How can I move a 3.5gb file from PC to Mac

[conan48]

Hi,

I have a file on my PC that my Friend with a mac wants. The file is 3.5GB and when I try to burn the file as an ISO it says that the file is over 2GB and it wont burn as an ISO (which macs can read) I can burn it as a UDF but UDF are only supposed to work on windows based machines.

The file is .dmg, but he can mount .dmg files himself on his Mac. I just need to get the file on dvd but Nero tells me I can't burn ISO over 2gb. *I don't care about making a .dmg disk on my PC, I just want to tranfer the data he can burn it as a .dmg file himself.

Can anyone tell me how I can burn this file so that it will work on a mac

Thanks

 

[raytube]

Hi,
You should be ok burning as UDF, I think that's the format DVD's are in, Macs can read DVD's therefore you should be fine.


Rick

 

[SiliconAddict]

Use an Ethernet cable to connect the 2 systems. Set an IP address and net mask on the Mac, ditto for the PC. Turn on SMB on the Mac and you should be able to browse your PC or Mac system. That's the quick and dirty guide.

Go to http://www.info.apple.com/
There has to be a more specific guide to how to set it up.

Why waste a DVD when you can just do a file transfer.

 

[tomf87]

How about a good ol' Ethernet connection? If that's not possible, can you zip it with maximum compression and fit it under 2GB?

EDIT:

Sorry for the repeat... SiliconAddict beat me to it

 

[IndyGopher]

the ethernet option is probably easiest, but other options (depending on the actual machines, their ports, etc) would be: Install MacOpener or MacDrive on the PC, start the mac in firewire target disk mode and mount it on the PC, pull the drive out of the PC and put it in the mac, or in an external firewire (or USB) enclosure... all of which would probably take about the same length of time as transferring over ethernet. File transfer like that, by the way, are the best reason yet to keep a DVD(+/-)RW on hand. That way you don't waste the disk... transfer your file and then reuse the disk.

 

[mactastic]

I'd say ethernet connection as well. Just make sure it's a crossover cable, I don't think PC's have the ability to auto-switch the pins the way macs can. Plus that's a lot faster transfer rate than a DVD burn and then reading that much info to the hard drive off said DVD. Now if you both have gigabit ethernet the transfer will really go fast!

 

[takao]

Originally posted by mactastic
I'd say ethernet connection as well. Just make sure it's a crossover cable, I don't think PC's have the ability to auto-switch the pins the way macs can.

jep...crossover-cable needed (...i wonder whoever invented this... )
ethernet would be my choice too... if the 2 computer are in the same house
else i would think about splitting the file ?? don't know if there is such a solution

 

[yamabushi]

UDF should work in theory but you may still have trouble burning a file larger than 2GB. There are a couple of different versions of UDF. UDF is used for almost all DVDs. However, even movies on DVD are split up into smaller files.

One of the reasons for this is that many applications and operating systems cannot handle files greater than 2GB. FAT16 cannot handle such files and although FAT32 can handle 4GB file sizes some versions of Windows and Linux and applications built for therm have trouble with sizes over 2GB under certain circumstances. Even NTFS based Windows 2000 or XP systems can have trouble with such files under some conditions. It is therefore a good idea to make a habit of limiting file sizes to 2GB or less in order to maintain compatibility across platforms.

 

[Phatpat]

Depending on your internet connection, it might also work to use ftp. I'm assuming your computers are in significantly different locations so an ethernet cable might be difficult.

 

[radhak]

iPod!

Buy, borrow (or steal ) an iPod, and copy from PC to iPod, then from iPod to Mac.

if either of you already have an iPod, you are already there, i should guess

i am assuming you have USB or Firewire on the PC; if not, pretty cheap to buy and put it (USB) in...

(edit : now i wonder, how come none of the others suggested this; nobody has an iPod, or nobody uses it like this, or am i way off base?)

 

[bankshot]

Originally posted by mactastic
Just make sure it's a crossover cable, I don't think PC's have the ability to auto-switch the pins the way macs can.

This is veering a bit off topic, but...

No, most PCs can't auto switch the pins like a Mac, but you don't need a crossover cable precisely because the Mac can. If you have Mac-Mac, they both autosense each other and do the right thing. If you have Mac-PC, the Mac correctly senses the PC and does the right thing; meanwhile, the PC is none the wiser! For PC-PC, of course you do need a crossover cable.

Reason #4,583 why Macs are better. Not needing to scrounge up a crossover cable has saved my butt many times...