Can I recover data from a Mac hard drive to a PC

drakew · drakew #1 (**permalink**)

11-19-2011, 12:43 AM

My mothers iMac (model A1173) recently took a power hit and died (black screen, power button is nonfunctional...dead). She had docs etc. on it that she would prefer not to lose, and I'm sure that the hard drive is still
completely operational. She has decided (due to limited $$) not to risk the price of the power supply and so is buying a replacement, either PC (again $$) or a refurbished Mac. Either way I would like to pull her old hard drive and recover the data.
Is it possible to hook the drive to my PC and read it? I know Macs have different formatting, but are there programs that would allow this?
I think recovery facilities are expensive, so we would greatly appreciate any other suggestions for how I can retrieve her data.

milessthomas · milessthomas #2 (**permalink**)

11-19-2011, 01:06 AM

*Deleted incorrect information*

You could also use the program MacDrive to make the hard drive writeable from windows 7/XP.

milessthomas · milessthomas #3 (**permalink**)

11-19-2011, 01:07 AM

Here's a list of a quick search for hard drive enclosures from Newegg.

Newegg.com - sata hard drive enclosure

chas_m · chas_m #4 (**permalink**)

11-19-2011, 06:24 AM

miles: unless something HUGE has changed VERY recently, your info is 100% wrong. Windows PCs *cannot* read mac-formatted drives AT ALL without third-party software such as the one you mentioned.

I'd be happy to be wrong about this, but I don't think I am.

milessthomas · milessthomas #5 (**permalink**)

11-19-2011, 12:42 PM

Well that's my mistake then, I guess I didn't realize that the bootcamp drivers were what let me read files from my OS X partition. I've updated my post to make it correct.

The OP still could buy and install MacDrive 9...sorry I don't know of a free option.

chscag · chscag #6 (**permalink**)

11-19-2011, 02:43 PM

I believe the current version of Paragon NTFS also includes a driver which will allow reading HFS from a Windows machine. But not free. $19.95

chas_m · chas_m #7 (**permalink**)

03-19-2012, 02:22 AM

[the need for the original text of this message has vanished with the spam message that was above this]

Ctrl-Opt-Del · Ctrl-Opt-Del #8 (**permalink**)

03-19-2012, 08:49 AM

A theoretical suggestion, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work and/or not be legal:

If the OP's mother still has the install disks for her iMac could the OP use the Boot Camp drivers from it on a PC to access the HFS+ partitioned HDD, or are those drivers like OS X itself & only licenced for use on an Apple-branded computer?

louishen · louishen #9 (**permalink**)

03-19-2012, 09:23 AM

Your best bet is to hook it up to the PC with a hard drive enclose.

A windows PC will not be able to read the disk format, however.......

If you boot the PC with an Ubuntu live CD, or create a smallish Ubuntu partition on the pC (which is easy to do when installing Ubuntu), then Ubuntu will be able to read the disk.

You may have to alter the permissions on the disk in Ubuntu but we can cross that bridge when we come to it.

milessthomas #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 28, 2007 Location: Outer Banks, NC Posts: 763 Mac Specs: MBP 3.06Ghz, MBP 2.2Ghz, Mini G4, B/W G3 (Media Server), Toshiba Laptop, LCII, Beige G3	11-19-2011, 01:06 AM Deleted incorrect information You could also use the program MacDrive to make the hard drive writeable from windows 7/XP. Last edited by milessthomas; 11-19-2011 at 12:40 PM. Reason: Deleted incorrect information.
	QUOTE Thanks

chas_m #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 22, 2010 Location: Victoria, BC Posts: 13,705 Mac Specs: 2009 MacBook Pro, Black speakers, Black Benq second monitor, black iPhone 4, Black 2012 iPad, etc.	11-19-2011, 06:24 AM miles: unless something HUGE has changed VERY recently, your info is 100% wrong. Windows PCs cannot read mac-formatted drives AT ALL without third-party software such as the one you mentioned. I'd be happy to be wrong about this, but I don't think I am. Cheers, chas_m -- My essay for switchers and newbies
	QUOTE Thanks

chscag #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,032 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	11-19-2011, 02:43 PM I believe the current version of Paragon NTFS also includes a driver which will allow reading HFS from a Windows machine. But not free. $19.95 Community Guidelines
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chas_m #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 22, 2010 Location: Victoria, BC Posts: 13,705 Mac Specs: 2009 MacBook Pro, Black speakers, Black Benq second monitor, black iPhone 4, Black 2012 iPad, etc.	03-19-2012, 02:22 AM [the need for the original text of this message has vanished with the spam message that was above this] Cheers, chas_m -- My essay for switchers and newbies Last edited by chas_m; 03-19-2012 at 02:28 AM.
	QUOTE Thanks

Ctrl-Opt-Del #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 14, 2011 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, England, GB Posts: 254 Mac Specs: Not got one, yet...	03-19-2012, 08:49 AM A theoretical suggestion, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work and/or not be legal: If the OP's mother still has the install disks for her iMac could the OP use the Boot Camp drivers from it on a PC to access the HFS+ partitioned HDD, or are those drivers like OS X itself & only licenced for use on an Apple-branded computer? For my purposes as an engineering undergraduate; Windows is respectable (& generally necessary), Linux is admirable (& often useful), OS X is enjoyable (& requires no further justification, although plenty could be given)!
	QUOTE Thanks

Can I recover data from a Mac hard drive to a PC

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drakew #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 19, 2011 Posts: 1	11-19-2011, 12:43 AM My mothers iMac (model A1173) recently took a power hit and died (black screen, power button is nonfunctional...dead). She had docs etc. on it that she would prefer not to lose, and I'm sure that the hard drive is still completely operational. She has decided (due to limited $$) not to risk the price of the power supply and so is buying a replacement, either PC (again $$) or a refurbished Mac. Either way I would like to pull her old hard drive and recover the data. Is it possible to hook the drive to my PC and read it? I know Macs have different formatting, but are there programs that would allow this? I think recovery facilities are expensive, so we would greatly appreciate any other suggestions for how I can retrieve her data.
	QUOTE Thanks

milessthomas #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 28, 2007 Location: Outer Banks, NC Posts: 763 Mac Specs: MBP 3.06Ghz, MBP 2.2Ghz, Mini G4, B/W G3 (Media Server), Toshiba Laptop, LCII, Beige G3	11-19-2011, 12:42 PM Well that's my mistake then, I guess I didn't realize that the bootcamp drivers were what let me read files from my OS X partition. I've updated my post to make it correct. The OP still could buy and install MacDrive 9...sorry I don't know of a free option.
	QUOTE Thanks

louishen #9 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 22, 2007 Location: London Posts: 8,656 Mac Specs: Mac Mini Core i7 2012 \| White 2009 MacBook 2 Ghz \| 733 Mhz G4 Quicksilver	03-19-2012, 09:23 AM Your best bet is to hook it up to the PC with a hard drive enclose. A windows PC will not be able to read the disk format, however....... If you boot the PC with an Ubuntu live CD, or create a smallish Ubuntu partition on the pC (which is easy to do when installing Ubuntu), then Ubuntu will be able to read the disk. You may have to alter the permissions on the disk in Ubuntu but we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Member of the Month September 2008 & August 2012 \| Found advice useful? – use the rep system
	QUOTE Thanks

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