Apple Desktop PC User Manual

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Safe and secure

To make connecting to your Mac over the Internet secure, Back to My Mac uses advanced authentication and data encryption technologies to help prevent unauthorized access to your data and protect it during transit. For more information, see the Security section at the end of this guide.

Back to My Mac User’s Guide

December 2007

Back to My Mac User’s Guide

This guide will help you access your remote Leopard-based Macs over the Internet using .Mac.

Overview

Getting something from your Mac when you are away from home is a daunting task. It’s nearly impossible considering that your home Internet provider frequently changes your computer’s Internet address—and your router or wireless base station disguises things further. With Leopard and a .Mac account it’s not only possible, it’s simple.

Back to My Mac keeps an updated record of your computers’ addresses on a .Mac server. So when you’re on the road, you’ll see your other computers in the Shared section of the Finder sidebar, just as if you were at home.

How it Works

.Mac

Internet

Mobile

Home

1Your iMac at home sends its IP address to .Mac.

2On the road, your MacBook retrieves the address of your home iMac from .Mac.

3From your Macbook, you can securely connect to your home iMac over the Internet.

Back to My Mac User’s Guide

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December 2007

There are two ways to connect to your remote computers with Back to My Mac:

File Sharing. You can browse the entire hard drive of your remote Mac, and drag files and folders to your local Mac. For example, you’re on the road but need a Keynote presentation that’s on your Mac at home. Simply connect to your remote Mac, find the file you need, and drag it to the Mac that you’re using.

Screen Sharing. You can control your remote Mac as though you’re sitting in front of it. Launch applications, edit documents, and more, right on your remote machine. For example, you want to add photos to your .Mac Web Gallery from work, but your

iPhoto Library is on your Mac at home. Screen Sharing opens a window containing the desktop of your remote Mac. Launch iPhoto ’08 on your home Mac in the new window, select the event, and publish to Web Gallery.

What You Need for Back to My Mac

Basic requirements:

A .Mac subscription (Basic Membership or .Mac Family Pack)

Two or more Mac computers running Mac OS X v10.5.1 and configured for use with the same .Mac account

A broadband Internet connection (Screen Sharing requires a 300Kbps or faster bidirectional network connection between computers)

Home network requirements:

If you have a home network with one or more Mac computers, an Airport Extreme or Airport Express Base Station is recommended.

AirPort Extreme Base Station

AirPort Express Base Station

Back to My Mac is also compatible with many modern home routers that fully support NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NAT-PMP) or Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). For a list of home routers that work with Back to My Mac, go to the Requirements section of www.apple.com/dotmac/backtomymac.html.

Apple Desktop PC User Manual

Back to My Mac User’s Guide

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December 2007

Getting Started

You first need to set up your Mac computers and home network for Back to My Mac.

Here’s how.

Perform the following steps on each participating Mac:

1.Verify that your Mac is running Mac OS X v10.5.1. To do so, choose About This Mac in the Apple menu—if an update is needed, click Software Update.

2.From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.

3.Under Internet & Sharing, click .Mac.

4.If you’re not already signed-in, sign in using your .Mac name and password. Remember to use the same .Mac account information on each Mac.

5. Click the Back to My Mac tab.

6. Click Start if Back to My Mac is not already on.

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