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Help Transfer MP4 Files from MBA to an External HD

ET iPhone Home

ET iPhone Home

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 5, 2011
3,823
529
Orange County, California USA
I did a search for this topic and three unrelated threads came up.

So I want to Restore as new my MBA, but I want to first transfer (backup) all my MP4 files from Movie Folder to a Western Digital External Hard Drive (WDHD). I opened a New Finder Window and thought I could just Hi-light the file itself, hold down CMND and drag the file to the WDHD window, but it keeps giving me that "NO" Symbol (circle with diagonal line). I know this is simple, but can't figure it out. I tried to also COPY, but the Paste is grayed out. I also tried Cut, but won't allow me to paste.

What's the deal? Thanks for any help any of you can provide me. Thanks.

New to Mac (3months now), and I may still have Windows mindset.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
So I want to Restore as new my MBA, but I want to first transfer (backup) all my MP4 files from Movie Folder to a Western Digital External Hard Drive (WDHD).
Click to expand...
How is the external drive formatted? Right-click on the drive in Finder and Get Info to find out.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
Went to GET INFO, under GENERAL, it's formatted as MAC OS EXTENDED. Is this an issue? Thanks for the quick response.
Click to expand...
No, that's the right format. Check the permissions on the folder on the external drive where you plan to move the files. Right-click on the folder and Get Info, then look under "Sharing & Permissions".
 
GGJstudios said:
No, that's the right format. Check the permissions on the folder on the external drive where you plan to move the files. Right-click on the folder and Get Info, then look under "Sharing & Permissions".
Click to expand...

Sorry, I made an error in my findings. When initially synching the WDHD to the MBA, I do have to unlock it with a password, GET INFO does say MAC OS EXTENDED, but after I unlock it with a password the partition drive appears in FINDER above the WDHD, it's UNTITLED , this has all my files and it does say, WINDOWS NT FILE SYSTEM (NTFS).

How do I format this to MAC OS EXTENDED? And if I do reformat, I loose everything on this HD, which means I have to buy another External HD to back all my files from the (WDHD) Western Digital HD.

Thanks!

EDIT:

I just did a YouTube search and viewed the process. I do have another question. If I purchase another External HD and sync it to the MBA, it would auto format as Mac OS Extender, which means I wouldn't be able to then transfer files from my WD to the new external drive. Is there a way to format this "new" external drive for windows and mac?
 
Last edited:
ET iPhone Home said:
Sorry, I made an error in my findings. When initially synching the WDHD, I have to unlock it with a password, GET INFO does say MAC OS EXTENDED, but after I unlock it with a password the partition drive appears in FINDER above the WDHD, this has all my files and it does say, WINDOWS NT FILE SYSTEM (NTFS).
Click to expand...
That makes more sense. Install Paragon to enable writing to the NTFS drive. You would have to backup your files to reformat the drive. See details below.

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.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
Thanks for all this. I'm sure it looks a lot easier than it appears. FAT32 will suffice.
Click to expand...
You don't need to reformat the drive. Also, FAT32 is less useful than NTFS, as FAT32 cannot contain files larger than 4GB. Since your drive is already formatted as NTFS, you can use Paragon to read/write to it, especially if you plan to continue to share the drive with Windows. If you only intend to use the drive with your Mac, reformatting as HFS+ is a much better choice than FAT32.
 
GGJstudios said:
You don't need to reformat the drive. Also, FAT32 is less useful than NTFS, as FAT32 cannot contain files larger than 4GB. Since your drive is already formatted as NTFS, you can use Paragon to read/write to it, especially if you plan to continue to share the drive with Windows. If you only intend to use the drive with your Mac, reformatting as HFS+ is a much better choice than FAT32.
Click to expand...

Yes, I plan to share the drive with both Windows and Mac. Is Paragon an app that I simply download to allow read/write and won't loose any data by reformatting the entire drive. I didn't want to spend extra money on a new external HD. I just want to transfer my MP4 files and other files from MBA to this external drive which is formatted in NTFS.

Also, once I restore my MBA factory new, should I reformat the entire drive using Paragon so that I can transfer files directly to my MBA?

Is this what I need to download "Paragon" for $19.95?

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
 
Last edited:
ET iPhone Home said:
Yes, I plan to share the drive with both Windows and Mac. Is Paragon an app that I simply download to allow read/write and won't loose any data by reformatting the entire drive. I didn't want to spend extra money on a new external HD. I just want to transfer my MP4 files and other files from MBA to this external drive which is formatted in NTFS.

Also, once I restore my MBA factory new, should I reformat the entire drive using Paragon so that I can transfer files directly to my MBA?
Click to expand...
Paragon doesn't change the drive at all. It simply enables Mac OS X to write to it. You can leave the drive as it is. Since the drive is already formatted as NTFS, your Mac can read the drive and you can copy things from the drive to your Mac. Paragon will enable you to copy files from your Mac onto the drive.
 
GGJstudios said:
Paragon doesn't change the drive at all. It simply enables Mac OS X to write to it. You can leave the drive as it is. Since the drive is already formatted as NTFS, your Mac can read the drive and you can copy things from the drive to your Mac. Paragon will enable you to copy files from your Mac onto the drive.
Click to expand...

Perfect. Thanks. One last request, is the link I posted the right app I need (post #10). Otherwise, can you link me to the right download? Is this free / open source?
 
ET iPhone Home said:
Perfect. Thanks. One last request, is the link I posted the right app I need (post #10). Otherwise, can you link me to the right download? Is this free / open source?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's the same link I posted earlier, under the NTFS description in post #7.
 
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