Need help on HFS+ vs NTFS

Hi to all,

I’m new a member to the forum and need some advice on Mac as I want to buy a new Mac machine MacBOOK Air 2012.


Basically I want to use the Mac machine for my personal use (browsing Net, downloads, media, itunes, ) and be able to download files in my mac machine and then be able to open these files in my windows machine.

Questions are:
1. How can I move my 3 TB data of movies and other data into HFS+ files format? I will buy a new Mac ready Hard drive to store the new data. Will there be any issues during the conversion especially some of the files are like 2 GB size. Should I just keep the files in the NTFS and that's it?
2. How can I be able later to read files from HFS+ format and be able to run movies on my windows 7 machine? Should I just
3. How is the Mac speed managing the photos and movies editing vs Windows? My windows machine with Intel Core i7 and 8GB RAM gets freeze frequently when trying to copy files from one drive to another. Will I face the same in Mac?
4- MY main uses for this PC is video editing and basic photo managmeent (plus borwosing and file management). Do I need to get MAcBOOK Pro with separate video card or the interl Graphic car with the the new Air is adequate?

I appreciate your feedback.

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on your new MBA.

I can only answer 1. and 2. since I'm also a newbie.
1. No problem transferring files from NTFS to HTFS(MAC).
2. On your external HD, if you will format it to HTFS windows can't read then unless you use third party app. So basically win can't read mac format. You can format to FAT32 using your MAC so windows and mac can read/write on it. Click here for more info. Read carefully on the FAT32 format notes.

The rest of your question will be answered by our experts in this forum.

LANZ

Welcome to the forums

Engineer20 said:

Questions are:
1. How can I move my 3 TB data of movies and other data into HFS+ files format? I will buy a new Mac ready Hard drive to store the new data. Will there be any issues during the conversion especially some of the files are like 2 GB size. Should I just keep the files in the NTFS and that's it?

Click to expand...

NTFS and HFS+ are file systems. They don't change the files stored on them. But there are limitations of how drives are used.
For Background: OSX can natively read and write HFS+ and FAT32 but only Read NTFS
Windows can read/write NTFS and Fat32 but cannot read or write HFS+
NB: when you talk in terms of file size limitations only FAT32 need concern you. To use that no single file can be >4gb in size.

So long as the OS has support for the file system in use files can be transported back and forth at will

2. How can I be able later to read files from HFS+ format and be able to run movies on my windows 7 machine? Should I just keep the files in the NTFS and that's it?

Click to expand...

On the back of the above info I'd invest in Paragon NTFS (this is <$20). It enables OSX to read and write to NTFS formatted drives. It's cheaper (and in my opinion) more robust than MacDrive that lets windows read/write HFS.
This way you can keep your external formatted as NTFS and use it for both Mac and Windows without issue.

3. How is the Mac speed managing the photos and movies editing vs Windows? My windows machine with Intel Core i7 and 8GB RAM gets freeze frequently when trying to copy files from one drive to another. Will I face the same in Mac?

Click to expand...

You shouldn't encounter any file copy issues on OSX. But then you shouldn't on Windows either. If you are it's a symptom of an issue. Now whether that's an issue on the external drive or your Windows install is hard to say without further investigation.

4- MY main uses for this PC is video editing and basic photo management (plus browsing and file management). Do I need to get MacBook Pro with separate video card or the intel Graphics card or is the new Air is adequate?

Click to expand...

The MacBook Air is a very competent machine and will fulfill all those functions. The question I'd ask is - Is video editing a primary, often used, function? I.e. not just 2 minute you tube stuff . . . . If so I'd suggest the MacBook Pro and a good sized external USB3, Firewire800 or thunderbolt Hard disk drive for storage.

CebuCity; mrplow;
Thank you so much for the reply

mrplow,
The one I was asking about is actually when Im editing a video or watching an HD movied 1080p, my PC (which doesn't have a separate graphics card). So, the PC freezes multiple times. So do I expect similar thing on Mac?
For the video, I don't only watch youtube but I edit large video files (HD movies 1080p). So will I need a graphics card for that or the Air with the embedded Intel Graphics Card should be adequate for editing these movies? NB I don't watch or play games on my Mac, just editing movies. On my previous desktop windows machine I had to add a graphics card on top of the Intel Core i5.
Thanks for answering that.

Modern video editing packages do use the GPU power alongside the standard CPU. But that's just one element. Video editing pushes pretty much every component of a machine.

While the Air WILL work. I would say that if 1080 video editing is a significant part of what you use the machine for then the MacBook pro (which, model dependent, has better specs across the board) is the more informed choice and will give you a better editing experience.
Not only that I'd suggest that a 15" is going to be off greater benefit too. Ideally with the high res screen option but even the 1440x900 res on a 15" vs a 13" is arguably going to be easier on the eye.
But from that perspective I'd suggest a trip to a store to compare for yourself.

mrplow,
thanks a lot for this feedback. I think I will buy the 13" Air with 8GB RAM, 256 GB disk and use it for awhile since this is my first Mac plus ultra-portability is a must.
Thanks for you feedback..