Accessing windows files on mac

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Can you run Windows «inside» MacOS X on an Intel-based Mac?

Parallels rightfully boasts that:

Parallels Desktop for Mac is the first solution that gives Apple users the ability to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac.

Unlike dual-boot solutions, in which users must completely shut down Mac OS X and endure a full OS start-up cycle to access a important application, Parallels Desktop for Mac empowers users with the ability to run Windows programs. . . without having to give up the usability and functionality of their Mac OS X machine even for a few minutes.

Parallels Desktop for Mac is a commercial application that supports effectively every version of Windows, as well as Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS/2 Warp, eComStation, Solaris, and MS-DOS «in secure virtual machines running alongside Mac OS X» and provides «near-native performance», rather than the full speed of a «dual-boot» configuration. VMWare Fusion is a commercial application that also provides similar features and may be better or worse for some users.

VirtualBox is a free open-source «virtualization» application that provides many of the same features as the commercial alternatives. Please note that although VirtualBox is free, the license needed to run a version of Windows is not.

If you have modest performance requirements, you also might want to try Q (no longer online), which runs «on top of» the QEMU emulator and allows some versions of Windows to run «inside» MacOS X. It’s an emulator, and consequently, slower than a virtualization solution, but it’s also free.

Another solution for running some Windows applications «inside» MacOS X, without running the Windows operating system, is CodeWeavers CrossOver Mac. CrossOver Mac is not compatible with all applications, but it does not require one to purchase a copy of Windows either.

Can you access Mac files from within Windows?

When booting Windows via Boot Camp, yes, by purchasing and installing a program like Mediafour’s MacDrive.

Mediafour advertises that MacDrive for Windows «enables PC users to open, edit, and save files on Mac disks (HFS/HFS+). You can even format Mac disks and burn Mac CDs and DVDs.»

MacWindows provides additional information regarding conflicts and workarounds for MacDrive that you also may find helpful.

When using Windows via Parallels Desktop for Mac or VMWare Fusion, you can easily share files between operating systems with «drag and drop» convenience. VirtualBox provides a shared folder.

Can you access Windows files from within MacOS X?

On page 13 of the Boot Camp Installation & Setup manual Apple notes that Mac OS X can read and write FAT volumes, but only read NTFS volumes.

Just like you previously could using the «XOM hack», if you create a FAT partition using Boot Camp of 32 GB or smaller, MacOS X can access, read, and write to files on the Windows partition. Please note that this will only work for Windows XP, as the drive is formatted in NTFS to support Windows Vista or Windows 7.

When using Windows via Parallels Desktop for Mac or VMWare Fusion, you can easily share files between operating systems with «drag and drop» convenience. VirtualBox provides a shared folder.

Can you «copy and paste» between MacOS X and Windows?

Not with the original «XOM hack» solution or Apple Boot Camp, but Parallels Desktop for Mac, VMWare Fusion, and VirtualBox make it possible to «copy and paste» between MacOS X and Windows, just like you can using Virtual PC on PowerPC-based systems.

How to Access Mac Files from a Windows PC

It’s fairly simple so long as you are on the same network

Apple is becoming more popular everyday (I love my MacBook and it’s selling in record numbers this year), yet most people still have Windows PCs at home. If you are running both Macs and PCs on your network, there’s a good chance you might want to share files between your Mac and PC. You can do this in one of two directions: either access Mac files from a Windows PC or access Windows files from a Mac.

Today I’m going to talk about how you can share files on your Mac and access them on your PC. The process is fairly simple and should work as long as you are on the same network and don’t have any over zealous security settings configured on your Mac.

The first thing you’ll need to do is enable file sharing on your Mac. Here’s how to do it.

Enable File Sharing on Mac OS X

First go to the System Preferences menu option by clicking on the Apple icon at the top left and then clicking on System Preferences.

Now click on the Sharing icon, which is where we need to go to configure all the sharing options.

Before you get started, make sure to click on the little gold lock icon at the bottom left otherwise everything will be greyed out and you won’t be able to make any changes.

Now go ahead and check the File Sharing box under Service to enable file sharing. This one dialog pretty much contains all the settings and options for sharing. Starting at the top, you can change your computer name to something less complex so Windows users have an easier time connecting. If you don’t, OS X will give it a short name automatically so that Windows can recognize it. Click the Edit button to change the name.

You’ll also see the IP address for the computer listed by the Options button. Under Shared Folders, the Public folder is shared out by default. Click the little + (plus) button to share any folder on your hard drive. Under Users, you can see the standard permissions and edit them as you see fit.

The only other thing you have to do is click on the Options button and you’ll see a section at the bottom called Windows File Sharing. In order to connect from a Windows machine, you have to check the box next to the user name and enter your password. For whatever reason, OS X has to store your Mac user account password in a less secure way in order to connect from a Windows machine. If you don’t do this step, you’ll be asked to enter the username and password from your Windows machine, but it will just give you an error even if you type it in correctly.

That’s about it from the Mac side. Now it’s time to try connect from your Windows machine.

Connect to Mac from Windows

There are a couple of ways you can do this. One way is to simply open up Explorer and click on Network. You should see the Mac computer listed there.

If Windows asks you to enable Network Discovery, then go ahead and do that. Now when you double-click on the computer name, it should pop up a login dialog box. Enter the same username and password that you had entered in the Windows File sharing dialog on OS X earlier. If the user account on your Mac had spaces, don’t worry because Windows can handle it just fine.

If everything went well, you should see some shared folders now on your Windows computer!

Another way to connect is to use the Run command from the Start Menu. Click on Start, then Run and type in the IP address or computer name:

Now you’ll get the same dialog box where you have to enter the username and password for your Mac user account. You should now be able to copy files back and forth from Windows to Mac and vice versa.

The only setting that can cause issues is the firewall on OS X. Everything should work fine with the firewall enabled with default settings, but if you go to firewall and then Firewall Options, you can block all incoming connections. If this item is checked, then file sharing will no longer work.

Just uncheck that option under firewall options and you should be good to go. If you have any other trouble sharing your Mac files with your PC, post a comment and I’ll see if I can help. Enjoy!

Founder of Online Tech Tips and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem’s Full Bio

Sharing Files Between Mac OS X and Windows

Popular belief is that Windows and Mac could not be more different and will never work well together. In a lot of ways, that’s true. There’s no native way to use most iCloud features on Windows, the filesystems often conflict in services like Dropbox due to a difference in naming—what’s hidden and what isn’t—and so on.

Despite all this, Apple still built OS X with a function that allows file sharing with Windows. It’s hidden in System Preferences, though, and most people don’t know how to use it. In this tutorial, I’ll show you the basics of sharing files with Windows using OS X’s native solution, as well as a few alternatives.

How File Sharing Works

Every computer has the ability to share files with another machine over a network, whether it’s a local area network (LAN) or wireless local area network (WLAN). The devices use the router as a connection point to transmit files to each other.

The term file sharing makes this technology sound limited—you can actually share entire folders with people on the same network as you. iTunes uses this technology to share your media library with other people on your network.

File sharing can often be a faster way to keep computers on your network updated with the latest files for a project. People usually use it with one platform or the other, not Mac-to-Windows or vice versa.

It can, however, be a better way to collaborate in the office or give files to a friend without a USB drive or any external hardware aside from a network. If you don’t have a network or the Windows machine you’re using doesn’t have Wi-Fi, you can always use a direct Ethernet cable instead.

Users and File Sharing

Before you proceed, it’s important that you know administrator accounts have access to the entire Macintosh HD.

On the Windows side, you’ll be prompted to log in to an account on the Mac for file sharing. If you use your administrator account, it will have access to everything on your computer. If you’d like to restrict the access, you can do so by adding a new user account and giving it access to those files. The Windows machine will then use its credentials and be sandboxed to those specific files and folders.

Adding a user account may be necessary if you need to keep some things private.

Another important note about administrator accounts in file sharing: they have read and write access. If you don’t want the Windows machine to have the ability to add, remove, or modify something on your Mac, ensure that you use an extra user account.

Setting Up Native File Sharing With Windows

Configuring Windows file sharing is a pretty straightforward process and only takes about five minutes. Below is a step-by-step guide to getting started.

1. Ensure you’re connected to the same network as the other computer(s).
2. Launch System Preferences, select the Sharing pane, and unlock it if need be.
3. Select File Sharing from the sidebar, but don’t check the box beside it just yet.
4. If you chose to use the user-based file sharing method, you’ll need to set which folders to share. Under the Shared Folders menu, add a folder you would like to share by clicking +, locating it in the file browser, and double-clicking it. There may be a delay when clicking + while the system loads settings. By default, your user’s Public folder will be the only thing shared. You can copy items into it to share them.
5. Click Options and check the On box beside your user in the Windows File Sharing box.
6. Check the On box beside File Sharing in the left pane to switch it on.

Accessing the Files from Windows

Once you’ve set up file sharing on the Mac, accessing it is the second part of the challenge. Once again, I’ve compiled a quick step-by-step guide to make sure you can access the files.

The whole process is pretty quick.

1. Launch Windows Explorer and click Network in the left pane. You may be asked to enable network visibility. You need to do this in order to access the files on your Mac.
2. Find the Mac. It may be named something different than it is in System Preferences. For example, my computer’s local network name is FluffyMittenBook, but it appeared as MACBOOKPRO–14D8 on the Windows machine. You’ll find the machine under the Computer section of the Explorer window.
3. Double-click the icon for the Mac. You’ll be asked for a username and password. These credentials will be the same as the ones associated with the user account from which you are sharing the files. To check the username, head to Finder and look at the name beside your home folder. Be sure to use the exact same name—it’s case-sensitive.
4. Upon successful authentication, the Windows computer will be granted access to the folders that you have shared on the network. If you logged in with an administrator account, you’ll see its public folder, home folder, and the Macintosh HD, along with any other folders you shared.
5. To test the connection with your Mac, try transferring a file from it to the desktop. If you have administrator access to the Mac in File sharing, you can also try transferring something to the Mac. These should be relatively fast, but it all depends on the speed of the router and computer WiFi cards.

OS X File Sharing Alternatives

It’s important to mention the other options available to Mac and Windows users. I’ve compiled a short list of the two best tools for the job below, along with a short description of why they’re useful. You may have your own preference, which you’re free to mention in the comments.

• Dropbox. I use this cloud-based service for everything from photo backups to large file sharing. Most people don’t know that it has local network sync as well, so you can transfer large files from one computer to another quickly if they’re near each other.
• Google Drive. This service is similar to Dropbox, but has more space for free and is powered by Google’s absurdly-vast array of servers. It has native apps available for both Mac and Windows, but unlike Dropbox it does not offer local network sync.

More Sharing

In this tutorial, I’ve described file sharing from Mac to Windows, common issues you may encounter, and some alternatives to the integrated options. For more on the topic, refer to “A Beginner’s Guide to OS X File Sharing”.