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Boot Camp Question

R

richardabrams

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2012
12
0
Just got my first Mac. So far I'm very impressed. I've got a few q's I've not been able to find answers for. Hoping someone might be able to help.

When I boot Windows 7 through boot camp I can see the Mac HD in Windows Explorer, but read only. Is there any way to let Windows use that drive even for writing or is it blocked because it isn't NTFS. If there was a way I could keep the Windows partiition smaller.

Also, I ran the Windows Experience Index and it only shows 5.9 for the hard drive speed which I found disappointing considering I have the 2012 MBA 256Gb. I thought it would have rated higher.

All help appreciated.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
richardabrams said:
Just got my first Mac. So far I'm very impressed. I've got a few q's I've not been able to find answers for. Hoping someone might be able to help.

When I boot Windows 7 through boot camp I can see the Mac HD in Windows Explorer, but read only. Is there any way to let Windows use that drive even for writing or is it blocked because it isn't NTFS.
Click to expand...
Windows can't natively read/write to HFS+, and it may not be desirable to enable it. For example, if you get malware on your Windows installation and have enabled writing to your Mac partition, you could end up with damaged files on your Mac partition. It's safer to let Mac read/write to your Windows partition, if at all. Another alternative is to use Dropbox to share files between them.

Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)

Choose the appropriate format:

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
 
R

richardabrams

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2012
12
0
Great. Thanks for the help. I suspect it's better to keep each partition to itself most of the time. Just looking for ways to minimise what I need for the Windows partition.

Richard
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
richardabrams said:
Great. Thanks for the help. I suspect it's better to keep each partition to itself most of the time. Just looking for ways to minimise what I need for the Windows partition.
Click to expand...
When I first migrated from Windows to Mac, I decided to force myself to use only Mac OS X until I became familiar with it and with the Mac apps that were available. I figured if I ended up with any Windows apps that I couldn't find a Mac equivalent, I would then consider Boot Camp or a VM. After over 4 years, I still haven't found a need to run Windows on my Mac. I realize that there are some Windows apps for which there is no acceptable Mac alternative, but you might consider looking at Mac equivalents first, if you haven't already done so.
 
B

bit density

macrumors 6502
Mar 5, 2004
398
2
Seattle
richardabrams said:
Great. Thanks for the help. I suspect it's better to keep each partition to itself most of the time. Just looking for ways to minimise what I need for the Windows partition.

Richard
Click to expand...


Invest the relatively small amount of money is something like Parallels. This can use your bootcamp partition which is still usable, but for applications that you have a high need for common file sharing, Parallels is, amazing. The windows apps share the same common keyboard shortcuts on the mac side, you can copy and paste between mac and windows applications, it is really good. If you need bare bones windows, then boot into boot camp and do what you need to do.

A cheap last ditch effort is to mail yourself documents. I find this works well.
 
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