, wait a bit. When you still don't see shared folders it's when you post again. You probably didn't give enough permission to be shared. Or, you did not specify to File and printer Sharing for Micorosft Networks. You have to enable this by going to your network connection, right click on the NIC > Properties > General > check File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. You may need to restart.Once the restart, click on My Computer to see if you have the little "hand" under the default sharing folder.

[rob86 2]

I'll try it tomorrow, what about Windows 7 and Ubuntu? That's what I'm using on one computer. I thought I read about Ubuntu sharing with Windows, but I don't know for sure. Samba, or something?

[shadowx 0]

The latest version of Ubuntu is a breeze to share! just right click the folder, go into sharing options. tick the tickbox and then i also had to click the guest account option to be able to access it. If you are sharing the other way around then remember to disable, or correctly configure your firewall on the windows machine.

[Quatrux 4]

You can share on Ubuntu and on Windows, while being in the same Workgroup, you can just share a folder and see it in the network if your computers are connected with a router. And yes, it works because it's using Samba. Years ago, I needed to use NFS or something like that? It was a bit more complicated to share between Linux and a Windows computer, but with time Samba got quite as fast as on Windows and it's easy to share files. :)The main thing is as you were told in the above post, you need to use the same Workgroup, also you could lets say connect a home server into the router and see it in the network.

[Zagubadu? 0]

No you will not need another computer if your using XP or anything higher then that. Sometimes it can be a pain to get other computers to show up. All you need to do is enable sharing. Just right click any folder and boom.

[rob86 2]

Sharing _from_ Ubuntu to Windows was very easy. I got that working no effort at all, but I can't see shared files on Ubuntu. In Windows 7, I click a folder and share it - I pick homegroup, but I don't know if that's right. I don't see anything in Ubuntu about my Windows shared files. I looked in (nautilus) network and see "Windows Network" but when I click on it, it's empty. Windows 7 is using "WORKGROUP" and Samba I think is configured to use WORKGROUP as well. I can find lots of tutorials for sharing from Ubuntu to Windows, but none the other way around?

[Quatrux 4]

As I remember, you need to mount the shared Windows7 directory on the network on Linux in order to see it, or maybe it's done automatically? Haven't used Linux for a quite while now..When you mount it, you can access it..

[shadowx 0]

in windows i would suggest using the RUN box to type in "\\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\FOLDER" with the target computer's IP address. THe folder browser in ubuntu doesnt seem capable of accepting an ip address however so if you know of a way to launch a folder via IP address try that.

Remember to disable all security on the windows box. As far as windows is concerned its an attack that needs to be blocked and blocked it will be!

If you are wary of doing so (and you should be!) disable the internet connection temporarily and if you are intending to copy from windows > linux then make sure the "allow network users to modify my files" (or similar) box is DISABLED or unchecked so there is very minimal risk of danger.

Try the steps here too:

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

IT seems win7 will automatically hide itself from the network, presumably by ignore all ICMP packers thus any computer trying to make a connection just hears silence.

Follow the steps for winxp and it should work.

Double and triple check the security settings on the win7 machine though.

[rob86 2]

I did it the easy way -- install a FTP server on both computers. I didn't know each computer got it's own local IP so file sending is ultra-fast.. I'm a newb with networks. I can transfer files without the hassle of file sharing. File sharing looked inconvenient anyway, I'm glad FTP works!

[shadowx 0]

Aye every computer gets its own IP, without one it simply cant communicate on a network, its like sending a letter with no address and hoping it gets there, it just wont!Glad you got it sorted though.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!Pretty much every major operating system can share files with and can access files from a Windows based PC. Ubuntu, or just about any other Linux distribution, still uses Samba as have their older counterparts, for sharing files and folders with Windows. Linux, when equipped with the Samba server, can even act as a domain controller so you can use it for running scripts or installing software on the Windows PC without having to physically go over to and install software on the computer.One of the problems with sharing files from a Microsoft Windows desktop/laptop to access them on Linux or another Windows computer is that the firewall prevents access. Windows 7 enables you to identify different zones, such as home networks, work networks, and other public networks to automatically enable or disable the firewall depending on the network that you are connected to. This is a pretty neat feature because you can disable the firewall while you are at home to be able to share files with other computers and devices on your home network, and can enable the firewall while you are at work or on a public network (such as when accessing the Internet while you are at the airport, a coffee shop, Internet cafe etc.). Think of it as a StarTrek episode where you have the shield up when you are around hostile space crafts and keep your shields down to indicate to the other party that you are a friendly space craft.Perhaps a simple means of sharing files is to use a peer-to-peer file sharing client. I believe the professional/commercial version of Trillian (available at Trillian.cc) supports peer-to-peer file sharing and communication without requiring you to be connected to the Internet and without requiring any configuration or server setup. You might be able to build your own peer-to-peer communication and file sharing application with the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, with the new peer-to-peer protocol and API that has been included in the framework.You can also share files by setting up an FTP server, or using Apache/IIS/nginx to share your entire folder for access within a web browser. Both of these approaches will require you to use a web browser on the other computer, disable the proxy server (i.e. select the option to connect without using a proxy), if you have one configured, and access the computer that is sharing the files by typing in the IP address or host name (Internet Explorer attempts to search for a computer with the host name that you have specified in the address bar if it is unable to resolve the name by a DNS server, so it does have the capability to discover other Windows hosts on the network; Firefox would require you to either use an IP address or setup a DNS server and configure the host name to point to an IP address with an 'A' host entry or a 'CNAME' alias entry) in the address bar. The annoyance with this approach is that when transferring large files, you would have a file created on your disk as either a copy or a temporary file name and the browser keeps track of all of the files that you have downloaded. Apart from that, if you are sharing your files over HTTP through IIS/Apache/nginx, you cannot select multiples files for download at the same time but would, instead, have to click on the link for each of the files that you are sharing. One way to get around this issue is to create a ZIP, RAR, or other archive file to be able to transfer multiple files within a single 'package' file.The NFS protocol, which probably is expanded as the Network File Sharing protocol (?), for sharing files is pretty common on Linux and still is used for file sharing between Linux systems. It is still used on Linux servers, such as on the Linux web servers setup within web farms.