Help me get Mac files off of a CD on Windows.

April 6, 2010 5:49 PM

Is it possible to copy a the mac formated files off of a dual formatted CD?

I have a CD that has both Windows and MAC files on it, I'd like to copy the MAC files off to put on a file server. What can be done on a Windows PC to make this happen?

posted by TuxHeDoh to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

MacDrive. There's a trial version that may let you get the files you need w/o buying the product. There's a size limitation to what it will let you copy in the trial.
posted by birdherder at 6:08 PM on April 6, 2010

Huh? Mac file formats are pretty much the same as PC file formats, and the CD formats are similar as well. Most current Mac CD burning software burns in a universal format. What is unique about this CD that you need special help reading it? Sometimes you get a Mac partition that PCs can read, but it has special Mac directory files that you can ignore (like .DS_Store). Those files often start with a period, so they're sometimes called "dot files." The leading period just means those files are invisible when viewed on a mac. You can ignore dot files on a PC.

The ultimate repository of crossplatform Mac/PC tricks and tips is MacWindows. If we can't help you, I'm sure there's a tip on the MacWindows site that will work.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:24 PM on April 6, 2010

charlie don't surf: the OP may be dealing with a hybrid disc. If so, booting into Linux might allow you to mount the Mac partition.
posted by teraflop at 7:10 PM on April 6, 2010

Response by poster: MacDrive worked after rebooting. Although my mac-fu is non-existent.

I have a folder that says Install.app and another Install.app folder and then a Contents folder. Within that - Installer Data, MacOS, Resources - The goal is to get this stuff on a webserver for folks to download and install.... Any suggestions?
posted by TuxHeDoh at 7:17 PM on April 6, 2010

On a Mac, apps and their supporting files are in special folder of the same name. So in your case, the outermost "Install.app" folder is what you want. A Mac user will see that folder as an App rather than a folder.

Hybrid CD. Haven't seen those in years, most recent discs I've received have a Windows folder (or folders for various versions) and a Mac folder (or folders for various versions) and kept the disc formatting standard. As a Mac user, I hate hybrid CDs since they mount twice on the desktop and it sometimes isn't clear which version is the one I want.
posted by birdherder at 7:58 PM on April 6, 2010

It's been many many years since I've seen a hybrid disc with two partitions, one PC and one Mac. The last time I saw anything like that, it was some sort of Macromedia Director multimedia CDROM presentations with a tiny Mac partition that contained the "Projector" that accessed data from the PC partition. Man, when was that common, must have been like 1992 or so? I forgot they even existed, although I've created a few myself, back in the day. Suddenly, I feel old.

Anyway, Tux wants to set up webserver delivery of the install stuff. I personally would go use a modern Mac to create a Mac zip file of the program folder directly from the CD. I wouldn't make the zip on a PC as the Mac zip app has a special ability to preserve certain Mac attributes that the PC zip wouldn't. Let's not get into the techie details unless you care to.
posted by charlie don't surf at 8:12 PM on April 6, 2010

Response by poster: cds - any suggestions if I don't have access to a mac?
posted by TuxHeDoh at 5:50 AM on April 7, 2010

Gee, I'm not sure, I'm a Mac geek, I never had to try this stuff without a Mac available. Or several Macs available. I mean, really, the obvious solution here is to go find a Mac. I can't believe that is so difficult.

I'm not sure what you're really dealing with here, so it's hard to guess what you should do to preserve the integrity of the files for online distribution. But I'm curious enough that I'd look at it for you, if you wanted to send it my way, like maybe rip an .ISO and transmit the disc image to me. I have various Macs with OS versions back to System 6. I'm sure that means nothing to you if you're a linux guy, but basically, I'm pretty sure I could deal with any Mac CD format going back to about 1988. I don't remember if we even used CDs for distros in 1988, seems like that was the 3.5in floppy era.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:09 PM on April 7, 2010