New to macbook pro

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Couple of questions.
1. I have an external harddrive that has all my STUFF on it, music etc, How can I get my Mac to read this so I can transfer these over?
2. I can't think of the other one, lol, so only the first one for now haha
 
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First off welcome to the forums. :)

I'm assuming that your external HD is formatted in Windows NTFS? Macs can read that format but can't write to it without using addition software. Apple probably anticipated all the Windows switchers by adding this function so try just plugging in your external HD and copy all the files you want over to your Mac. It should work.

It's even easier if your external is formatted to FAT32 because Macs can read and write to that format without special software. Just keep in mind that any Windows specific files such as .exe files can't be used on your Mac but generic universal files like MP3, etc can be used on both Mac and Windows.

When you think of the second question then feel free to ask it but let me anticipate the answer by saying...yes, no, and there are sometimes exceptions to the rules. Hopefully that will answer any pending question. ;)
 
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Yeah it most likely is NTFS.
I plugged it in to my mac, and it didn't show up, so Idk how to get the files off.
As for the FAT32, i dont know if it is in that format or not.
I formatted the drive straight in My Computer and have just been using it like that lol.
I'm not that computer savvy in that way, Which is why ill be taking computer engineering next year haha
 

Raz0rEdge

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OK..you probably started using this external drive when your Windows computer and since OS X is failing to see it, it's most likely formatted in NTFS..

Snow Leopard has native support to read/write NTFS filesystems, but you need to enable it.

Just a pointer, being vague doesn't usually get you good and useful responses, when in doubt always provide MORE information than less. What kind of Mac? What kind of external harddrive? How are you connecting it to the Mac? What version of OSX are you running?

Regards
 
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OK..you probably started using this external drive when your Windows computer and since OS X is failing to see it, it's most likely formatted in NTFS..

Snow Leopard has native support to read/write NTFS filesystems, but you need to enable it.

Just a pointer, being vague doesn't usually get you good and useful responses, when in doubt always provide MORE information than less. What kind of Mac? What kind of external harddrive? How are you connecting it to the Mac? What version of OSX are you running?

Regards

yes i did start using it with my windows computer... which was xp
and i dont know how to follow that guide... im a newb at that **** -_-
i didnt know what information to give..
macbook pro
its a harddrive out of a desktop ..
connecting it thru usb
and im running 10.6
 
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If you still have your Windows computer then you can plug the external into that and in Windows right click your external and go to properties to see what format it is. You might not have formatted it correctly in Windows. Go to Windows XP: Format backup drives with NTFS to make sure you formatted corrrectly.

Are you just trying to transfer your files from your Windows computer to your Mac or do you no longer have your Windows computer and your external HD is the only thing that has your files? There could be a problem with the enclosure you put your external into.

Also since you said you are not that computer savvy you can download NTFS Mounter to enable writing to NTFS instead of messing around in the Terminal. Snow Leopard 10.6 can read NTFS without any help but you might as well try NTFS mounter and see if that works.
 
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If you still have your Windows computer then you can plug the external into that and in Windows right click your external and go to properties to see what format it is. You might not have formatted it correctly in Windows. Go to Windows XP: Format backup drives with NTFS to make sure you formatted corrrectly.

Are you just trying to transfer your files from your Windows computer to your Mac or do you no longer have your Windows computer and your external HD is the only thing that has your files? There could be a problem with the enclosure you put your external into.

Also since you said you are not that computer savvy you can download NTFS Mounter to enable writing to NTFS instead of messing around in the Terminal. Snow Leopard 10.6 can read NTFS without any help but you might as well try NTFS mounter and see if that works.

If I didn't have it formatted right, it wouldn't work in my windows computer either would it..
I have my windows computer still, but the files are on my external.
I'm just trying to get my files onto my mac, not use it as backup or anything.
The external HD is the only thing that has my files.
If I want to backup, I think I'm best to get a TimeMachine.
 
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Well you said you took the drive from a desktop so it might have already been formatted and might have worked in Windows without you doing a proper reformat to erase the drive. Anyway that's probably not your problem. Have you tried NTFS mounter yet?

Also is your external HD enclosure case self powered or USB powered? You should also copy your files back to your Windows computer so that you have at least two copies of your files. This way if something happens to your external you won't lose your files.

Lastly when you plugged it into your Mac did it show up in Disk Utility? If you have never used Disk Utility you can find it in your Applications folder.
 
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Well you said you took the drive from a desktop so it might have already been formatted and might have worked in Windows without you doing a proper reformat to erase the drive. Anyway that's probably not your problem. Have you tried NTFS mounter yet?

Also is your external HD enclosure case self powered or USB powered? You should also copy your files back to your Windows computer so that you have at least two copies of your files. This way if something happens to your external you won't lose your files.

Lastly when you plugged it into your Mac did it show up in Disk Utility? If you have never used Disk Utility you can find it in your Applications folder.

Oh, I did format it when I took it from the desktop.
No I didn't try that, because I don't need to write to it, I might when I want to start using Time Machine.
The enclosure is self powered.
I don't want to use the netbook anymore, I might sell it or give it away to my brother.
I plugged the external in again, and it showed up on the desktop(or dashboard w/e the main screen lol)
So it worked
I just need to know where to put my ringtones and apps, i cant seem to find the right folder on my mac...-_-
 
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So it seems there was just a faulty connection. That can happen with some enclosures that aren't well built.

If you can't find a "correct" folder then you can just create a new folder to put your files in. I put all my files in the Documents folder with plenty of sub-folders to organize my files into separate sections. It's kind of a habit that carried over from my Windows days.

Before the days of Time Machine it made manual backups to an external HD easy because all I had to do was copy my Documents folder and I had all my files backed up except for installed software applications and Mac OS system files. It eliminated the need to search for all my files/folders I wanted to backup. Speaking of Time Machine you should use it for backup or at least something but Time Machine makes it very easy and painless to backup all your files on your Mac.
 
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what does time machine do exactly?
yeah it must've been a faulty connection.
And if i make a new folder, then iTunes will have the one i made, plus itll put it in its own folder once its in itunes wont it ?
 
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For a quick overview of Time Machine read this: Apple - Mac OS X - What is Mac OS X - Time Machine. Basically Time Machine is Apple's free built in backup software.

As for the ringtones and apps I was thinking you were talking about something else for some reason. Sorry about that. I'm assuming you are talking about your iPhone? I don't know for sure but I believe iTunes will automatically backup your files from your iPhone when connecting to a new computer. You might want to wait for an answer from someone who knows for sure because I don't own an iPhone or try doing a Google search. I don't know if you can just manually transfer the files over.
 
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i got it anyways, lol.
Yeah i have the iPhone 4
thanks for the help anyways
 

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