Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

lsquare

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 30, 2010
697
67
So I have about 10TB worth of data stored on a Windows desktop. Windows uses NTFS and MacOS uses APFS/HFS+. I guess I can't just format a drive and move data over. I know there are third-party drivers, but I'm wary about their reliability and the potential for data corruption. So having said that, what's the most reliable and quick method to move 10TB of data over to my MacBook Air with an external drive attached.

I would also like to use Carbon Copy Cloner as I heard it is very reliable and can use checksums to verify that the transfer was done securely.
 
Enable file sharing on Mac or Windows. Then transfer via Thunderbolt or regular Ethernet?

On Mac, when you enable file sharing, all volumes attached to the computer will be accessible over network.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lsquare
Enable file sharing on Mac or Windows. Then transfer via Thunderbolt or regular Ethernet?

On Mac, when you enable file sharing, all volumes attached to the computer will be accessible over network.
What about WiFi?

Thunderbolt is an interesting option. What are the steps to do that? Is Thunderbolt networking between Macs and PCs gimmicky or it's reliable?
 
What about WiFi?

Thunderbolt is an interesting option. What are the steps to do that? Is Thunderbolt networking between Macs and PCs gimmicky or it's reliable?
WiFi is too slow. Ethernet starts at 1Gbps and there are 2.5Gbps adapters available. Thunderbolt networking is kind of like an emulated Ethernet adapter so it's going to be reliable. You will have to add Thunderbolt ports to the desktop if it doesn't have any.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999
WiFi is too slow. Ethernet starts at 1Gbps and there are 2.5Gbps adapters available. Thunderbolt networking is kind of like an emulated Ethernet adapter so it's going to be reliable. You will have to add Thunderbolt ports to the desktop if it doesn't have any.
It does. The motherboard has it. I just don't know how to turn it on in MacOS and Windows 11.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Mitchan1999
I was wondering if an NTFS-formatted drive can be read by a virtualized Windows 11 on my MacBook Air to the desktop and then transfer the files from the virtualized desktop to an external hard drive connected to the MacBook Air?
 
So I have about 10TB worth of data stored on a Windows desktop. Windows uses NTFS and MacOS uses APFS/HFS+. I guess I can't just format a drive and move data over. I know there are third-party drivers, but I'm wary about their reliability and the potential for data corruption. So having said that, what's the most reliable and quick method to move 10TB of data over to my MacBook Air with an external drive attached.

I would also like to use Carbon Copy Cloner as I heard it is very reliable and can use checksums to verify that the transfer was done securely.
If you are running Windows Pro, you can enable RDP and pass through a Mac folder via MS RDP client.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lsquare
Get an external USB3 drive. A good-sized platter based drive. Or even two of them.

Format it to ExFAT (NOT NTFS).

Connect it to the Windows computer and copy everything over to it.

Take that to the Mac and plug it in. The data should be there.
 
I do this all the time between my Windows desktop and our headless Mac Mini server. They are far enough apart that running a cable isn't practical, but they are on the same WiFi network. I simply enabled network file sharing on the Mac Mini, then I connect to the IP address of the Mini on the local network (set in our router config to be the same static IP) and it mounts the drive I want to copy files to on the Windows machine. It's not very fast, but I don't need speed - I am just using the Windows machine to ingest video files because it's not headless or portable and has a DVD drive, then copying them over to the Mini which acts as my Plex server.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lsquare
An NTFS drive can be read by macOS. You don’t need to virtualize Windows or use any third-party software.

macOS can’t write to an NTFS drive.
How reliable is that? I don't know if Apple did a good job with its NTFS driver. Is there any risk of data corruption?
 
NTFS - can be read and write by Windows, can only be read by macOS
FAT32 - can be read and write by both Windows and macOS, only supports up to 4GB file size
exFAT - can be read and write by both Windows and macOS, no 4GB file size limitation, more prone to data corruption than FAT32 [based on my experience and others on the internet say the same thing]
 
As reliable as a file transfer can be. Use paid software like Tuxera NTFS for Mac if you want to write to an NTFS disk on a Mac.
That's not the impression that I got from a quick Googling session. Apparently, the third-party NTFS drivers can corrupt data. I just don't know how reliable Apple's implementation is. While it's good to know that Apple can read NTFS formatted drives, can a Bitlocker/encrypted NTFS drive be read by a Mac?
 
That's not the impression that I got from a quick Googling session. Apparently, the third-party NTFS drivers can corrupt data. I just don't know how reliable Apple's implementation is. While it's good to know that Apple can read NTFS formatted drives, can a Bitlocker/encrypted NTFS drive be read by a Mac?
One thing about the Internet and Forums in particular is you’re going to see people posting who have problems. People aren’t going to post when they don’t have any problems.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never had any problems when I’ve used it.

Nothing can read a Bitlocker/encrypted NTFS drive unless it’s unlocked with the proper Microsoft account recovery key.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ben J.
One thing about the Internet and Forums in particular is you’re going to see people posting who have problems. People aren’t going to post when they don’t have any problems.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never had any problems when I’ve used it.

Nothing can read a Bitlocker/encrypted NTFS drive unless it’s unlocked with the proper Microsoft account recovery key.
Is there any way to put the recovery key in a Mac to unlock it?
 
Not that I’m aware of…

If the drive in question on Windows is encrypted with Bitlocker (and with Windows 11, it probably is) the best way to move that much data is to attach an external drive that’s formatted to exFat. You will lose all of the metadata, but it’s going to get lost anyway moving to a Mac.
 
How reliable is that? I don't know if Apple did a good job with its NTFS driver. Is there any risk of data corruption?
if you go with the default macOS can only read from the drive. If you additional make sure to eject the external drive before disconnecting its cable from the Mac, there is no way to corrupt data on it.

The problem when having writes enabled with Apple's or accessing via a third party write-enabled NTFS driver seems to be related to drive disconnects. One cause: the connecting cable is disconnected before the drive is properly ejected on the Mac. As a result its NTFS is left in an inconsistent state. Which usually can easily be fixed on a Windows system.

In relation to Microsoft Bitlocker encrypted drives on a Mac: there are third party tools, e.g from Hasleo, to easily mount (similar products from other developers ARE available 😃), read/write to these.
Or you can use Homebrew to install fuse and dislocker to do the same - like it is quite common on Linux systems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lsquare

I'm just wondering if this dock will work in this situation. Let's say I have a old laptop with no Thunderbolt, but it has an Ethernet port. Can I plug an Ethernet cable to the old laptop and into this dock. The M1 MacBook Air connects to the dock with a Thunderbolt cable. Even though the dock itself isn't connected to a wired Ethernet network, can MacOS and Windows initiate the proper networking protocols to enable file transfer? If so, how?
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.

I'm just wondering if this dock will work in this situation. Let's say I have a old laptop with no Thunderbolt, but it has an Ethernet port. Can I plug an Ethernet cable to the old laptop and into this dock. The M1 MacBook Air connects to the dock with a Thunderbolt cable. Even though the dock itself isn't connected to a wired Ethernet network, can MacOS and Windows initiate the proper networking protocols to enable file transfer? If so, how?
Yes. Ethernet will auto configure a self assigned IP address
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
The dock doesn't technically support Thunderbolt. So with my example, how do I enable filesharing between Mac and Windows?
The dock is no different than you attaching a dedicated USB Ethernet adapter. Transfers will happen through Ethernet as if the computer has one built-in.
 
The dock is no different than you attaching a dedicated USB Ethernet adapter. Transfers will happen through Ethernet as if the computer has one built-in.
I'll take your word that it'll work. However, how do I configure MacOS and Windows to see each other so that I can transfer files over from the Windows desktop?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.