Question:
how to: use mac formatted HDD in windows?
Luke
2010-07-24 18:59:55 UTC
Can anyone guide me through the steps of accessing the files of a "Mac OSX Extended" harddrive in windows? Also, I can view my windows harddrive on the mac but cannot edit or delete files, it is readonly. How can I change the settings so that I can edit my windows files in a mac and do the same with the windows computer
Four answers:
2010-07-24 19:02:36 UTC
You'll need to buy software to let Windows write to HFS+ hard drives. Apple provides drivers for reading HFS+, but writing is pay-only.



In OS X, you can get free read/write support for NTFS, and you can try to enable native NTFS write, but it's decently buggy.
Just Wondering0001
2010-07-25 02:19:25 UTC
You'll have to deal with this problem on a different thought process than trying to find a compatible middle-ground compromised disk format.



You'll need to get hold of an emulator for each system that will let You handle the drives as a removable device. The Mac will run an emulator that will tell it how to read Windows hardware, and the coding will need to allow read/write usage while running the emulator.



As far as the Mac emulator to access the Win drive, I'm "just not a Mac kind of guy".



There should also be some emulators available for this though, and if You want to be positive You won't lose any data while testing all these emulators, You have 2 extra choices.



First = buy a cheap flashdrive for the USB port and test IT with both emulators after they're installed. If You can get IT to format and read/write in both, the haddrive should function fine.



Second = You should be able to install some kind of networking software / network connection between the two systems (Used to be a program/protocol LONG ago called SAMBA) and transfer the hard drive into a NAS case with power supply. This would allow the drives to be used as a "shared network drive" that can be read/written to between the 2 systems through their own hardware connections and if it's an NAS drive it will actually show up on both systems without being attached to either one directly.



They have them every so often but I buy my parts/etc from www.geeks.com for the NAS drive kit.





Good Luck!.
Mark
2010-07-25 02:03:02 UTC
Windows cannot write to HFS+ partition that Mac uses and Mac cannot write to NTFS partition that Windows uses.
aaronboeingfan
2010-07-25 02:04:41 UTC
The only filesystem that both OS X and Windows are fully compatible with is FAT32. you will have to backup and reformat the drives you are wanting to use between the two.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...