The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    New to Mac, just a question

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Pandah, Apr 17, 2010.

  1. Pandah

    Pandah Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I'm willing to purchase my first Macbook Pro, but I have one huge question mark in mind: Will I get to access all my data on my NTFS-formated external hard drives? If so, how, is it natively supported with Mac OS X?

    I tried reading the Mac Switchers Guide but my 'issue' wasn't covered.
     
    Pandah, Apr 17, 2010
    #1
  2. assisterah

    assisterah Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    91
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    It‘s read only.
    You cannot copy any files to the Drive. But you can copy it down from the drive to your mac computer.
     
    assisterah, Apr 17, 2010
    #2
  3. Pandah

    Pandah Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    So I can have another 'Mac'-formated drive to move all my files over, one at a time? Or is there any other way?

    I've been trying to figure out MacDrive.
     
    Pandah, Apr 17, 2010
    #3
  4. blue68f100

    blue68f100 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,020
    Messages:
    3,439
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    There is a NTSF extension that can be added so OSX can read and write NTSF. Without the ext you will have read only. Apple can RW Fat32 as native.

    You can use a File sysc program or FTP to copy your files over.
     
    blue68f100, Apr 17, 2010
    #4
  5. Pandah

    Pandah Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    No simple/easier way it can be done?
     
    Pandah, Apr 17, 2010
    #5
  6. ajreynol

    ajreynol Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    941
    Messages:
    2,555
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    no. not that I've ever heard of.

    do what you have to do.
     
    ajreynol, Apr 17, 2010
    #6
  7. blargh.blargh.blargh

    blargh.blargh.blargh Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    51
    Messages:
    125
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The easiest way would be to attach the NTFS formatted disks to another PC or laptop then enable Windows file sharing.

    Your new mac can easily be configured to access Windows file shares through your network.
     
    blargh.blargh.blargh, Apr 18, 2010
    #7
  8. mindinversion

    mindinversion Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    64
    Messages:
    515
    Likes Received:
    83
    Trophy Points:
    41
    mindinversion, Apr 18, 2010
    #8
  9. snork

    snork Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    27
    Messages:
    435
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    snork, Apr 18, 2010
    #9
  10. beige

    beige Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    105
    Messages:
    779
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    best software out there , just install and enjoy , but it'll cost ya :S
    http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
    40$

    the problem with FAT32 is the max file size 4gb is too small some times i get DVD ISOs (4gb +) from friends that i ll need to burn them or access them
     
    beige, Apr 18, 2010
    #10
  11. Pandah

    Pandah Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I don't mind paying for the app. Read about Tuxera too.
     
    Pandah, Apr 18, 2010
    #11
  12. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    if your switching, you can just copy everything off your external drive, then reformat it to HFS+, then use it that way. If your just adding a mac and you still want the hard drive to be read/write to a Windows machine, then adding NTFS read/write support via 3rd party programs is the best way to go.
     
    doh123, Apr 18, 2010
    #12
  13. Pandah

    Pandah Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Yeah, I've thought of that too, thanks!
     
    Pandah, Apr 18, 2010
    #13