On transfering files from an external NTFS formatted hard drive...

[doxavita]

I have a USB 2.0 500GB External Western Digital Hard Drive ("My Book") and it's formated in NTFS.
Up until now I've only used it with my Windows PC, and would like to transfer some files (from the hard drive) to my 2010 MacBook Pro (which has Parallels 5 and a Windows 7 virtual machine), and to a new 2011 iMac which I'll be buying soon.

A. If I DO NOT wish to install any sort of program/pluggin for OS X, can I simply:
1. Load Parallels and my Windows 7 virtual machine.
2. Plug the external NTFS hard drive to the USB 2.0 port.
3. Have Windows recognize the drive and transfer my files to Windows.
4. Drag and drop my files (or shared folders) from Windows to OS X?

B. If I DO wish to install a program/pluggin (for OS X),
a.Which is the best free one? Is it NTFS-3G? http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/2010/10/ntfs-3g-for-mac-os-x-2010102.html
b. Is that safe to use? (have plenty of important files in my Hard Drive).
c. How does it work? Do I just install it, plug my hard drive within OS X, and drag and drop from finder or so? Any settings I should be aware of? Transferring files would only be "Read", would the plug-in support "Write" too?

Thanks!

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Mac OS X can read NTFS devices, it just can't write to them. You can connect it and copy everything over without the need for Parallels or VMWare.

NTFS-3G seems to be the best free option for writing to NTFS devices. Paragon NTFS is the best paid one with many more users. You could always checkout the free trial and it's only $20 if you like it.

 

[doxavita]

Mac OS X can read NTFS devices, it just can't write to them. You can connect it and copy everything over without the need for Parallels or VMWare.

NTFS-3G seems to be the best free option for writing to NTFS devices. Paragon NTFS is the best paid one with many more users. You could always checkout the free trial and it's only $20 if you like it.

And this is all completely safe for my Hard Drive, right?

So that would get me the files onto OS X. If I also wanted the files in Windows, the procedure outlined in 'A' in my first post should work too, right?

 

[GGJstudios]

NTFS (Windows NT File System)

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
  [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
  
• Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
• Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, but is not advisable, due to instability.
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
• Maximum file size: 16 TB
• Maximum volume size: 256TB

 

[doxavita]

NTFS (Windows NT File System)

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
  [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
  
• Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
• Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, but is not advisable, due to instability.
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
• Maximum file size: 16 TB
• Maximum volume size: 256TB

Right, so only transferring files from my Hard Drive to my Mac would be considered: 'Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X', no need for NTFS-3G yet (at this point).

 

[GGJstudios]

Right, so only transferring files from my Hard Drive to my Mac would be considered: 'Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X', no need for NTFS-3G yet (at this point).

Correct, if you're only reading NTFS and not writing to it.

 

[al2o3cr]

Note that you may just want to try it out before installing software - some versions of Parallels (can't recall when they started this) install NTFS-3G out of the box.