copy files from external ntfs drive to mac, then...

[maclearning]

Brand new to Mac, and need to do a couple things:

I have an external hard drive that's been converted (not formatted) to NTFS. This drive has all my mp3 files on it. I'd like to copy the files to my new iMac, then reformat the external drive and use as the Mac's backup via Time Machine.

Will it be just that easy to do? What format should I use when I reformat? Any problems I haven't considered?

If anyone has a step-by-step guide for me it would save my going back to the Apple Store and have them do it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cave Man]

After you move all your files over to your Mac, just launch Disk Utility, click on the NTFS drive in the left pane (make sure you click on the drive, and not the NTFS partition that is below and indented), then click on the Partition tab, choose Mac HFS+ with journaling enabled, pick one partition from the pulldown menu, click on Options and choose GUID (in case you ever decide to use this as a bootable drive for an Intel Mac), then initialize. That should do it.

 

[maclearning]

Thanks Cave Man, that seems pretty straightforward and answers exactly what I was asking.

I can now open the box without worry (once it gets here).

 

[Cave Man]

If not, check back to this thread and we'll get it sorted out for you.