Network iMac to XP via ethernet?

[rockstardaddy]

I have a new shiny intel iMac and an older Dell desktop running XP sitting side by side. The think the wifi card in the desktop is starting to go out as it picks up a low signal and drops every 30 minutes or so when the iMac sitting 3 feet away has an excellent signal that never drops. Since the iMac is using wifi and running perfectly, I was wondering if I can run a network cable between the two to share the internet connection and transfer files quickly.

I'm really new to the mac world (last mac was a IIe)

Any suggestions or tut's?

[Runestillowns]

Hey,
All you need to do is:

On the mac go to System Preferences>Sharing. From there go to the Internet tab, click Start. Choose Share connection from AirPort and to computers using Built-In Ethernet

[rockstardaddy]

Thanks, I've got the two computers sharing an internet connection, but now I can't get the mac to see the other computer on the home network and I really want to get them both running so I can move files quickly between the two. Any further help?

[CheatRZ]

Thanks, I've got the two computers sharing an internet connection, but now I can't get the mac to see the other computer on the home network and I really want to get them both running so I can move files quickly between the two. Any further help?

What you need to do is click on the desktop so that 'Finder' is the active application, then click Go > Connect to Server. Enter in the IP address of the windows machine followed by the shared folder name (192.168.1.2/shared) and then click connect. The shared folder should be mounted to your system if all goes correctly.

Hope it helps, if you need more info, here is (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=54704) a detailed reference on how to share between the two systems.