Transferring files from PC to Mac

[McVickety]

I am currently using a E-Machine E510 (piece of junk) but yesterday I purchased myself a Macbook Pro 13" i7 for delivery in the next few days, and have also purchased a iOmega Prestige 1TB Portable External Hard Drive so that I can transfer files between the two, and back up both machines. However, upon further research I have found out in order to transfer files between Mac and PCs that a hard drive must be formatted correctly. Can anyone assist me in how I can go about doing this?

 

[karanshetty]

Moving files from pc to mac

Hey,

I too switched to a Mac recently and in a way faced a similar problem with transferring files due to format conversion

I thought that the process would be very tedious and scary to be honest, as I was new to the platform and had no clue about how to convert my external drive to the mac format, but what really helped me was this handy app I found on iTunes that guided me, step by step, on how to move files from pc to mac

Hope it's useful.

 

[Dr McKay]

If your PC is running Windows 7, format the Harddrive as exFAT. (FAT64)

If you format it in Windows 7, both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard will be able to read and write to it.

 

[GGJstudios]

I have found out in order to transfer files between Mac and PCs that a hard drive must be formatted correctly. Can anyone assist me in how I can go about doing this?

Use Disk Utility to format drives. Here are your options:

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB

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

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
• To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
• Maximum file size: 8EiB
• Maximum volume size: 8EiB

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
• exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
• Maximum file size: 16 EiB
• Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB

 

[rwd hero]

Use Disk Utility to format drives. Here are your options:

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB

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

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
• To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
• Maximum file size: 8EiB
• Maximum volume size: 8EiB

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
• exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
• Maximum file size: 16 EiB
• Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB

Awesome post man, thank you for that information

 

[saberahul]

Use Disk Utility to format drives. Here are your options:

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB

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

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
• To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
• Maximum file size: 8EiB
• Maximum volume size: 8EiB

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
• exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
• Maximum file size: 16 EiB
• Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB

I see you copied and pasted your post from an earlier thread - cool. I usually go to your post in the 2010 thread as it is very detailed and well written. Thank you.

IMO, Fat32 should be good enough for you OP but depends on your size restrictions.

Under HFS+, you mentioned
Maximum file size: 8EiB
Maximum volume size: 8EiB

What does the 8EiB mean?

 

[GGJstudios]

I see you copied and pasted your post from an earlier thread - cool.

This gets copied and pasted a lot, as the same questions keep coming up.

Under HFS+, you mentioned
Maximum file size: 8EiB
Maximum volume size: 8EiB

What does the 8EiB mean?

EiB is an exbibyte, one of the orders of magnitude of data.