Using shared folders
Because two operating systems have access to each shared folder, you may
notice a decrease in performance when using these folders for high-speed PC
application programs such as multimedia programs, or during large file
transfers between them. For optimum performance, place PC application
programs and their files in the C or D drive rather than in a shared folder.
The performance of Macintosh programs is unaffected if placed in shared
folders.
Since the PC doesn’t understand the concept of resource forks the same way
the Macintosh does, information in a Macintosh file’s “resource fork” is lost
when it is copied by the PC environment. For example, if a Macintosh file is
copied between two shared folders using the COPY command in DOS, that
file’s original icon will be lost, and the file itself may be unusable in the
Mac OS.
Many document files do not have resource forks and can be copied between
shared folders with no problems. The programs that created the files contain
the resource information for these files. However, QuickTime files cannot be
successfully copied between shared folders.
Some Microsoft application programs misrepresent the shared drive icons.
When you open a file from a shared folder in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft
Word, the shared drive icon may appear as a floppy disk or CD. This does not
affect the file’s content, and the file is still usable.
Do not attempt to use shared folders from a DOS shell run from Windows.
Strange text characters in a document
Sometimes when you use shared folders to exchange documents between the
Mac OS and the PC, a Macintosh program may not be able to interpret the
file format of a PC document. When this happens, the document’s formatting
is displayed incorrectly and you may see strange characters in the document.
mTry using a different Macintosh program.
mTranslate the document into a different file format using one of the file
format translation utilities available for the Macintosh (such as MacLink
Plus Easy Open Translators from DataViz).
mTransfer the text using DOSCLIP.
mUse the Export feature found in many programs.
mUse a PC-Macintosh translation utility.
70 Chapter 6