How do I get a Mac to write to a PC-formatted hard drive?
April 27, 2018 4:26 PM Subscribe
Is there an "easy" way to get an older MacBook (circa 2011) to write files to a PC external hard drive? I wanted to share some photo folders (that also contain a few video files), but the video files might be too big or something? Explain it to a 5yo, please. TIA.
Yes, if the drive you want to transfer to is formatted in FAT32, as is likely, then it can't accept files over 4GB. It's not a compatibility issue, a PC would have the same problem as well. The solution is to reformat the drive into something that can take larger files, or use a different drive.
The problem is that while PCs now use NTFS instead of FAT32, which can accept files up to stupidly large sizes, Macs can't write to NTFS drives. They can read it, but not write to it. And PCs can't deal with HFS+ at all. There are workarounds, but it's not pretty.
The best solution I've found is to format portable drives in exFAT, which can take very large files and is read/writeable by both types of systems. It's not the most modern filesystem, but goddammit it works.
This is 2018 and things should not still be this stupid, but there you go.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:55 PM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
The problem is that while PCs now use NTFS instead of FAT32, which can accept files up to stupidly large sizes, Macs can't write to NTFS drives. They can read it, but not write to it. And PCs can't deal with HFS+ at all. There are workarounds, but it's not pretty.
The best solution I've found is to format portable drives in exFAT, which can take very large files and is read/writeable by both types of systems. It's not the most modern filesystem, but goddammit it works.
This is 2018 and things should not still be this stupid, but there you go.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:55 PM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
If you use cmd-i, Get Info, on the drive in question, it should tell you the filesystem in there somewhere, I think. Either that or you can look at the information in Disk Utility.
posted by Alensin at 5:03 PM on April 27, 2018
posted by Alensin at 5:03 PM on April 27, 2018
My info might be old but the default OSX/MacOS can only read NTFS drives and not write to them.
In the past I have used Tuxera to mount NTFS-formatted drives on my mac (iMac 2008).
It has a free trial period, give it a shot.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:57 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
In the past I have used Tuxera to mount NTFS-formatted drives on my mac (iMac 2008).
It has a free trial period, give it a shot.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:57 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I'm just going to stand on the shoulders of the other posters and consolidate the advice.
1. With the external drive plugged into the Mac, use Cmd-I (Get Info) to determine the external drive's format, and its name.
2. If it's exFAT you're good. Copy your Mac-origin folders (aka "new stuff") to the external drive.
3. If it's NTFS, you need to figure out whether you can (or may) reformat the external drive.
3a. If that answer is No, then you're in for a longer slog. Look into using Tuxera, or transferring the files another way.
3b. If you are able to re-format the drive, go to step 4.
4. Copy all the contents of the external drive (aka "old stuff") to a new folder on your Mac. Check to make sure they're all OK before proceeding.
5. Use your Mac's Disk Utility program to reformat the external drive as exFAT. Give the volume the same name as the original one, to make things easier.
6. Copy the old stuff from its temporary home on the Mac back to the external drive.
7. Copy your new stuff from the Mac to the external drive.
posted by NumberSix at 8:06 PM on April 27, 2018
1. With the external drive plugged into the Mac, use Cmd-I (Get Info) to determine the external drive's format, and its name.
2. If it's exFAT you're good. Copy your Mac-origin folders (aka "new stuff") to the external drive.
3. If it's NTFS, you need to figure out whether you can (or may) reformat the external drive.
3a. If that answer is No, then you're in for a longer slog. Look into using Tuxera, or transferring the files another way.
3b. If you are able to re-format the drive, go to step 4.
4. Copy all the contents of the external drive (aka "old stuff") to a new folder on your Mac. Check to make sure they're all OK before proceeding.
5. Use your Mac's Disk Utility program to reformat the external drive as exFAT. Give the volume the same name as the original one, to make things easier.
6. Copy the old stuff from its temporary home on the Mac back to the external drive.
7. Copy your new stuff from the Mac to the external drive.
posted by NumberSix at 8:06 PM on April 27, 2018
Pay attention to step 4.
Make sure you get all files off the external drive before you reformat.
posted by bongo_x at 9:39 PM on April 27, 2018
Make sure you get all files off the external drive before you reformat.
posted by bongo_x at 9:39 PM on April 27, 2018
Best answer: A slightly simpler option, if the external drive is NTFS and you'd prefer to keep it that way, is a little app called Mounty. It enables write access to NTFS volumes on OSX, which is disabled by default (for reasons).
It's not perfect, but it's simpler than installing FUSE / Tuxera / etc. & works fine for occasional use. I've been using it on a couple of machines on and off for a couple of years, and the only problem I've ever encountered is with permissions / extended attributes from the OSX side e.g. although the disk will still be writable, individual files will sometimes appear to be read-only on OSX - but will be renamable / deletable from Windows.
posted by Pinback at 11:32 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's not perfect, but it's simpler than installing FUSE / Tuxera / etc. & works fine for occasional use. I've been using it on a couple of machines on and off for a couple of years, and the only problem I've ever encountered is with permissions / extended attributes from the OSX side e.g. although the disk will still be writable, individual files will sometimes appear to be read-only on OSX - but will be renamable / deletable from Windows.
posted by Pinback at 11:32 PM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks all! I believe I am dealing with an NTFS readable only (by the mac) HDD. I'll look into Mount.... (I don't really want to re-format this drive)
posted by mhh5 at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2018
posted by mhh5 at 5:42 PM on April 30, 2018
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posted by Making You Bored For Science at 4:42 PM on April 27, 2018