Its broke....

[Starsky72]

Hi

I have a 2006 iMac that has, for the past two years, been using an external HD and and external monitor following an accident that damaged both...

Anyway today we lost power to the house and when I've come to turn the iMac on I get the first chime, then nothing. Now bearing in mind I am using an external monitor there is only so much I can do as it appears the instruction to sent the video signal to the external monitor only comes once fully booted.

Anyway, I need to access files on the external HD (I have a file that i use to record VAT receipts amongst other things) however I am guessing it was originally formatted for Mac and I only have access to a PC laptop

Any way of doing it??

(just hope that Apple announce the new iMacs sooner rather than later)


Stu

 

[Elven]

I could be wrong but I am sure you could access the HD from a windows computer just have issues with editing and writing to the harddrive. But simple copying FROM the HD to a Windows HD should be fine, as with simple accessing.

 

[joe-h2o]

Yes, a Windows machine will be able to read a Mac-formatted HD (HFS+), but will not be able to write to it.

For your purposes that is fine. You may need an HFS+ driver though - I'm pretty sure that is installed when you install the bootcamp drivers on Mac, but I don't think it's included with Windows by default.

 

[garbeth]

http://www.catacombae.org/hfsx.html

 

[flatfoot]

I could be wrong but I am sure you could access the HD from a windows computer just have issues with editing and writing to the harddrive. But simple copying FROM the HD to a Windows HD should be fine, as with simple accessing.

No, Windows won't recognize a HFS+ formatted disk.

Yes, a Windows machine will be able to read a Mac-formatted HD (HFS+), but will not be able to write to it.

For your purposes that is fine. You may need an HFS+ driver though - I'm pretty sure that is installed when you install the bootcamp drivers on Mac, but I don't think it's included with Windows by default.

See above.

What you two describe is how OS X supports NTFS, namely only reading.

You need some kind of a HFS+ driver, like this one:

http://www.catacombae.org/hfsx.html

 

[blueroom]

I've had external FW800 drives glitch to the point of needing the OS reinstalled. Nothing wrong physically though.

For future reference...

It's possible to replace the internal iMac drive, the 2006 white is particularly fun as it's full of foil shielding. ifixit.com shows how.
You need to short out the two wire temperature sensor cable with a bit of wire.
You can replace it with an 2.5" SSD with a 3.5" adapter.
Lion runs fine on the 2006 but SL might be a bit snappier, ML won't.
(Lion, SL & ML can be put on an 8GB Flash drive and install much faster than the DVD)
After you've recovered (if possible) anything on your external drive, format it as HFS and use it as a Time Machine.

 

[Elven]

No, Windows won't recognize a HFS+ formatted disk.



See above.

What you two describe is how OS X supports NTFS, namely only reading.

You need some kind of a HFS+ driver, like this one:

When I am in Windows 7 on bootcamp I can access my external HD and my downloads folder no trouble and even have had Foobar streaming?

I must have a different configuration?

 

[Starsky72]

Thanks ever so much guys, at least I am able to access any data I needed

I guess really I should have a go at replacing the internal disk, I have got nothing to lose I suppose!

 

[flatfoot]

When I am in Windows 7 on bootcamp I can access my external HD and my downloads folder no trouble and even have had Foobar streaming?

I must have a different configuration?

That means you are using the Boot Camp drivers. Apple incorporated HFS+ drivers there.

 

[joe-h2o]

No, Windows won't recognize a HFS+ formatted disk.



See above.

What you two describe is how OS X supports NTFS, namely only reading.

You need some kind of a HFS+ driver, like this one:

I have a Mac computer in front of me right now that supports reading of HFS+ partitions in Windows Vista. I do it in boot camp all the time. It very definitely 100% works right after you install the boot camp drivers when you install Windows for the first time. The bunch of drivers you install to get all the hardware working (wireless card etc) includes an HFS+ driver from Apple.

My HFS+ formatted Mac OS X boot partition is mounted read only when I boot into Windows.

 

[Elven]

That means you are using the Boot Camp drivers. Apple incorporated HFS+ drivers there.

Ah, learn something everyday! thanks.