A solution for Vista network connection to Macintosh problems.
Back in December, 2005, I wrote an article titled “File Sharing: Tiger & Vista,” in which I reported my efforts in getting my Dual G5 running Tiger to talk to my Dell laptop running Vista. As that article explains, I was able to set up Vista so Mac OS could connect and access the Dell’s files. But I was unable to get Vista to connect to the Dual G5 to access the Mac’s files.
I won’t bore you with my attempts to resolve this problem. It was very frustrating. Microsoft claimed it was an Apple support issue and Apple claimed it was a Microsoft support issue. You know the drill.
In reading through my feeds today, I stumbled across a post on macoshints.com, “Fix a Vista to Mac failure to connect problem.” The author of the article, shoutdown, had found a thread on the vista64.net forum with instructions for fixing the problem: “Will not accept my password when connecting to WORKGROUP computer.”
I read the thread and followed the instructions. Not only was I able to [finally] connect to my Mac from Vista, but Vista had remembered the password I’d used on all my attempts and just connected me without prompting for a password. What’s even more amazing is that it also allowed me to [finally] set up my shared printer, an HP LaserJet 2100TN directly connected to my G5 via Ethernet, on Vista and even — can you imagine? — print a page!
The problem evidently has something to do with Vista security (what else is new?). From robg on macosxhints.com:
…it seems the problem is that Microsoft has disabled LM and NTLM authentication, which is what OS X’s version of Samba uses. Microsoft’s preferred solution is to upgrade to Samba 3, which supports NTLMv2, as does Vista.
rogb thoughtfully provides the link to the fix for folks running Vista Home versions, which don’t include Administrative Tools. (I’m running Ultimate, for reasons I’m still unclear about, so shoutdown’s link worked fine for me.)
The bottom line: If you want to connect from your Mac to a Vista machine, read my original “File Sharing: Tiger & Vista” article. If you want to connect from Vista to a Mac, start by reading “Fix a Vista to Mac failure to connect problem.”
On December 1, 2008 at 7:20 am, 
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8 responses so far ↓
1 mk // Apr 13, 2007 at 10:14 pm
http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/03/07/file-sharing-from-windows-vista-to-os-x/
for another solution
2 Marvin // Apr 14, 2007 at 4:12 pm
I can access my Mac OS X from my PC running Vista. However, when I attempt to access the Vista PC from the Mac, I get “The Alias cannot be opened because the original item could not be found”
This happens when I click the machine name in the Finder|Network.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
3 Maria Langer // Apr 14, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Sounds like a network problem. Is the PC on and connected to the network? Also, have you tried browsing to the PC’s disk using the Network icon in Mac OS X? And, finally, are you sure sharing is turned on on the PC? (It may have mysteriously turned itself off.)
Check my original article for detailed instructions on connecting from a Mac to a PC:
http://www.marialanger.com/2006/12/05/file-sharing-mac-vista/
If that doesn’t help you, try the Apple support forums. Good luck!
4 Jun // May 8, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I’m having the exact same problem.
I can log on to OS X from Vista, but not the other way around.
Clicking on the connected machine in the Finder -> Network gives me: “The Alias cannot be opened because the original item could not be foundâ€
If OS X can be accessed from Vista, Vista must also be accessed from OS X.
Funny thing though, I had no trouble accessing Vista from OS X some time ago. I’m not sure what’s been changed since then.
Any thoughts?
5 Maria Langer // May 9, 2007 at 6:33 am
Have you tried the instructions here: http://www.marialanger.com/2006/12/05/file-sharing-mac-vista/
That explains how to log into Vista from Tiger.
6 Ben // Aug 5, 2007 at 9:45 pm
To the people that had the “The Alias cannot be opened because the original item could not be found†error. This error comes up when you have the wrong username entered when your trying to connect to the windows machine. The username has to be a windows accound and password, not the name that the apple defaults to.
7 Maria Langer // Aug 6, 2007 at 7:53 am
The “Alias cannot be opened because the original cannot be found” error also appears when you attempt to connect to a computer that isn’t available on the network.
I’ve occasionally gotten this error message when trying to open an alias to a networked volume when the other computer and disk WAS available. If it persisted, I deleted the alias and created a new one.
8 Marvin // Aug 6, 2007 at 11:13 am
When I encountered the problem, i was running Mac OS 10.3.9. After upgrading to 10.4.current , the problem was gone. I can now access Vista Mac without problems…
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