file-sharing system

[twoodcc]

i need advice on how to setup my pc system to share files with my 2 macs (intel imac and G4 powerbook).

my pc system is running windows xp pro. it's a home-made pc with an AMD 3800+ X2, 1 gb of ram, nvidia 6600, 300 gb HD, 80 gb HD.

i know how to share files with my macs, but lately my system has been crashing constaintly. i think i might need to reformat. should i try to set-up some sort of file server?

should i keep xp on there, go to linux, server 2003? i've used linux before, but i'm not that good with it.

anyone around here have a server that's not mac os x server?

surely someone can help me out. and please don't say "google is your friend..."

i want to know people's opinion's from around here, and what they actually do themselves.

i hate to call people out, but there are some people around here that i would like their opinions in particular. like shard, canadaram, and there's some others i'll have to look up their names

thanks in advance

 

[redeye be]

If you don't need to do any windows specific stuff on your 'PC', go for a linux distro. It'll be fun to learn.
If you do need windows (eg for occasional gaming), just turn on sharing on the PC. You can connect to the PC by pressing cmd-K in the finder. Just enter smb://ipofwinxpbox as the address.

Good luck,
and google is your friend

 

[mrichmon]

my pc system is running windows xp pro. it's a home-made pc with an AMD 3800+ X2, 1 gb of ram, nvidia 6600, 300 gb HD, 80 gb HD.

i know how to share files with my macs, but lately my system has been crashing constaintly. i think i might need to reformat. should i try to set-up some sort of file server?

should i keep xp on there, go to linux, server 2003? i've used linux before, but i'm not that good with it.

The main question should be what else you want this box to do other than file sharing. If it is only file sharing, then why not just hook one of the drives from the PC up to the iMac?

If this PC is intended as a gaming PC then you may as well just install Win XP and set up some samba shares to handle the file sharing. Windows XP Pro is generally stable enough for home file sharing.

Linux would open up options for running a web server and other network sevices. Personally I find setting these sorts of things up on Windows to be painful but then I have a lot of Unix experience. Others have been able to run stable network services off Windows.

I've recently replaced my linux server with a mac mini to handle home filesharing, media playback, dhcp, cvs and web servers. Getting these things running under OS X was generally painless so you may want to consider using your iMac as your server.

 

[twoodcc]

If you don't need to do any windows specific stuff on your 'PC', go for a linux distro. It'll be fun to learn.
If you do need windows (eg for occasional gaming), just turn on sharing on the PC. You can connect to the PC by pressing cmd-K in the finder. Just enter smb://ipofwinxpbox as the address.

Good luck,
and google is your friend

thanks for the reply. i might occasionally need windows for school related things (can't think of any now). i could go with linux, and i've tried it before, but i don't know.

i currently share files the way you just told me, but the problem is my windows system has been crashing lately. so i'm open to something new.

you don't think i could make a file-server somehow? now that seems like fun to me

The main question should be what else you want this box to do other than file sharing. If it is only file sharing, then why not just hook one of the drives from the PC up to the iMac?

If this PC is intended as a gaming PC then you may as well just install Win XP and set up some samba shares to handle the file sharing. Windows XP Pro is generally stable enough for home file sharing.

Linux would open up options for running a web server and other network sevices. Personally I find setting these sorts of things up on Windows to be painful but then I have a lot of Unix experience. Others have been able to run stable network services off Windows.

I've recently replaced my linux server with a mac mini to handle home filesharing, media playback, dhcp, cvs and web servers. Getting these things running under OS X was generally painless so you may want to consider using your iMac as your server.

thanks for the reply.

the system is mainly for file sharing, and also to play music (i could just hook-up the speakers to the imac). i don't do any gaming on it (i don't have time b/c of school and these forums). how would i hookup one of the harddrives to the imac? is there room for more than one?

as far as linux goes, i've heard that you can make it look just like OS X. i'll believe it when i see it. can i do that? also, which distro to choose from to make a server? should i use a 64-bit version? (since i have a 64-bit processor)

 

[mrichmon]

the system is mainly for file sharing, and also to play music (i could just hook-up the speakers to the imac). i don't do any gaming on it (i don't have time b/c of school and these forums). how would i hookup one of the harddrives to the imac? is there room for more than one?

You put the drive in an external firewire or usb enclosure. There is no room in the imac to add drives, but external enclosures to hold one or more hard drives are available all over the place.

as far as linux goes, i've heard that you can make it look just like OS X. i'll believe it when i see it. can i do that? also, which distro to choose from to make a server? should i use a 64-bit version? (since i have a 64-bit processor)

Sure, you can make the linux desktop look somewhat like OS X. But it will not behave like OS X. In terms of linux distribution, you should use whichever one you feel like. Personally, I prefer gentoo and slackware but there are many other good distributions.

 

[twoodcc]

You put the drive in an external firewire or usb enclosure. There is no room in the imac to add drives, but external enclosures to hold one or more hard drives are available all over the place.



Sure, you can make the linux desktop look somewhat like OS X. But it will not behave like OS X. In terms of linux distribution, you should use whichever one you feel like. Personally, I prefer gentoo and slackware but there are many other good distributions.

well, i already have one external harddrive hooked up to my imac. so another one isn't ideal, but i guess it could work.

you say somewhat like OS X. is there any themes, or do i have to hack in and make it look like it the hard way? i probably couldn't do it.

but the looks isn't that big of a deal. (it is somewhat i guess). but can i make it a file server?

 

[twoodcc]

well the pc system is still crashing like crazy. any other suggestions? canadaram? shard?

 

[twoodcc]

any suggestions?

 

[mrichmon]

any suggestions?

Scan for spyware.
If you use any norton or symantac anti-virus software disable it and uninstall... when nortons goes bad it goes very bad.

With Windows, if in doubt, reboot.
If still in doubt, reinstall.

 

[twoodcc]

Scan for spyware.
If you use any norton or symantac anti-virus software disable it and uninstall... when nortons goes bad it goes very bad.

With Windows, if in doubt, reboot.
If still in doubt, reinstall.

thanks. i just don't feel like reformatting and putting the same crap back on there. i feel like it will just happen again. but i have so much stuff on my harddrive, it would be alot of trouble to reformat, so if i do it, i want to do it right.

that's why i'm thinking of setting up something different on it. i'm just not sure yet, that's why i'm asking people on here

 

[twoodcc]

well i tried to put Fedora Core 4 on my machine, with no luck. i have 2 hard drives, so i put it on the 2nd one. after i installed it, i get "error loading operating system"

i'm currently talking on some linux forums to help me out. if anyone around here has any say-so, please let me know.

 

[twoodcc]

you know, i really don't think many people like me around here.

anyways, i finally got fedora core 4 up and running. but now i can't get the internet to work. any ideas?