Question about external hard drives

[Dayvidpriddy]

Hello,

I am switching to a Mac (iMac) from Windows...I have had ENOUGH of Windows 8 and can't take it anymore.

I plan on purchasing a Time Capsule after I get my iMac at some point but until then I wanted to know how my Maxtor One Touch 4 (1TB) will work with the iMac? Or will it even work with the iMac? Currently I use the drive for just backup reasons (I manually backup my files-I don't use software to do it) nor would I do it that way with the iMac either...manual only/drag/drop that kinda thing.

If the drive will work with the iMac, do I have to reformat it first before the OS recognizes it or can I just plug it in and go? If I have to reformat it, I'm going to be in trouble because I have no other drive to use to get the data back onto the drive and then get that data onto my iMac.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[chscag]

You have two choices assuming you want to do manual backups: Leave the drive formatted as NTFS and purchase a driver which will allow the Mac to write to NTFS, or format the drive to the Mac standard file system - HFS+. Having said that, I highly recommend using the built in Time Machine backup application that ships with every Mac. External hard drives are inexpensive, treat yourself to a new one. ;D

 

[Dayvidpriddy]

Well I have no problem reformatting the drive for Mac but how can I get my data from the drive onto the Mac first? Will it let me copy the contents to the Mac before I format it or can it not even read the drive if it's in NTFS? I will buy the Time Capsule, I just can't swing it at the moment since I'm buying a Mac right now!

 

[chscag]

You can copy data from a NTFS formatted drive to a Mac but it may induce ownership and permissions problems. You just can't write to a NTFS formatted drive from a Mac without a special driver. Anyway, you're getting ahead of yourself. Why do you need an expensive Time Capsule? You can buy a 2 or 3 TB external hard drive for much less.

 

[Dayvidpriddy]

Well I wanted a Time Capsule because it was pretty, to go with my Mac Plus since I wanted to buy Apple's router I figured why not get 2 in 1?

 

[pigoo3]

Well I wanted a Time Capsule because it was pretty, to go with my Mac Plus since I wanted to buy Apple's router I figured why not get 2 in 1?

Time Capsules are very nice & easy to use (I have one). But as "chscag" mentioned…they are VERY expensive! I purchased mine used (much cheaper $$$)…that's why I have one.

- Nick