Configuring Windows:
- Before starting any of these steps, make sure you have already connected your Windows and Mac with the Ethernet cable.
- We will start with configuring Windows PC first. Go to Network and Sharing Center located under Control Panel and then click on the option where it says Ethernet.
- Now a pop up window will open with few options. Click on the button where it says Properties. Then scroll down a little until you find IPv4 settings which is usually last option in the list where it says “This connection uses the following items“. Double click on the IPv4 option and then select Use the following IP address. Input fields as shown in the image below and the click OK.
- Now after clicking OK if your PC asks to whether Turn on Network and File sharing, select Turn on option.
- Now all that is left to do is to make sure that your Firewall is turned off for the time being and also to make sure that Password protected sharing is off and Network discovery feature is turned on under Network and Sharing Centre> Advanced Sharing Settings. This is very important and make sure that your settings matches as shown in picture below:
- Just one last thing remaining to do at this point to configure your Windows. Go to Control Centre and choose Windows Firewall and make sure to turn it Off.
That’s it! No more settings are required to be configured at this time.
Configuring Mac:
- Now open up your Mac and go to System Preferences and then Select Network settings.
- Now select Ethernet from left menu and then select Manually under the drop down menu in front of Configure IPv4 option. Add IP address in the field as in the image below:
- Click apply and we are good to go. Now we have done all the essential settings for these two devices to connect with each other and transfer files using LAN or Ethernet. Now lets suppose you have to transfer files from your Mac to your Windows PC, all you have to do is to create a folder in your Windows PC and give the rights to Read/ Write to user. So that you can easily transfer files to that folder from your Mac. Lets go ahead and get this done.
At this point, I will go to Desktop and make a new folder called Sharing. The name and location doesn’t matter and you can create any folder anywhere on your PC. Instead of making a new folder, you can also share an already created folder whose data you want to share with Mac. Right click on that folder and then choose Share With> Specific People. Select Everyone from drop down list and then click Add button.
Now under Permission Level, select the little arrow next to Read for user Everyone and the select Read/ Write. Now click Share button in the bottom and then wait for Windows to apply all the settings. It usually takes less than 2-3 seconds. Now click Done after the settings are applied.
Time to head back to Mac and launch Finder window. Inside the Finder window, click Command+K simultaneously that will launch a little pop up window. Type in smb:// followed by IP address of your PC as shown in following image and click on Connect.
When asked for login details, input your Windows PC username and password and hit Connect again.
Now you will be shown all the folders and drives that are shared from your Windows PC on your Mac. Select the folder you want to work with and click OK. Now if you have given both Read and Write permission under sharing to that folder, you will be able to do both the things from your Mac. To copy files to your Mac from, simply copy the files from that folder that you just opened in your Mac and paste them on your Mac’s Hard Drive. To copy files from your Mac to Windows PC, just paste them in that folder because you have both read and write access.
Source : omgmac
