Initializing FireWire HDD from Mac OS to XP
Hi there.
This may be a simple question but if I get it wrong the implications are great so thought that I would check!
I have a FireWire HDD that has been used only on Mac OS9 machines. I want to mount it under Windows XP so that I can copy the data to a PC. When I plug in the drive and go to Disk Manager a wizard asks me do I want to initialize the drive. I understand that this just writes a Partition Table and Disk Signature to the disk but will it affect the existing data in any way? Also, will I be able to access the data from a Mac in the future if I do this? I really only need to access from the PC but I want to know if I can plug the drive back into the Mac and have it work again.
Looking forward to your answers.
Matt
This may be a simple question but if I get it wrong the implications are great so thought that I would check!
I have a FireWire HDD that has been used only on Mac OS9 machines. I want to mount it under Windows XP so that I can copy the data to a PC. When I plug in the drive and go to Disk Manager a wizard asks me do I want to initialize the drive. I understand that this just writes a Partition Table and Disk Signature to the disk but will it affect the existing data in any way? Also, will I be able to access the data from a Mac in the future if I do this? I really only need to access from the PC but I want to know if I can plug the drive back into the Mac and have it work again.
Looking forward to your answers.
Matt
CrazyOne
Good luck. MAC and WinXP use entirely different file formats. I mean do you really expect total interloping considering that the two vendors of these OS'es are not very congenial with each other?
Cross-platform compatible files
http://www.imagemontage.com/Docs/DOSSuffix.html
http://www.imagemontage.com/Docs/DOSSuffix.html
ASKER
No...I don't expect to be able to use all of the files but that is not my question. It is a hardware question about the HDD. Will initializing the drive under Windows effect the file system of the HDD causing it to be unreadable under MacOS?
I have already copied files from a Mac to a new PC file server and these files can be read by the Macs and PC's where necessary and this is what I want to do in this case...only from an external HDD.
Any past experiences welcome.
Matt
I have already copied files from a Mac to a new PC file server and these files can be read by the Macs and PC's where necessary and this is what I want to do in this case...only from an external HDD.
Any past experiences welcome.
Matt
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Worked like a charm!
Hate to admit that Macs are smarter than PC's (in this instance)!
Matt
Hate to admit that Macs are smarter than PC's (in this instance)!
Matt
Great to hear that :-)
Yes, unfortunately windows is not very social when it comes to foreign filesystems. Almost any other OS is better at that, including MacOS.
Even so, microsoft has taken some steps to improve interoperability with other OS's, although it's still optional:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17300643
Ohwell, it's better than nothing ;-)
Yes, unfortunately windows is not very social when it comes to foreign filesystems. Almost any other OS is better at that, including MacOS.
Even so, microsoft has taken some steps to improve interoperability with other OS's, although it's still optional:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17300643
Ohwell, it's better than nothing ;-)