Would I be able to transfer files from a mac to a PC without reformatting the HD
1510454
I have not done that but I see no reason you can't. When a disk is formatted it is optimized for the PC or Mac operating system but the files are not affected. My Rocstore has been a solid performer since it was installed but at the moment I am an all Mac operation.
301969
I re-read your question. It sounds like you want to use it on BOTH a MAC and a PC from interchangeably. One to do this which I am familiar with is to format the drive to FAT32. This makes it readable and writable by both mac and windows os...however there are file size limitations with FAT32...but as long as your files are smaller than a couple GB you should be good. There are other solutions....but would be best if you conduct the research yourself.
2167156
Since Mac and PC are different file structures and associations its not straight forward.you can go from PC(windows) to a Mac(running windows) or a Mac(windows programs) to a PC(windows).Anything else you'd need a 3rd party translation program. I don't know of any that are 100%.Even basic files like word documents don't always transfer properly from Mac to PC unless both do windows.
1132227
I plugged mine into my Mac via the USB and was able to transfer the files with no trouble.
1842683
I may not be understanding the question entirely, but once I formatted the drive to Mac, I could edit and save basic documents to the drive. But my pc treats it like a read only drive. Hope that helps.
900003
Edward, if you format the drive as NTFS, you would only be able to view its contents on a Mac. Writing to the drive would not be possible.
1765378
I am no expert but my experience is that you can format any drive to be compatible with MAC and PC by using the correct format.If using some MAC formats, the PC cannot recognize it and using a PC format my mac can read but not write.NTFS will work fine with both MAC and PC i.e. you can read and write from either
1024394
SATA or IDE can be connected and copied on to a temp location and transferred to Mac, I have 2 of my SATA hard drives one from desktop and the other from laptop Cheers!
1518709
There are some HD's out there now that can run both Mac and PC platforms but they have to be partitioned for each platform. I want to say Click Free has one like this now. The best thing is to inquire with the manufacture before purchasing one. Or have one for your PC and one for your Mac.
2079170
Yes. Just need to format it in a format thats appropriate for Windows. Like exFAT. There are some formats that will be read/write for both Mac/Window. These will be most versatile
1955090
Yes it will. It comes formatted as NTFS which is Windows only but it is very simple to reformat it to FAT32 on your Mac to make it work. Don't spend the extra money on the Mac specific drive. Search youtube for Reformatting a drive from NTFS to FAT32.
515165
I think yes, but to be safe I would partition the drive in two: one for bk ups from Mac and the other for the PC bkup. Perhaps get a bigger drive also given you are working off two computers.
186128
Yes. Drive comes formatted and can be recofnized by pc or mac. You could also reformat using Disk Utility if you choose
1370072
"Can I use it for switching back and forth between a Mac and a PC without reformatting?" - Only if you reformat with a filesystem that is compatible with both OSX and Windows."If so, does this remove the option to use Time Machine?" - Yes and no. Time Machine requires HFS+ filesystem, and Windows cannot read/write to HFS+. However, it is possible to partition the disk and have part of the disk using NTFS and the other part using HFS+.
1640290
The information I read said it can be used between PC and Mac computers without reformatting.
1499232
You just need to reformat your drive to HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) or some other format that allows for read/write access to your drive on MacOS. You can usually do this in Disk Utility on your Mac. If you are unfamiliar with reformatting Hard Drives try Googling for a How-to. It's not difficult. Just a warning in case you've already saved anything on you drive from a PC--reformatting will completely wipe any saved/existing data on that drive.
1573880
No. Simply plug in the drive and start copying files. It may be necessary to reformat the drive depending on your preferred file system (I reformat to "HFS+" for my Mac), but you absolutely do not to install software to use this. I believe both Judith and Vitalino are speaking of device drivers (on a Windows system), rather than the software included with the drive.