Transfer files from Windows 7 to mac only formatted external hard drive

[SeanMF]

Been working on my media server setup. My problem now is I downloaded a bunch of files to my work laptop that has windows 7. It won't recognize my mac formatted ext. hard drive without formatting it. FAT32 is recognizable by windows/mac but won't allow for file transfers over 4gb. So I need a cloud storage that will allow for file uploads over 4gb (few I looked at only did 1-2tb) or someway to transfer the files among networks from windows 7 to my mac mini. If I can do the network thing that would work best. I'll just take the work laptop home but now so sure how easier/difficult it would be. Or if there is software (I tried macdrive but that didn't work...recognized the ext. hard drive but wouldn't allow for any file transfers) or other way let me know. Just trying to get some ideas on the best way to go about this without losing my 20 or so media files (each around 2-5gb).

[brettallica]

This is a very common situation. I think your best bet, if you want something super-easy and quick, is to invest in something like MacDrive if the files are that important and are already on your external drive. MacDrive has a free trial, too.

Obviously, if you have networking capabilities and can hook up your external drive and turn it into a share over the network, that would be pretty easy as well (this is still assuming that you have files on your external). You need more things to get that to work, though, and it takes a little more savvy.

If all you're doing is moving/copying files from a Windows 7 system to a Mac, then that's really easy. If you've got a decent network setup, this process will actually be quite painless to get the files from one computer to the other, and you won't even need an external drive. All you need to do in this case is share the folder(s) whose files you want to transfer to your Mini, and then be sure to set the permissions/security for others to access that/those folder(s). Pretty easy, really.

[SeanMF]

Originally Posted by brettallica

This is a very common situation. I think your best bet, if you want something super-easy and quick, is to invest in something like MacDrive if the files are that important and are already on your external drive. MacDrive has a free trial, too.

Obviously, if you have networking capabilities and can hook up your external drive and turn it into a share over the network, that would be pretty easy as well (this is still assuming that you have files on your external). You need more things to get that to work, though, and it takes a little more savvy.

If all you're doing is moving/copying files from a Windows 7 system to a Mac, then that's really easy. If you've got a decent network setup, this process will actually be quite painless to get the files from one computer to the other, and you won't even need an external drive. All you need to do in this case is share the folder(s) whose files you want to transfer to your Mini, and then be sure to set the permissions/security for others to access that/those folder(s). Pretty easy, really.

I tried Macdrive. It recognized the external hard drive but wouldn't show the files or let me even copy the files I wanted to it. I figured just hooking my work laptop to my network and enable sharing on everything would be the route to go. I'll bring the laptop to my place this weekend and see if I can figure it out. Thanks.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by SeanMF

I tried Macdrive. It recognized the external hard drive but wouldn't show the files or let me even copy the files I wanted to it. I figured just hooking my work laptop to my network and enable sharing on everything would be the route to go. I'll bring the laptop to my place this weekend and see if I can figure it out. Thanks.

No problem. If you can do the network thing and have a gigabit ethernet setup at your house, the file transfer rate will be really fast and the whole process shouldn't take you too long. Try to keep everything hardwired if possible. You'll see the best transfer speeds that way.

[Hammie]

Sorry that I am late to the party, but the networking would be the easiest.

I do have a couple questions if this has not been resolved already. Is your external hard drive a USB or Ethernet version? Can you modify the work computer Ethernet preferences? What type of files are you trying to move? How big are each file?

Options would include:

- Connecting work laptop to home network and do a file sharing session to transfer.
- If capable, connect external hard to network so all computers can see it.
- This is a suckt option, but get an 8 or 16GB USB thumb drive to transfer files. (I do this all the time between my work Windows computer and my home Mac laptop.)
- This is even a suckier option, but you could e-mail them to yourself if they are not too big.
- Just re-download them onto your home computer.

Hope this helps if you have not already resolved this issue.

[onyxbfly]

All are great suggestions and the quickest would be to transfer via network. Here is an app that I have used in the past and I was able to get it done. http://www.acutesystems.com/scrtm.htm

HTH

[PS3-Playb3yond]

Originally Posted by Hammie

Sorry that I am late to the party, but the networking would be the easiest.

I do have a couple questions if this has not been resolved already. Is your external hard drive a USB or Ethernet version? Can you modify the work computer Ethernet preferences? What type of files are you trying to move? How big are each file?

Options would include:

- Connecting work laptop to home network and do a file sharing session to transfer.
- If capable, connect external hard to network so all computers can see it.
- This is a suckt option, but get an 8 or 16GB USB thumb drive to transfer files. (I do this all the time between my work Windows computer and my home Mac laptop.)
- This is even a suckier option, but you could e-mail them to yourself if they are not too big.
- Just re-download them onto your home computer.

Hope this helps if you have not already resolved this issue.

I agree. These are the first things I would try.

I don't have a Mac and I don't know what files are compatible with it, some files may show and some may not.

[SeanMF]

Here is what I did:

I setup sharing on windows 7. I then put the video files in the public video folder. From there on the mac menu bar under the go tab I selected "connect to server". I typed in the ip address of my windows computer (go to command prompt and type in "ipconfig" to get the ip address). From there I went to the public video folder and transferred over the video files to my mac with ease. This is the easiest route to do. A lot of the other options just didn't work that I explored.

http://macs.about.com/od/filesharing...ow-leopard.htm

[PS3-Playb3yond]

That's basically file sharing. I don't think Mac has Homegroup and all that like Win7 does so they wouldn't be able to talk to each other that way.

[SeanMF]

Originally Posted by PS3-Playb3yond

That's basically file sharing. I don't think Mac has Homegroup and all that like Win7 does so they wouldn't be able to talk to each other that way.

I transferred about 50 video files that ranged from 1-4gb in size doing it the way I mentioned.