Transferring files from PC to Mac with an external HD

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Bellatrix

13 posts

Geek

#43098 16-Oct-2009 21:40

I just got my Macbook and I'm planning to transfer all my files from my HP which runs on Windows Vista before I hand it over to its next master.

I got a WD Elements external HD and they said it'll work on a Mac as long as I format it for a Mac. I haven't connected it to any of the laptops yet, so, should I format it on my Macbook first then connect it to my HP to take my files then transfer it to the Macbook? Will it work on the HP once it's been formatted for Mac? Or can I copy my files from my HP to the unformatted HD then transfer it to the Macbook?

I've read that you can partition the external HD for it to work both on Windows and Mac but I'd only be using it once on Windows to transfer my files then I'll be using it on a Mac althroughout so I don't really partition it unless it's the only way to transfer my files across.

Help?

Please and thank you!

Buttonmash

361 posts

Ultimate Geek

#264409 16-Oct-2009 22:50

Format it as NTFS on your Windows PC and install this on your Mac (without this you can still read NTFS, but can't write to it).

http://sourceforge.net/projects/catacombae/files/NTFS-3G%20for%20Mac%20OS%20X/2009.4.4/NTFS-3G_2009.4.4-catacombae.dmg/download

Fossie

1240 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#264427 16-Oct-2009 23:41

If the drive is NTFS you can read it in mac, but not write to it. You can give that NTFS-3g a go, but it always seems very slow.

FAT32 would give you read/write on operating systems, but...its FAT32...

HFS would give you read/write in mac, but you would need to install macdrive or similar to get read/write in windows.

paulspain

417 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#264433 17-Oct-2009 00:09

Why do you need a hard drive to move the files? Just as easy to copy them using your network I would imagine, especially if you have 100mbs or 1gbs ethernet or a modern Wifi connection.

You could install Live Mesh on both Mac and PC and have it sync the files across your network... or have you Mac connect to a file share on your PC and copy them that way.

Paul Spain
Founder: Gorilla Technology, NZ Tech Podcast