External Hard drives and Mac

[spinner]

All of my photos are on a series of external hard drives that have been managed by Windows 7. Am I looking at any issues when my Mac arrives or can I just plug them in and work away?

[Oldboy]

Macs don't have a problem handling PC files so you should be OK. 

[picsfor]

depends what file format the EHD's are configured with...

Fat or Fat32 - you're fine - NTFS could prove to be an issue...
But as it's EHD's - all you have to do is copy images off EHD, re-format as FAt32 and copy back on...

[spinner]

But as it's EHD's - all you have to do is copy images off EHD, re-format as FAt32 and copy back on...

I suspected that might be an avenue I'd need to take.  I have 3 drives for photos. 2 for music. I've given my Win 7 machine to my daughter and I plugged the music drives into my Linux box, which recognized them no problem. I'm reasonably sure the photo drives are Fat32.

[Jonathan]

depends what file format the EHD's are configured with...

Fat or Fat32 - you're fine - NTFS could prove to be an issue...
But as it's EHD's - all you have to do is copy images off EHD, re-format as FAt32 and copy back on...

Actually, FAT32 is a pretty crappy format for a drive   If you absolutely need to use it on both OS then I guess it will do but....

1. If you network your Windows box and Mac (actually very easy) then you can share the drive from the PC to the Mac and treat it like a locally attached drive.
2. OS X can natively read NTFS anyway so you could plug 2 EHDs in - one NTFS and one empty HFS and just copy data over - it will convert format on the way.
3. Snow Leopard can support NTFS fully - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090913140023382 (note the warning at the bottom and note you'll need to enter stuff at the terminal.  If Linux makes sense to you then you should be fine)

Remember the mantra: "it's a Mac - it's easier than you think"

[Oldboy]

Remember the mantra: "it's a Mac

Therefore, it will cost you more! 

[picsfor]

Remember the mantra: "it's a Mac

Therefore, it will cost you more! 

but it will work 

[Oldboy]

Remember the mantra: "it's a Mac

Therefore, it will cost you more! 

but it will work 

Sometimes! 

[spinner]

depends what file format the EHD's are configured with...

Fat or Fat32 - you're fine - NTFS could prove to be an issue...
But as it's EHD's - all you have to do is copy images off EHD, re-format as FAt32 and copy back on...

Actually, FAT32 is a pretty crappy format for a drive  If you absolutely need to use it on both OS then I guess it will do but....

1. If you network your Windows box and Mac (actually very easy) then you can share the drive from the PC to the Mac and treat it like a locally attached drive.
2. OS X can natively read NTFS anyway so you could plug 2 EHDs in - one NTFS and one empty HFS and just copy data over - it will convert format on the way.
3. Snow Leopard can support NTFS fully - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090913140023382 (note the warning at the bottom and note you'll need to enter stuff at the terminal.  If Linux makes sense to you then you should be fine)

Remember the mantra: "it's a Mac - it's easier than you think"

I gave the windows box to my daughter, Linux I'm still getting used to so it's for tinkering. So yes, I've spent a lot of time in Terminal, took courses through Community College. I've got one of those USB turntables and over the winter I'm going to try to convert some old lps to MP3 using Audacity on the Linux box. I bought the Mac primarily for my photography, not that'll be it's exclusive use but it will be the prime focus.

Oh and daughter still lives with us, so I kept my profile on the machine.