Shared Users? Video Clips?

I am a PC user checking out a 17 inch MBP. I have a book on converting from one to the other I am checking out. Some questions the book does not answer. I am a professor, and while at work I opened the harddrive to suddenly discover a category called " Shared" with the names of what appear to be students listed. We have a wireless system. i assume that is why they are showing up. If they are on mine I assume I am on their's, though there is nothing in each "file." Any way to stop this?

Some video clips I transfered using copy and pasted to the MBP are showing up as text files. Any solution to this? Do I need to convert them ahead of time?

Thanks.

 

1. The MBP is simply picking up other Macs that are broadcasting in the vicinity, and your files shouldn't necessarily be at risk at OS X's default settings - the Finder window is simply reporting that other users are in range. Easiest way to eliminate any possibility of hacking into your system is to turn off your wifi at work. For a slightly more complex solution that allows you to keep your wifi active, go into System Preferences - Sharing and uncheck the box for folder sharing in the left list. You can always re-enable this if needed and then set up certain folders for others who you might wish to grant access into them (I use this around the house for copying files between our Macbooks and desktop iMac... so much easier than copying via USB drive). Finally, you *could* still have access into the students' systems, depending on how they've set up their folder sharing preferences on their units.

2. OS X defaults to what looks like text documents when it doesn't have the codec or translation software for the file. I'm guessing that the extension on the video clips is .wmv or .avi? If either, you need to download software capable of decoding them. For wmv, use Flip4Mac (this integrates directly into QuickTime Player). Another good, all purpose stand-alone video player is VLC. No need to convert the original files.

The Mac platform is really so much more elegant and straightforward for most things compared to Windows, I can't imagine going back after being exclusively on this for the last 12 months.

 

Thanks. I have tightened up the system perferences, though am still a little unenthusiastic about others knowing I am in range, perhaps out of an excessive sense of privacy. I will download the video software. I figured that was the problem.

 

if you turn your sharing completely off, they wont see your machine. They also wont know your in any type of range other than your connected to the schools network.

By default, seeing another machine wont give access to anything, except usually a dropbox folder people can transfer things to you in... which will be in your home folder shared folder.

 

How do you turn sharing off?

 

any network sharing can be controlled in System Preferences under Sharing. Typically you will only show up if you have File Sharing enabled there.

 

Thanks. I did look at that. Nothing is checked. Does that mean other mac users on a wifi system cannot see me? Thanks.

 

you can check it out for a test, but its been my experience, my machines never show up when I have file sharing off. multiple machines at home, and they can't see each other exist until i go turn on file sharing. On large networks, I never really browse for computers so I'm not totally positive.

 

Another video solution is the Perian Plug in for Quicktime. It will enable quicktime to play pretty much everything.

 

Thanks for the feedback. VLC seems to play my Panasonic videos without a problem, provided I have opened it first. Otherwise the MBP does not recognize it.

 

if you right click and "Get Info" (or press CMD+I) on one of the video files... the Get Info Window will have a section called Open With... If you change that over to VLC then hit the Change All button, those file types should start always opening up with VLC.