New Mac- Need help transfer files from pc to mac

[sportsfreak]

I just picked up my new 13 inch 2.26 GHz macbook today and am really happy. But i have a few basic questions and all since i am a new mac user coming from a pc.

1- I have a 500GB western digital elite harddrive that i used to back up all the data from my pc. Now some of these files are over 8GB large. I am confused as to how i can transfer over files. I have heard about different file formats but i am very confused by each. I would love if the hardrive could be used for both mac and pc tho. Does anyone have any insight to this.

2- Are there any free programs i should download. I already have coconut battery, adium, istat pro and iwork. Any others that are required.

Thank you

 

[ian.maffett]

You can use the same external drive on your Mac as you used on your PC. The only limitation that might exist (depending on formatting) is that you might not be able to delete files from the drive using your Mac - but you can copy from it with no issues.
IE: if the drive is formatted FAT32, you can do what you want, however, if it's formatted NTFS, you won't be able to delete from it.

OH, and for the programs, check out http://www.iusethis.com

 

[msevild]

Easiest thing I can suggest is formatting the hard drive on Windows in the NTFS format. Your Mac will be able to read from this with no issues, but will be unable to write new data to the drive in that format. NTFS is also not limited by the file size restriction that FAT32 is, so if you have files larger than 2 or 3 gigs, stay away from FAT32.

 

[sportsfreak]

Now what if after i make the inital data transfer- i only need to be able to write large data files on the mac and one have them read on windows. for example i have an episode of house i downloaded on the mac but want to put it on the backup drive. what format would i use then

 

[msevild]

Use disk utility on the mac to format the drive with the GUID partition scheme and then in the Mac OS Extended format. Then refer to this wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HFS_Plus and look under other operating systems to help find drivers for windows so they can read/write to that type of drive.