PC > Mac (and visa versa)

medicnick83

medicnick83

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I have a friend who wants to copy files from a PC to a MAC and then back (I think)

What program works well for this?
 
gdiza said:
Portable HDD.
Click to expand...

Oh, that's a whole other kettle of fish. If its formatted in NTFS then the Mac may not be able to write to the disc. It may need to be formatted in NFS+ or Fat32 if you want both OSs to be able to read and write.

If it is NFS+ then you will need something like MacDrive to mount it in Windows.

Fat32 should allow you to do both but Windows won't let you format Fat32 on a drive over 32 GB and file sizes can't be more than 4 GB.

Its not the easiest thing to do. Good luck.
 
NTFS cane be read by a Mac using NTFS for Mac OSX. I use this successfully. Costs a bit but worth it if you do it often and there is a large amount of data to be transferred.
 
gdiza said:
Mac sucks... thank God I'm a PC user ;)

PC FTW! :D
Click to expand...

Mac definitely doesn't suck - Both have their pros and cons - and their own uses.

As an ex-die-hard-PC'er, I can honestly say the new Macbook trumps any other notebook in terms of build quality. That thing is so solid it's scary.
And the power connector - I just don't understand how no PC manufacturers have caught on???

All else equal - my next computer purchase will be a Mac :)
 
timgaul said:
.

Fat32 should allow you to do both but Windows won't let you format Fat32 on a drive over 32 GB and file sizes can't be more than 4 GB.
Click to expand...

My Fujitsu 500GB portable HDD here is formatted to FAT32. Do you want a screenshot or will my opinion suffice? :)

Screen-shot:
shogei-maru500gb.jpg
 
Last edited:
Dean said:
Mac definitely doesn't suck - Both have their pros and cons - and their own uses.

As an ex-die-hard-PC'er, I can honestly say the new Macbook trumps any other notebook in terms of build quality. That thing is so solid it's scary.
And the power connector - I just don't understand how no PC manufacturers have caught on???

All else equal - my next computer purchase will be a Mac :)
Click to expand...

Apple makes very ultra-high quality laptops but the Panasonic Business Toughbooks and NEC machines (both assembled in Japan) are superior in build quality. They don't run Mac OSX though.
 
1) i use a 250GB NTFS drive between my mac and windows box.
2) also across the network, windows share, hit the ip with smb://blah.blah.blah.blah (to copy from and copy to).

in case you're wondering NTFS , how does mac os X write to it?

for dynamic Windows_LDM (NTFS) drives - you can only read - here is how to mount

but for basic NTFS partition (not dynamic) - you can read and write using MacFuse NTFS-3G
been using it for months - works well. When you delete it is permanent (does not go into trash).
 
timgaul said:
Oh, that's a whole other kettle of fish. If its formatted in NTFS then the Mac may not be able to write to the disc. It may need to be formatted in NFS+ or Fat32 if you want both OSs to be able to read and write.

If it is NFS+ then you will need something like MacDrive to mount it in Windows.

Fat32 should allow you to do both but Windows won't let you format Fat32 on a drive over 32 GB and file sizes can't be more than 4 GB.

Its not the easiest thing to do. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Its actually very easy, format it with the mac as FAT32, and ur done.
Macdrive is also fairly straightforward to use, and if you are only going to use it once get the demo version. There is a performance loss when copying but who cares?

JayN said:
NTFS cane be read by a Mac using NTFS for Mac OSX. I use this successfully. Costs a bit but worth it if you do it often and there is a large amount of data to be transferred.
Click to expand...

Its actually free...using macfuse.

Networking whilst being the most obvious is actually the hardest. if you are trying to copy off the MAC, you need to enable smb sharing on that account under sys prefs, you also need to get ur permissions right.
 
PeterCH said:
My Fujitsu 500GB portable HDD here is formatted to FAT32. Do you want a screenshot or will my opinion suffice? :)

Screen-shot:
shogei-maru500gb.jpg
Click to expand...

I also have a hard drive over 32GB formatted to FAT32. What's your point? Did I say anywhere it couldn't be done?
 
tau1z said:
Its actually very easy, format it with the mac as FAT32, and ur done.
Macdrive is also fairly straightforward to use, and if you are only going to use it once get the demo version. There is a performance loss when copying but who cares?

Its actually free...using macfuse.

Networking whilst being the most obvious is actually the hardest. if you are trying to copy off the MAC, you need to enable smb sharing on that account under sys prefs, you also need to get ur permissions right.
Click to expand...

Actually I use Linux to FAT32, simplest thing in the world. Though not for use with a Mac, I might add.
 
SlinkyMike said:
Jeez talk about stone age logic... I haven't had to think about this issue once in the last 5 years or more... next thing you'll want to know if x piece of hardware is: "IBM compatible."
Click to expand...

:erm: And your suggestion would be?
 
timgaul said:
:erm: And your suggestion would be?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I follow...?

I really cannot suggest anything that hasn't been suggested already, except to suggest that anyone who can ask how to copy files between two modern computer systems quite simply has not tried it, let alone made any attempt to educate themselves using 'the google'.
 
SlinkyMike said:
I'm not sure I follow...?

I really cannot suggest anything that hasn't been suggested already, except to suggest that anyone who can ask how to copy files between two modern computer systems quite simply has not tried it, let alone made any attempt to educate themselves using 'the google'.
Click to expand...

Then you haven't tried it or achieved it? You actually don't know how difficult it is to do?

People come here to ask advice I absolutely can't stand those individuals who tell you to "go Google it". If that's your answer then please refrain from posting.
 
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