Goddamn it!
I've spent more hours than is healthy trying to get my Mac and laptop to do something that should be very simple by now, which is file share over an ad hoc wireless connection. I've lost track of the number of websites offering useless advice (to the extent of suggesting one clicks buttons that simply do not exist!), I knew --
knew! -- I should've come here first, although not having networks to fail to set up you were probably all sensibly tucked up in bed (not together, mind, because you wouldn't without telling me... would you?)
So, techno-peeps, I could do with some advice or at least pointing in the direction of a guide that refers to
this universe rather than parallel one. Is this Mac<->PC thang actually possible or am I stuck transferring files physically via USB key? We're talking OSX 10.5 to WinXP here.
For the record I have:
-Set up an ad hoc network on the Mac, joined by the PC
-Set up a workgroup on the PC
-Switched on Windows sharing on the Mac for my public folder
-Tapped my PC workgroup name into the WINS field in Mac networking prefs
-Excepted file sharing from the firewalls of both computers
-Split the side of my head open. No really.
So far, no network drive in the Finder and, on the PC side, only an access error when double-clicking the workgroup icon in My Network Places. Most perturbing.
EDIT: Oh it turns out they can communicate via the router, which would normally be preferable but as Sky's wireless routers putter out such a widdly weak signal it would mean working across two rooms (the Mac's connection is wired y'see). I need ad hoc working so they can sit next to each other.