UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I'm an intern at a company that recently bought out another business. In doing so, they inherited a unix system that contains files which they need to retrieve. No one in the company, including myself, really understands or knows unix so please respond with the true assumption that I'm a unix idiot.

I need to ftp the files on the unix system to a windows system. It has been suggested to me too use WS_FTP and a couple other freeware ftp programs on my windows system to connect to the unix system, but I'm confused on a couple points related to that.

The current system configuration is an HP Visualize C160 running HP-UX B 10.20. It has an emulex performance 2500 connected to the LAN-AUI port. It also has an available normal ethernet LAN port.

Should I just connect the unix system up to the network through the ethernet port? If so, how do I set up the IP address so I can tell the windows system where to look for the ftp.

Is there anything I have to do in order to set up the unix system as an ftp server and do I have to tell it which directories I want listed on the server?

I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but the windows computer is currently connected via ethernet cable to a Hawking 10-base T 4 port hub which is connected via port 4 to the ethernet port in the wall. It is set in uplink mode instead of normal. If it is easier to just connect the two computers via that router instead of making them both internet accessible, I'm more than willing to do that.

I'm basically just looking for the easiest and most straightforward way to ftp the files from the unix system to the Windows 2000 Pro system.
Please remember that I am very unfamiliar with unix and, while I feel that windows makes ftp fairly straightforward, I'm not all that familiar with ftp either.

Any help would be very appreciated and would help me out of this confusing situation. Thanks!

Is your need to transfer files temporary ? Is the Unix box going to be phased out eventually ? You might consider something like a USB external drive. Perhaps a bit cludgy, but would take less time than implementing FTP server on the unix box.

I don't know much about your 'flavor' of unix, but on Linux I've imlemented SMB - folder sharing with Windows. That's another option but of course requires LAN connectivity.