PC External Hard Drive - How do I get my files onto a Mac?

[Joe Dyble]

Hello!

Sorry if you've seen this a hundred times but...

I have a MacBook Air and all my media files are on an external hard drive which I previously used on a PC laptop. I've heard something about NTSC (?) and that mac's can read but not write to these. So two questions...

1. If I want to buy an external hard drive which will work very nicely with my macbook air (preferably wirelessly), what do I buy?

2. Can I simply drag and drop the files from my PC external hard drive to my new one, wait a few days for it all to transfer, then start using it with no bother??

Thanks a bunch!

 

[blodwyn]

- The most recent (i.e. for at least the last decade) standard format that Windows uses for disks is NTFS
- The older standard format that Windows used for disks was FAT32
- The standard format that Mac uses for disks is HFS+

As standard:
- Windows can not read or write HFS+ disks
- Mac can read but can not write to NTFS disks
- Both Macs and PCs can read and write to FAT32 disks, BUT FAT32 does not support files sizes >4GB

- Macs can be made to read and write NTFS disks using MacFUSE
- PCs can be made to read and write HFS+ disks using MacDrive

1. If I want to buy an external hard drive which will work very nicely with my macbook air (preferably wirelessly), what do I buy?

Almost any external hard disk will work with a Mac using USB or Firewire. If you want a wireless hookup then you're looking to either connect to another system that has the drive connected to it, or use a NAS box. I consider using wireless to connect to hard disks to be more trouble than it's worth so I like the direct connect approach

2. Can I simply drag and drop the files from my PC external hard drive to my new one, wait a few days for it all to transfer, then start using it with no bother??

Pretty much, although I don't see why it should take a few days

Hope this helps

 

[logana]

Pretty much, although I don't see why it should take a few days

It might be a USB 1.1 external !

 

[blodwyn]

It might be a USB 1.1 external !

I haven't seen one of those in a long while, don't care if I never see one again either

 

[Joe Dyble]

Sorry guys, going to bore you with this now.

I've installed MacFuse... no joy. I still get Error - 61. So... I've got a new USB Hard drive on the way.

Even though my previous hard drive is NTFS, can I drag all the files from it to my new hard drive via the MacBook Air with the new hard drive staying HFS+???

Thanks a bunch!!

 

[BigHungry04]

Sorry guys, going to bore you with this now.

I've installed MacFuse... no joy. I still get Error - 61. So... I've got a new USB Hard drive on the way.

Even though my previous hard drive is NTFS, can I drag all the files from it to my new hard drive via the MacBook Air with the new hard drive staying HFS+???

Thanks a bunch!!

You should be able to. Macs can read NTFS, so you should be able to copy your previous hard drive to the hard drive on your MBA.

 

[Les Kern]

Media files? They can fill up a drive quick as I am sure you aware. Also, leave 10% of the disk empty for better performance, and I am sure you are also aware.
OR
Use the external drive to hold the media files, and leave the Air with a little breathing room. Buy that second drive as a backup for the Air AND for the media files separately.

Of course by "media files" I group that into music and video.

 

[Joe Dyble]

Thanks guys.

The problem is I also want to delete some files so...

If I drag all the files (which are music, movies etc) from my NTFS drive to my new Apple external hard drive, will I then be able to go into the new drive and over-write it (i.e. delete old files and add new files)?

Or is it that the files themselves are NTFS and I can't edit them? If that's the case, is there any reason MacFuse didn't work for me?

D'you guys reckon I'm best off taking it in to an expert and parting with a few pennies to get it sorted?

Thanks again!!!

 

[logana]

Once you have copied over all your files and are happy that everything is there then why not format the disk as HFS+ - that way your Air can happily read and write to it ?

But make sure you have everything you need first !!