Rescue Tip - File-Sharing on the Macs


February 25, 2000 - File Sharing

One of the best, and often least-known feature of the MacOS is its ability to use something called File Sharing.

Picture this scenario - you've been working for hours on a project. You go to save your file to your Zip disk, and the drive doesn't seem to be responding. The files won't fit on a floppy! You're doomed! But wait, the machine next to you has a working zip drive. If only you could somehow get your files transferred to that computer!

You can. And it's easy. You need a friend to help you on this, as you can only login to one machine at a time. Have your friend login to the machine you'd like to transfer the files to, insert your zip disk, and click on the Apple menu. Pull-down to Control Panels> File Sharing. You should be presented with a dialog box that looks something like this.

Click the Start button in the File Sharing area. In a couple of seconds, go to the original machine and open the Chooser (Apple Menu> Chooser). Click the AppleTalk Icon and scroll down the list at the right to find the name of the machine you just set up (Computer Name - usually Design Mac, then the number of the machine). Double-click it and a new dialog appears. The owner name should read Mac 26 (or the number of the machine), and the password area should be blank (as you didn’t set one). Click the OK button. You will be presented with a list of all available drives on that computer. Find your zip disk and click the OK button.

Your zip will show up on the desktop looking something like this:

Copy your files to the zip, and you have rescued your work! Remember to "eject" the disk by dragging its icon to the trash. Then, you will want to turn off file sharing on the target Mac. Simply click the Stop button, enter 0 minutes for the time until file sharing actually stops, eject your disk for real, and logout of the computer.

Don’t you feel like an all-powerful computer genius now?

–J

Jennifer Nieland is the lab coordinator for the College of the Design student computer labs and is addicted to file-sharing between her PowerMac and her Mac Classic.