Moving from Windows to Mac help

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Dames

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Hey!

I am moving from Windows to Mac soon and I just need some help. I have an external harddrive which I want to use to transfer all my files to the Mac however, I have read of issues with compatability between Windows and Mac. I have a Samsung external which it says is compatable with both, but I want to make sure that all the stuff I transfer to it from Windows will then be able to be readable and/or transferred onto the Mac Harddrive. Must I format the drive in some specific way or what? At the moment it is FAT32...

Thanks!
 
NTFS - rw Windows, r- Mac
FAT16/FAT32 - rw Windows, rw Mac
HFS+ - -- Windows, rw Mac

In general use FAT32 for any drive you intend to share with Windows and HFS+ for those that will be Mac only.
 
OsX will read NTFS and read and write FAT32 but I'd follow the simple instructions here to enable the PC to R/W HFS+.

Or, when the time comes install Windows virtually using something like Virtual Box to ease the transition.
 
ettienem said:
Download NTFS-3G for Mac so you can read and write to NTFS drives
http://mac.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/NTFS-3G.shtml
Click to expand...

I had issues with this program in the past that when I pulled out a drive from windows without releasing it in windows, it wouldn't read in Mac again. I have no idea if this problem has been sorted out since then but.... I would recommend using Paragon NTFS for Mac as that will enable your Mac to write to NTFS drives and at same speeds as windows writes to them. Works very well and is well worth the money spnet on it, unless you prefer to obtain the cracked version, which is also readily available and is a small download at 15 mb I think. But yeah, I got the cracked version and was impressed so purchased it as it is worth the money.
 
IceDreama said:
I had issues with this program in the past that when I pulled out a drive from windows without releasing it in windows, it wouldn't read in Mac again. I have no idea if this problem has been sorted out since then but.... I would recommend using Paragon NTFS for Mac as that will enable your Mac to write to NTFS drives and at same speeds as windows writes to them. Works very well and is well worth the money spnet on it, unless you prefer to obtain the cracked version, which is also readily available and is a small download at 15 mb I think. But yeah, I got the cracked version and was impressed so purchased it as it is worth the money.
Click to expand...

Paragon NTFS is made by the same people. It's always advisable to properly unmount a file system before removing the media, if you don't you are going to create problems.
 
ponder said:
Paragon NTFS is made by the same people. It's always advisable to properly unmount a file system before removing the media, if you don't you are going to create problems.
Click to expand...

I have never had problems. And what's the point of configuring the drive in Windows for quick removal if you can't do that??


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Thanks for all the help guys! It seems it'll just be easier for me to stick with FAT32. Can't wait to get the mac! :D
 
If you're transferring files over why not just use an ethernet cable.
 
IceDreama said:
I have never had problems. And what's the point of configuring the drive in Windows for quick removal if you can't do that??
Click to expand...

You need to look up on how media is handled under quick removal. What do you reckon happens to cached data not written to a drive if you unplug it?
Quick removal essentially disables write caching for the media in question.

Memory fails me now but I think you have to specifically state whether you want certain features like best performance etc enabled/disabled when you install ntfs-3g or it's commercial equivalent. If you don't disable write caching and quickly disconnect a drive you could have issues and it has happened to me before on one occasion.
 
Dames said:
Thanks for all the help guys! It seems it'll just be easier for me to stick with FAT32. Can't wait to get the mac! :D
Click to expand...

Best approach is to use the network as bwana suggested, that way you can move files across at your own leisure.

You could also look into Apple Bonjour for windows to make the network connections a little easier (not vital, google will provide many examples of how to connect the two)
 
Another option is exFAT,it working under windows and from OS X 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard).

It supports large files over 4GB and up to 16 EiB
 
Copying over the network is a good option if both machines support a fast connection.

IceDreama said:
I have never had problems. And what's the point of configuring the drive in Windows for quick removal if you can't do that??
Click to expand...
You can still pull it out while it's busy if you simply yank the cable.

ponder said:
Paragon NTFS is made by the same people. It's always advisable to properly unmount a file system before removing the media, if you don't you are going to create problems.
Click to expand...
Tuxera make both. Their free version works, but is slow (at least for writing). Paragon's is purely commercial.
 
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