PC External Drive Compatibility

My MacBook Pro replaced a HP laptop. I still used the HP to occasionally access an external drive attached to it that I used for backup and off-loading files. Now the HP motherboard has died and the repair cost is simply not practical.

My question relates to the compatibility of that external drive to my Mac. Something tells me I cannot just plug it into the Mac and access the files as I did with the HP. Is that correct or not? If correct, what would I need to do to make those files accessible on my Mac?

Rick

I assume you are talking about a USB drive. You should just be able to plug it in and read the files. If you want to write to the drive, it would have to already be formatted FAT32. I believe a Mac can read NTFS drives, but not write to them.

Of course, you would also have to have programs on the Mac that could deal with the files. If they were Microsoft Office type files you could use Libre Office or Microsoft Office For Mac. If they are programs, you are probably out of luck.

Rick T said:

My question relates to the compatibility of that external drive to my Mac. Something tells me I cannot just plug it into the Mac and access the files as I did with the HP. Is that correct or not?

Click to expand...

The simple answer is...just plug the drive into your Mac...and see what you can see.

Rick T said:

If correct, what would I need to do to make those files accessible on my Mac?

Click to expand...

Assuming the drive is formatted in a format a Mac can read...and if we're talking photos, videos, music, MS Office files, Adobe app files, etc...most or all of these should be readable.

But depending on the applications these files were created with (and the specific versions of those apps)...you may or may not be able to open them on your Mac if the app. versions are majorly different.

- Nick

Thanks, Bob and Nick. It all makes sense to me.

Rick

Awesome Rick!

If at some point you have removed/copied all of the important items off that external drive...you could reformat it into the "Mac Format"...and officially make it an "external Mac HD".

But I also understand that the drive may have a bunch of "legacy" Windows items on it.

- Nick

If you find it to be NTFS and you don't want to reformat because you'll lose what is on it then I recommend ParagonNTFS to be able to read AND write to it with OSX. Lots of folks here use it.