File Sharing Problem Mac/PC

I have a bit of a networking problem.

I have a Macbook which I use most of the time for work but also use to watch TV and Movies through itunes, unfortunately this now means I'm running out of space. I have a Windows PC (XP) upstairs so bought a huge hard drive for that and wanted to use it as a kind of media server and stream itunes music and videos to my Macbook.

The problem is the connection is rubbish, I can't even get the files onto it, so the idea of being able to stream a movie from it seems ridiculous.

The Macbook is wireless, the PC is connected directly to the router. Both have decent connections to the internet with no interruptions but just don't like each other over the network.

File transfers start and last about 5 minutes before the Macbook reports an 'unexpected error' and loses it's connection. I can reconnect but it just happens all over again.

What could cause this and how do I get around it? I can't afford a networked hard drive and don't really want to buy an external caddy for my new drive as I didn't want an external drive in the first place!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

If it is a connection problem, try changing wireless channels. I don't know if there's a MAC alternative to Inssider or NetStumbler or similar but if there is, it would help greatly.

If these files are greater than 4Gig, the drive you're attempting to copy to should not be FAT formatted. Is there an Event Viewer fault diagnostics type applet for the MAC? If there is, it may yield some clues.

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

I don't know if there's a MAC alternative to Inssider or NetStumbler or similar but if there is, it would help greatly.

iStumbler?

If you say so Bill. To me, a mac is a device that keeps you dry in a shower.

To the OP, do MACs play well with Windows formatted drives anyway? It may be worth looking at something like MACDrive.

In reply to a post by Deadbeat:

If you say so Bill. To me, a mac is a device that keeps you dry in a shower.

Heathen

To the OP, do MACs play well with Windows formatted drives anyway?

I've got an iMac, a MacBook, two Vista laptops (NTFS) and an old Win98SE desktop (FAT32)... subject to the 4GB limit I can move files around with no problem. Unless there's an oddity with XP, it should work OK

MacDrive is for enabling AFP or AppleTalk on Windows computers, OS X has Samba built in so can communicate with a Windows computer with no problem. Writing files to a Mac requires you to enable SMB sharing in the Sharing pref pane.

As for formats Apple use HFS+ on OS X, just like Microsoft use NTFS, neither OS needs knowledge of how to write to either file system, the protocols mentioned above take care of that part. Just like a Windows box talking to a Linux server via HTTP or FTP.

I would guess its the wirless connection as I do what you do all the time but teh wirless node I have is the Time Capsule running 802.11n.

Press the button next to the apple key and then click on the radar symbol on the top bar and it'll show you the line rate if your wireless connection - the actual speed, and not the theoretical speed.

there are also some System Preference add-ons which put the traffic flow in the top bar so you can see the data trabnsfer rate graphically and numerically so you can see when data stops flowing, and you can immediatekly see if the wireless connection has dropped.

iStumbler is very good for sniffing out networks and checking what channels are in use

BUT

I found that leaving it running really slowed down my connection - I got this checked by other Mac Users as well and we all found the same .

I still have it on my machine - but only run it for brief periods

TY Paul. I played around with a MAC years ago but that was out of the ark.
I suppose the next logical and simplest step is to hard wire the MAC to the router and test. If all's OK then, it's the wireless connection that's causing it.

Same here- useful for a quick check, but not left running.