How reliable are programs like MacDrive? (What should I format to?)

[aiterum]

I am in the situation of where I am planning on purchasing a new Macbook Pro in the future (hopefully the new ones come out in January, as that is what I am waiting for). However, I have recently purchased an external hdd for my PC which I need at the moment to back things on to.

I would like to be able to use this external hdd with both my computer now, and when I get my macbook pro in the future. I do plan on using bootcamp to install windows XP on to the computer, but I also would like it so that when I run OSX Leopard, that I will be able to use my external drive and read and write to it as well. I know that OSX can read NTFS, but cannot write to it.

Should I reformat my external HDD to NTFS now, and when the gap comes to OSX, install NTFS-3g or whatever that program to be able to read and write to the external hdd, or should I use a program like MacDrive to format my external now to HFS+? FAT32 is out of the question because I have some rather large DVD-9 Image files that I would like to transfer on to this hdd.

What is the best option that you think i should do with this?


I am also curious about the reliability of programs like MacDrive. Is it reliable enough that I should trust stuff to be backed up on it?
Or how reliable is the NTFS support programs that run through OSX? (Obviously, being able to use NTFS would be an easier route for me, since I am running windows XP right now, and plan to use it later in the future too)

 

[TheStu]

I am in the situation of where I am planning on purchasing a new Macbook Pro in the future (hopefully the new ones come out in January, as that is what I am waiting for). However, I have recently purchased an external hdd for my PC which I need at the moment to back things on to.

I would like to be able to use this external hdd with both my computer now, and when I get my macbook pro in the future. I do plan on using bootcamp to install windows XP on to the computer, but I also would like it so that when I run OSX Leopard, that I will be able to use my external drive and read and write to it as well. I know that OSX can read NTFS, but cannot write to it.

Should I reformat my external HDD to NTFS now, and when the gap comes to OSX, install NTFS-3g or whatever that program to be able to read and write to the external hdd, or should I use a program like MacDrive to format my external now to HFS+? FAT32 is out of the question because I have some rather large DVD-9 Image files that I would like to transfer on to this hdd.

What is the best option that you think i should do with this?


I am also curious about the reliability of programs like MacDrive. Is it reliable enough that I should trust stuff to be backed up on it?
Or how reliable is the NTFS support programs that run through OSX? (Obviously, being able to use NTFS would be an easier route for me, since I am running windows XP right now, and plan to use it later in the future too)

As of this writing, I have yet to find an effective NTFS write solution for Leopard. However, MacDrive on the windows side is excellent, and I use it quite a lot. I would do what I did, I backed up all my data (in windows) from one drive to another, until it was all off the drive in question. Boot back into OS X, format the drive HFS+. Then, put all the data back onto the drive. Windows with MacDrive and OS X can then read/write the drive no problem. Until such time as NTFS-3G MacFUSE goes final, I will not be relying upon it.

 

[72930]

As of this writing, I have yet to find an effective NTFS write solution for Leopard. However, MacDrive on the windows side is excellent, and I use it quite a lot. I would do what I did, I backed up all my data (in windows) from one drive to another, until it was all off the drive in question. Boot back into OS X, format the drive HFS+. Then, put all the data back onto the drive. Windows with MacDrive and OS X can then read/write the drive no problem. Until such time as NTFS-3G MacFUSE goes final, I will not be relying upon it.

How about trying Paragon...

 

[TheStu]

How about trying Paragon...

Tried it, beta does not work with my system, nor my friends (2.0GHz CD, SuperDrive, 120GB, MBP).

 

[aiterum]

As of this writing, I have yet to find an effective NTFS write solution for Leopard. However, MacDrive on the windows side is excellent, and I use it quite a lot. I would do what I did, I backed up all my data (in windows) from one drive to another, until it was all off the drive in question. Boot back into OS X, format the drive HFS+. Then, put all the data back onto the drive. Windows with MacDrive and OS X can then read/write the drive no problem. Until such time as NTFS-3G MacFUSE goes final, I will not be relying upon it.

This wouldn't really work for me because half of the point of backing up is becuase I am already generally low on hdd space, so even if I removed some of the backed up things from my hdd, by the time that I get to using OSX, I probably wouldn't have an option for storing that while I were to reformat it again.

If I were to use MacDrive, I could just reinstall that when I reinstall XP and use it like normal again (and OSX wouldn't have any problem reading it). Is this correct?