new macpro, external goflex hdd and parallels xp not playing nice

[bleedmytears]

I have upgraded from an acer laptop running vista to a macpro and so i have been trying to get my old information onto the new laptop. Ive backed up files from the vista machine and when i plug it hdd into the macpro, it asks where i want to view it from, parallels or mac os. ive tried both ways but have not been able to locate it at all in mac os (using finder also) and in xp it only shows up when i go into device manager, but this isnt much help as i cant access files or do anything with it.

is anyone able to help?

thanks in advance

 

[AdamRock]

external hdds that used to run on windows need to be reformatted for FAT32 to work with OS X.

but it should work with xp -_-

 

[GGJstudios]

external hdds that used to run on windows need to be reformatted for FAT32 to work with OS X.

That's not true.

FAT32

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• No individual file larger than 4GB.

NTFS

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write NTFS from Leopard: Install MacFUSE and NTFS-3G. You can install both with NTFS-3G for Mac OS X.
• To Read/Write NTFS from Snow Leopard: Guide: Enable native NTFS Read/Write in Snow Leopard
• (Be aware that some are of the opinion that enabling native NTFS in SL is unstable/unreliable, and favor the MacFuse/NTFS-3G method for Snow Leopard)

HFS

• Read/Write HFS from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write HFS from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer

 

[bleedmytears]

the external hdd is brand new and was sold to me as being able to read/write on both mac and pc without any other programs. I've since downloaded Paragon from the seagate website, but all that does is show me what ive put on from the mac, or time machine (even tho it stated that time machine wouldnt work with paragon). I'm confused as to why its not working, and contemplating taking it back incase it was the 1 in a million that was a dud (this is possible with my luck!) but want that to be my last option... if i use the 'erase' option in the disk utilities, im assuming this will also get rid of the program which was apparently on it to be able to read/write in both mac and pc. If I do do this, im thinking of partitioning it 2 or 3 ways. 1 as mac only, one as pc only, the other as shared. is this possible? is any of whats going on making sense to anyone?

thanks for your help

 

[GGJstudios]

the external hdd is brand new and was sold to me as being able to read/write on both mac and pc without any other programs.

Only FAT32 fits that description, but has file size limitations, and requires no programs for read/write access from Mac or PC.

if i use the 'erase' option in the disk utilities, im assuming this will also get rid of the program which was apparently on it to be able to read/write in both mac and pc.

There's no such program that makes a drive read/write on Mac and PC. There are apps that enable a PC to read/write a Mac-formatted drive, and vice-versa.

Any external hard drive will work with PCs or Macs, as long as the connectors are there (Firewire, USB, etc.) It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re-format any way you like. Formatting in HFS (Mac OS Extended) or FAT32 or NTFS-3G can be done with the Mac OS X Disk Utility.

Read my last post about the different formats you can choose. If you only occasionally access the drive with Windows, use HFS and get MacDrive for the PC. If you frequently access via Windows, your best bet for Mac/PC is NTFS. You don't need to partition it.