External HDD (NTFS) on mac

Andr3w

Andr3w

Andr3w

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Hi,

I've recently upgraded to my first mbp (13") and I am in the process of transferring things over to it from my external HDD. The problem is I am wanting to put files on the HDD/Mac that are over 4GB.

I have recently found out that since the mac is FAT32 it won't support writing to an NTFS format.

Is there anything I can do about this? It's really...really annoying :(
 
Mac's aren't natively FAT32. OS X uses Apple's own file system called HFS Plus. Files of 4GB+ are no problem.

OS X will read but not write to NTFS.

If in doubt reformat the external HDD to NTFS so you can move the files across that you need. You will however lose all the files on the drive...
 
It's ok I will backup my hdd using a friends hdd. Format it to NTFS and use it that way.

But....will that mean I won't be able to copy anything over to my external HDD from my mac :(?
 
I am a little confused with your post :confused: are you wanting to write from the mac to the NTFS drive or the NTFS to the mac?

If you want to write to the NTFS drive you need the programs as mentioned above.
 
It will be both. Sorry i'm abit tired and have been lazy with my post!

I currently have about 200GB on my mac that I took off my external HDD so I could turn my external to NTFS (it was fat32 for some reason) as I want to put files greater than 4GB onto my external.

I will be transferring from and to my external NTFS drive.
 
well with big files i agree you will want to keep the external drive as NTFS, but yes the mac can only read NTFS.

I have MacFuse and NTFS-3G on my iMac and it allows me to to send files to and from my pc over the network and an external drive.


Like flip4mac both the programs run in the background and sit in the system preferences but give you native read and write functions to a mounted NTFS drive.
 
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Okie dokie. I'm new to mac and although I can use windows with my eyes shut I don't really understand what you mean. I will just get macfuse and ntfs-3g (i'm guessing they are freeware?) and try figure something out
 
Yeh they are both freeware just install them and it should just all work for you. I hope!

Your with me when I say Macs can mount and read from an NTFS drive but cannot write to it? Well by installing those two progs your mac will be able to write to the NTFS drive.
 
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Ah okie, i've found them and downloaded (what i believe to be the newest versions) of them.

Any reason I need to use both these programs, the way I see it I though ntfs-3g was the one that allows you to read/write?
 
That is a good question :p When I first used them I had to instal both and have left them on since. So don't know if new updates have made one or the other redundant but I know I can mount and write with my iMac as it is.
 
Fair enough, I will try just the ntfs one - if that doesn't work I will try the other :p

Do they run all the time in the background? I'm guessing they don't take up much resources?
 
ichabod crane said:
Yeh they are both freeware just install them and it should just all work for you. I hope!

Your with me when I say Macs can mount and read from an NTFS drive but cannot write to it? Well by installing those two progs your mac will be able to write to the NTFS drive.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Andr3w said:
Fair enough, I will try just the ntfs one - if that doesn't work I will try the other :p

Do they run all the time in the background? I'm guessing they don't take up much resources?
Click to expand...

You wont notice them running at all. From a google you need both as MacFuse is the Code and NTFS-3G is the Fuse, which means nothing to me tho :p
 
I'll simplify (and Windowsify this) this a little so it makes more sense.

MacFUSE is the interface (API) that lets OS X apps use the NTFS files. NTFS-3G is the driver.

You basically need both. Tuxera who offer the NTFS-3G for free also do a paid for version. Other paid for alternatives include a similar product by Paragon.
 
MagicBoy said:
I'll simplify (and Windowsify this) this a little so it makes more sense.

MacFUSE is the interface (API) that lets OS X apps use the NTFS files. NTFS-3G is the driver.

You basically need both. Tuxera who offer the NTFS-3G for free also do a paid for version. Other paid for alternatives include a similar product by Paragon.
Click to expand...

Thanks :cool:
 
I've installed them :D

I now have an NTFS file system on my external HDD and i can read/write to it :D
 
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