External HD's - AND mini CD's

[Aggiedad]

I have a MacBook Pro running Tiger and my wife has a MacBook running Leopard. Easy one first. We were trying to get an external HD to run on either computer and it came with a driver CD that is one of the new mini ones. It is stuck. How can I get it out without dismantling the computer.

2nd. I used Handbrake to try to copy some DVD's to the external HD and to make extra copies of the DVD's. Again, neither computer will recongize the HD and one of the DVD's I am trying to copy is nothing but PowerPoint presentations that are PC based. I am running Parallels and MS Office 2004 for Mac. Is there a way to have the DVD files places into Parallels to run and to use the PowerPoint application that is the Mac area.

I have read help files, NO Help, I have the book Switching to Mac - nothing in there about doing a backup of the files. Yes I tried to drag and drop files but they won't.


I am a neophyte when it comes to computers, I don't understand computer language or someone telling me to build a boot disk so the fetlzer valve will work. I am a plug and play type and I switched to Mac because I thought this would be much easier but I don't think it is. Most of the work I am trying to do requires me to go back to PC programs. I thought I was frustrated with MS stuff but am rapidly beginning to hate Mac's.

 

[Mechcozmo]

I have a MacBook Pro running Tiger and my wife has a MacBook running Leopard. Easy one first. We were trying to get an external HD to run on either computer and it came with a driver CD that is one of the new mini ones. It is stuck. How can I get it out without dismantling the computer.

You don't need the driver CD. The drive will work without it. USB, FireWire, eSATA, etc. are all standards.

And you really should have read the manual... you cannot put mini CDs into a slot-loading drive.

Also, Handbrake only works on video DVDs. Data DVDs can be copied by:
1) copy files off the disc onto your desktop
2) eject DVD
3) insert DVD-R
4) dray files onto the DVD-R and click burn

 

[Aggiedad]

External HD and Mini CD's

Thanks for the reply and I will go back and try to download the files again. I did that before and they would not copy to a DVD-R. As far as the mini CD, yes you are correct...in a perfect world. How does one run a program that only comes on the mini CD's? Mac's are limited it seems to me anyway and that small problem is cutting out a lot more programs. Anyway. Like I said before, neither Mac will recognize the external HD with or without drivers and it a USB HD.
I will take both computers back to the store and see if they can remove the mini CD and get the HD to run. I have an Airport Extreme that when I changed from ATT DSL to Time Warner Cable will not work either. The Time Warner techs said "We don't know how to work with Mac's".
Quickly losing the love of the Apple.

 

[cherry su]

How do you run programs on a mini-cd? YOU DON'T. screw them!!

or, you could get an external cd drive (tray-loading) and use that as your optical drive to read the mini-cd

 

[Mechcozmo]

As far as the mini CD, yes you are correct...in a perfect world. How does one run a program that only comes on the mini CD's?

Honestly? Never seen one. And you ought to be able to download it off the 'net anyway...

Mac's are limited it seems to me anyway and that small problem is cutting out a lot more programs. Anyway. Like I said before, neither Mac will recognize the external HD with or without drivers and it a USB HD.

This is not a Mac thing, this is a "slot-loading drive" thing. It's hardware.

What kind of hard drive is it?

I have an Airport Extreme that when I changed from ATT DSL to Time Warner Cable will not work either. The Time Warner techs said "We don't know how to work with Mac's".

Do you have a cable modem? If so, it's really easy to get working. You can also turn to Google and find ways to set up your Mac with any ISP.
It is disheartening to hear them say that, but occasionally large companies have separate Mac/PC tech divisions. Try asking for a Mac tech. Whatever they want you to do can be done on the Mac, usually with slightly different names, options, etc.