Can I backup data from a Mac HD via a Windows PC?

robmar0se

Harry_Potless wrote: »

Doesn't FAT limit the size of a file to under 4Mb or something like that?

Thats right, however with two exceptions it would be unusual to have anything but a very small number, if any, of personal files over 4mb, in my case I have 16000 files in my docs, of which only 8 are over 4mb, 2 x photos, 3 x pdf's, 2 x doc and 1 zip file. If your son does a lot of photography in RAW or video then there are likely to be many files over 4mb; secondly if he has a lot of music, a few tracks could be over 4mb.

For files over 4mb, if you borrow a mac you could just burn those to a dvd?

Harry_Potless

fishybusiness wrote: »

I've used it. Download, install and reboot your PC.

Plug your Mac's drive in (I'm assuming via USB caddy), and open My Computer.

You should be able to see your drive now.

If I do that and I also hook up another external drive to copy the data to, what formatting method should I use for the target drive, do you know? :beer:

macman

So did he have no back up of his critical university work then? If he can afford a Powerbook then he could afford a £50 external drive.
If it had been drive failure rather than a glass of water then he would have lost the lot.
He's been lucky, so learn the lesson.

robmar0se

Harry_Potless wrote: »

If I do that and I also hook up another external drive to copy the data to, what formatting method should I use for the target drive, do you know? :beer:

NTFS is the normal format for Windows PCs. Fat format is the only format recognised on both Windows and MAc PCs.

Harry_Potless

macman wrote: »

So did he have no back up of his critical university work then? If he can afford a Powerbook then he could afford a £50 external drive.
If it had been drive failure rather than a glass of water then he would have lost the lot.
He's been lucky, so learn the lesson.

LOL.

Thanks so much for the lecture.:A

vuvuzela

robmar0se wrote: »

NTFS is the normal format for Windows PCs. Fat format is the only format recognised on both Windows and MAc PCs.

ExFAT as said above is a much much better option. Native to Windows 7 and OSX.

vuvuzela

robmar0se wrote: »

Thats right, however with two exceptions it would be unusual to have anything but a very small number, if any, of personal files over 4mb, in my case I have 16000 files in my docs, of which only 8 are over 4mb, 2 x photos, 3 x pdf's, 2 x doc and 1 zip file. If your son does a lot of photography in RAW or video then there are likely to be many files over 4mb; secondly if he has a lot of music, a few tracks could be over 4mb.

For files over 4mb, if you borrow a mac you could just burn those to a dvd?

It's not 4MB. It's 4GB. And they will need a dual-layer writer and discs to write more than 4GB.

macman

Harry_Potless wrote: »

LOL.

Thanks so much for the lecture.:A

It wasn't intended to be humourous. If it saves him losing all his data, then a lecture is worth it.
We've seen it time after time on this forum. All hard drives fail eventually, it's not if but when. And it's not just the risk of drive failure-there are few items more desirable for thieves than Mac laptops.

robmar0se

vuvuzela wrote: »

It's not 4MB. It's 4GB.

yes you're correct, must put my memory into gear!

robmar0se

vuvuzela wrote: »

ExFAT as said above is a much much better option. Native to Windows 7 and OSX.

Again correct, however bear in mind that flash drives come with FAT so that they are compatible natively with systems other than Win7/osx.

The OP would need to reformat the flash drive if he wanted exfat, but for this specific exercise he probably would not gain any real advantage.