Windows Disk Sharing

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Windows Disk Sharing

I just got a LaCie 500GB Rugged External Hard Drive and hooked it up to my Base Station Extreme for network storage. I have two laptops, one Apple (running 10.5.5) and one Windows (running Vista). My Mac Book Pro connects fine, but I can't seem to find the external hard drive on my Windows laptop. Is there a way so that my Windows laptop can access the external hard drive wirelessly? I have formatted the hard drive once with FAT 32 and no luck and now I have Macdrive for my windows laptop can read/write using HFS+. Macdrive cannot recognize either unless directly plugged in. Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Sep 24, 2008 9:21 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 24, 2008 9:45 AM in response to timphil

Leave the drive formatted as HFS+. When it's connected to the base station, your PC will be able to read/write to it without the use of any third party software - the base station takes care of converting the data.

Assuming that your Windows PC can see the Airport, you just need to enable sharing and set the Workgroup name.
Run Airport Utility > Manual Setup > Disks. Make sure that Sharing is enabled, and set the Workgroup name to be the same as the one that's set in your Windows PC. The default for XP is "Mshome".

The drive should now be accessible from Explorer, under "My Network Places".

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Answer 2

timphil Author

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Sep 24, 2008 1:30 PM in response to clockworks

Unfortunately, all your advice didn't work. My Windows Vista Laptop can see the airport, but when I access it there is no Hard drive to be found or anything at all. I have file sharing enabled, workgroup names the same, but still not seeing it. Any other ideas?

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Answer 3

Sep 24, 2008 2:23 PM in response to timphil

Can you see the drive if you connect the PC to the base station with an ethernet cable?

Can the PC see the Mac, via the base station?

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Answer 4

timphil Author

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Sep 25, 2008 9:20 AM in response to clockworks

I tried connecting the laptop with an ethernet cable. I still could not see the drive. I tried changing my network from private to public and back again with no luck. I can see the router, but I cannot see the drive or my MBP. I wonder if I have set something up wrong, because everything should be working?

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Answer 5

Sep 25, 2008 9:27 AM in response to timphil

I assume that both computers can access the internet?
It does sound like a setup problem.

What network hardware are you using (modem, router, base station), and how is it all connected?

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Answer 6

timphil Author

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Sep 25, 2008 9:50 AM in response to clockworks

MBP is connected via Airport, Windows Vista Laptop is connected via wireless card. Yes, both can access the internet and print wirelessly.

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Answer 7

Sep 25, 2008 10:42 AM in response to timphil

And is the Extreme connected to a modem via the WAN port, or do you have another router?

I think that you need to get the Mac and the PC talking to each other first - probably the same setup problem is why the PC can't see the HDD. Possibly they are setup on, effectively, different networks.

What "wireless mode" are you using for the Extreme?
Are you using DHCP?

What are the IP addresses of the computers? Look in System Preferences > Network for the Mac.
Type "ipconfig" at the command prompt for the PC.

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Answer 8

timphil Author

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Sep 25, 2008 12:52 PM in response to clockworks

The AEBS is connected via a modem. The AEBS is using DHCP wireless mode. The MBP is IPv4 is 10.0.1.200 (router 10.0.1.1). The Windows laptop IP is 10.0.1.198.

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Answer 9

Sep 26, 2008 12:06 AM in response to timphil

Both computers are on the same network, both can see the internet, so it should work!

What happens if you run Airport Utility on the PC? Does Airport Utility see the base station and the HDD?
Can the Mac see the Windows PC in Finder > (your Mac's name) > Network?

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Answer 10

timphil Author

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Sep 26, 2008 10:11 AM in response to clockworks

I downloaded and installed Airport Utility for Windows and my Win Laptop. It can see the AEBS and the External HDD via Airport Utility! Bad news is I can't find it anywhere else, which means I have yet to be able to access it. I still can't see the MBP from the Win laptop or vice versa. I wonder if I've set up the network wrong for the Win Laptop. It's running Vista, which I am still new too (I don't really like it very much).

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Answer 11

Sep 26, 2008 10:27 AM in response to timphil

Seems like this problem may be Vista-related, rather than a setup problem with the base station. There's another poster here with the same problem.

I've no experience with Vista, so I can't think what they may have changed.
Maybe it's a security/firewall problem?

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Answer 12

timphil Author

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Sep 26, 2008 10:38 AM in response to clockworks

Yeah, I think it has to do with setting it up properly in Vista. I just don't understand why I can't find it or figure it out. It's a hard drive on the network, I wonder how it's done with windows based home servers?

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Answer 13

Sep 26, 2008 10:43 AM in response to timphil

With XP, what you've done would work! I've got XP as dual-boot on my iMac, and 2 XP PCs. They can all access the TC and it's USB HDD no problem. I didn't have to configure the ethernet ports at all. Default DHCP just worked.

I wonder - can you disable Vista's security and try connecting? Might be worth disconnecting the base station from your modem before you try it.

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Answer 14

mmorriso

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Nov 18, 2008 9:30 PM in response to clockworks

I've got the same setup, but am using XP Pro and I still cannot see the disk. I have tried all the settings.

I have an AirPort Extreme Base Station, with the WAN connected to my high speed modem. I have a 1TB Maxtor OneTouch drive connected to the USB port. I also have an HP printer connected to a LAN port that is shared wirelessly. And an Airport Express downstairs bridging the network with speakers attached. I just can't get the disk to show up in Windows.

Both have the same workgroup. I used the disk previously when directly attached via USB to my laptop. I have tried disabling my firewall.
I can see the disk in the Airport Setup Utility.

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Answer 15

Jan 17, 2009 6:57 PM in response to timphil

Hi Guys,

I am having the same issue with my windows XP based laptop. I can see the USB mounted hard drive in the airport utility but can see it on my laptop. Applecare suggested I map the drive using the IP address of the airport extreme and the drive name but I can't get it to work. I have spent hours on this and still can't get it working.

any ideas would be fantastic

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