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Best app for Mac to read NTFS formatted drives?

B

BingClawsby

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 2, 2010
123
3
I'm using Macdrive on this pc laptop I got, but now I'd like to go in the reverse direction and transfer files directly from an NTFS formatted drive to my Macs.

Whats the best app for doing this? Thanks
 
Mac OS X can read NTFS formatted volumes without third party solutions, it is only needed to write to NTFS HDDs, like the aforementioned NTFS-3G.

GGJstudios said:
FAT32
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
  • No individual file larger than 4GB.
NTFS
HFS
  • Read/Write HFS from native Mac OS X
  • To Read/Write HFS from Windows, Install MacDrive
  • To Read HFS (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
Click to expand...
 
I've added a few facts to the previous post:

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
  • Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
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: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
  • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
  • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, 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
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)
  • Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
  • Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
  • To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
  • To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
  • Maximum file size: 8EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 8EiB
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys

While i didn't particularly think this through in that I can just hook both my mac and NTSF formatted ext drives to the laptop and macdrive will let me transfer from the NTSF hd to the Mac hd. Problem solved.

But if it can be more elegant to simply connect the NTSF hd to my mac and copy files off that way, thats good.

I have two systems on my macbook, 10.4.11 and snow...which ya'll say is unreliable.
Or is it..I'm a bit confused. Doing it natively in SL is a no no, but using NTFS-3G is OK?

No corrupting of files or anything?

I see NTSF-3G works on tiger as well...good
 
BingClawsby said:
Thanks guys

While i didn't particularly think this through in that I can just hook both my mac and NTSF formatted ext drives to the laptop and macdrive will let me transfer from the NTSF hd to the Mac hd.
Click to expand...

No, MacDrive is for installation on a Windows computer, to enable it to read/write to HFS+. NTFS-3G is for installation on a Mac computer to enable it to read/write NTFS.
 
GGJstudios said:
No, MacDrive is for installation on a Windows computer, to enable it to read/write to HFS+. NTFS-3G is for installation on a Mac computer to enable it to read/write NTFS.
Click to expand...

Macdrive on my windows pc allows me to both transfer files from a mac formatted ext drive onto the pc laptop as well as transfer from the pc onto the mac hd.

So if I connect both ext hd's to the pc, one htsf, one mac format, I can then transfer files off that ext ntsf drive onto the ext mac drive....and vice versa
 
BingClawsby said:
Macdrive on my windows pc allows me to both transfer files from a mac formatted ext drive onto the pc laptop as well as transfer from the pc onto the mac hd.

So if I connect both ext hd's to the pc, one htsf, one mac format, I can then transfer files off that ext ntsf drive onto the ext mac drive....and vice versa
Click to expand...
Gotcha. From your last post, it appeared you thought MacDrive was enabling your Windows PC to transfer from the NTFS drive, but you meant it enabled the writing to the HFS+ drive.
 
No problem. I wasn't clear. Sometimes whats clear in my head doesn't tranfer to what I write. ;)
 
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