Docking my hard drive and reading PC files on a Mac

I just removed my PC hard drive and put it into a hard drive dock that connects to a PC via a USB plug. I plugged it into a USB port on my new MacBook Pro. I was surprised that the files seemed to be able to be read. I thought that the formatting of the two would make it so the Mac could not read a hard drive from a PC. Is it safe to copy files from this hard drive to my Mac?

Yes, it is.
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I didn't safely eject my external hard-drive and now my files are not showing up on my other computer?

I didn't safely eject my external hard-drive as my imac was in sleep mode and I thought it was shut-down. Now I have turned up to uni and plugged my hard-drive into the uni computers (apple) and the word document I was working on last night (before my computer went to sleep mode, and it may still have been open, I cant remember) is gone.....
I have phoned home and got a family member to try and recover the file. They said they can see it when they open Word under recent documents, however its "ghost" and nothing happens when you click on it.
My question is, when I go home and plug my hard-drive back into my imac, will I be able to recover this word file? or have I lost it forever?

I only saved it to my external hard-drive and saved it at the completion of working on it. However left the document open, went to dinner, and this morning pulled the hard-drive out, whilst the computer was asleep not shut-down and now the file doesn't appear.
I thought when I clicked save then it saved straight away, therefore anything i do after that point (ie a un safe ejection) shouldn't make a difference. Clearly, no matter if you saved the document, if you un-safely eject the hard-drive then the file is lost anyway?

Problem with backing up to external hard drive and then " recovering " files, apps etc.

Hi there,
I hope you can help me please, I have messed some things up from not knowing what I was doing : ( and would like to fix them if possible.
I will try to be brief and concise. Here goes....
1. My 2006 iMac 4 running Leopard OSX was starting to run very slowly. My hard drive had 232 GB of which 220 GB were being used. The thing using most space was iPhoto, over 60 GB of photos.
2. I downloaded Mackeeper and ran their cleaning program, getting rid of duplicate files, clearing caches etc. but it didn't release much extra space, just a couple of gigs.
3. I read an article from Maclife " 25 ways to speed up your Mac ". One of the tips was to reinstall the operating system which I did, using the " archive and install " instruction.
4. I now have Leopard OS under a new account name which is running faster but I cannot access various apps such as iPhoto, Photoshop CS4, Keynote, Pages etc.
5. Everything prior to me messing around is now in a folder called " previous system ".
6. I realize now that I should have first bought a new external hard drive, which I now have done ; an Iomega 500 GB with USB 2.0 and that I should have backed up everything first before messing around. Hindsight is a great thing.
7. Having connected the ext. hard drive, I was looking for info on what I should do next when Time Machine kicked in and automatically started copying everything, without me having to do anything such as formatting etc.
8. Everything that was on the hard drive ( 220 GBs ) has been copied to the ext. HD so I hope I haven't lost anything, especially my photos on iPhoto and CS4.
9. Other 3rd party apps haven't been effected but now I would like to integrate everything back into one seamless, quick flowing system.
10. How can I do this ?
Any advice or help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Sean.

UPDATE : I have re-installed from disk, various apps that were no longer functioning such as iLife, iWork etc. So, I now can access my photos again.
Also, I had to re-install all the software for my printer ( Stylus Pro 4880 ) and reset it so the printer is working again.
Photoshop CS4 won't open. I think I will have to get in touch with Adobe as basically, I guess they have a built-in "blocker" which prevents me from opening the app as the license is for only 1 user and having re-installed the OS, there are now, in effect, 2 users ( Me and Me 1, I think ).
So, having added on a new external HD, Time Machine has made a copy of most of the files, folders, apps etc onto the external HD. The internal HD is still nearly full ( 220 GBs out of 232 GBs ).
I am guessing the way to go now in order to free up space on the internal HD is to delete/trash older photos from my iPhoto library and hope that if needed, I will be able to access them on the external HD.
Am I correct ? Please advise before I do something I will regret.
Thanks, Sean.

If I transfer files to a new hard drive and "special permissions files" are

I am installing a new, larger, hard drive in my Powerbook G4. I want to "clone" the old hard drive onto the new one. However, when transferring files to a PowerMacG4, as an intermediary in the process , via Target Disk Mode , I get the message that "certain files with special permissions will not be copied".
I did check the messages in this forum and found that there is a way around this problem. However, it seems that I would need a clean hard drive to do this and I don't want to reformat my G4 PowerMac in order to use that drive as an intermediary in the process.
The simple question is then: What will happen if I copy the G4Powerbook files via Firewire to the G4PowerMac drive, ignore the permissions warning, and then transfer that data to the newly installed drive in the Powerbook???? Will there be important systems files missing, or will some of my programs simply not work. Perhaps I could then just reinstall anything that's not working (that required special permissions)?
This probably sounds like a stupid question to you Mac gurus, but I've never really understood the significance of "permissions".
Thanks
TrapperMD

You cannot simply copy files from one drive to the other. Also, if you clone to the hard drive in another computer, then you must use a separate partition on that drive. You cannot clone to a drive that already has OS X installed on it.
The cloning process works as follows:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of the drive you are cloning.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.
For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.
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IPod hard drive and ISO image files

Every time I try to copy an ISO image file to the hard drive partition of my iPod, Windows tells me that the destination is full. This is not true, since my iPod has 23.5 GB of space left. Does anyone know why this might be, or have any way around it?
EDIT: This has not been a problem with ISO images smaller than 1GB, just in case this is a factor in the solving of this problem.
Custom Built (by me) Windows XP AMD Athlon 64 3200+, ASUS 128MB AGP Graphics Card

Yes, it will. But if DU says the disk is unformatted then it is also not accessible. If you have files you don't wish to lose then you will need to try recovery software:
Basics of File Recovery
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

Is it possible to use an external hard drive to just copy files off a Mac?

I am looking into getting a WD Passport as my MacBook's hard drive has recently crashed. All I want to do is use it like I use a USB stick, so take it out, plug it into another computer occasionally and generally just store info and photos etc externally as a back up. Is TimeMachine the best thing to use or just manually take it from the MacBook and onto another PC when I need without using any software?

If you wish to use Time Machine as your backup system, it is best to use an external HDD dedicated to that one application.
If you want to use the new WD HDD on PCs as well as your Mac, the make certain that it is formatted so it is compatible with both systems, Macs can read PC formatted HDDs but not write to them. FAT or exFAT are two choices you may consider.
Ciao.

If I back up on my external hard drive and then delete files on my computer, those files will remain on my external hard drive even after future back ups when those files aren't on my computer?

I am backing up my macbook pro on an external harddrive because I have run out of space on it. I am wondering if when I do a backup and then delete those files from my computer, during the next backup, those files will still be availavle on the external harddrive or will they be deleted because they are no longer on my computer. Confusing I know but I'm sure there is a simple answer to it!

Its good to have both, a time machine backup, AND a second cloned HD.
If your HD ever dies on you, you can in a matter of 20 mins, install the old HD and be up and running again quickly.
Its extremely important to have MULTIPLE backups, so many people have been so upset at losing massive amounts of data, because they "had a backup HD" for their data, but when that died etc, its gone.
1 backup is never enough, and the data on your computer "doesnt count" as a backup.

When i go to type in pages, nothing shows? I recently had an authorized apple technician replace my hard drive and update my operating system to MAC OS X 10.6.8 . Are they related. I Have Pages 08' 3.0.1

When I go to type in Pages, nothing shows. I am able to open up and click on word processing template etc. I have a fairly old IMac and just updated my operating to OSX 10.6.8. I'm wondering if the upgrade affected Pages - have Pages 08 version 3.0.1. tried restarting but did not work.

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the update from the link, however, this did not automatically update my Pages. Is there something else that I have to do? I located the download in Finder and clicked on it. When I clicked on the update, A dialogue box appeared saying "Alert - An eligible Pages application was not found in the location /Applications. What does this indicate?

I'm selling my macbook so I have formated the hard drive and I am trying to reload mac os snow leopard 10.6 but it keeps freezing?

Can anyone help?

Try a restart.
If that doesn't fix the problem, shut down the computer and then power it back up. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application unistaller. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.
Safe Mode
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Isolating issues in Mac OS X
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Can i make (for example) 3 partitions on my external Hard Drive, and make different formatations for each, so i can share files of one of them in a pc and mac?

Hello ...
My name is Rui, i'm from Portugal ... (so please be patiente with my english, it can get a bit confusing)
so... first of all ... i have to say ... i'm still a pc user ... i don't have a Mac ... yet ... they are sold out right now in the shops near me ... i am waitting for them to arrive so i can pick up mine ... (i wish in a couple of days i will be entering the Mac world ....) ... i'll be picking the "entery" iMac model, the 21,5'', i5 with 500gb hard disk ... well .. i know it's the cheapest one (i hope it is a good machine tho) ... but it's my entering Mac world too (my only apple products till know were the ipod ...) ... one of my concerns are being the 500gb hard drive ... that for my pc experience is a little bit short ... that makes me a little scared (but paying 300e for the next model to have a 1tb disk, it's not a good option for me right now) ...
so..
I've been reading a lot about iMac's ans OS X so i can get familiar with this all new world ...
and i couldn't get any answer for some of my doubts... so i decided to ask you Mac Users ..
My idea is to have an external HD to store files (and not to fill the 500gb of the iMac) ... and i am wondering if it would be possible to make this ...
- make three partitions on the external Hard Drive and
- the first be formatted in Mac OS extended (journaled) mode
- the second on fat 32 - so i can store and share files with a mac or pc
- third be reserved for Time Machine
i wonder would that be possible... or would make sort of incompabilities ... would it work all well ?
hummm ...
I hope someone can help me with this ...
... if it is a silly question ... sorry ... but please remember, i've never had a Mac computer (i'm waiting for my 1st iMac to be available on store) ... so a lot of things are "flying" in my head right now ...
... and of course .. sorry for my english ... i hope you all understood me ...
thanks (obrigado) a lot for your patience...
Rui from Portugal

Hi! Dwagner, once again ...
I've just got my Mac last friday ... i'm still getting amazed with this new world to me ... eehe .. quite different ... but
... "i can do it, i can do it" eheeh
i'm in that period that a new question appears at almost every mouse click ... lol
so ... can you help me (once again) ..
you said you had your hard drive with this settings...
"You can partition for OSX (extended Journal) - read/write by only OSX or read only by Windows via BootCamp
You can partition for Windows (NTFS) - readable by only Windows
OR - you can format with ex-FAT and this is read/write capable for both operating systems."
how did you formated the partition in NTFS ? ... on the mac? using the "disk utility" ? or did you use another program to do so ...?
i hope i'm not "bugging" you ... this might be a silly question for most of people ... but right now ... it's a major question for me ... ehehe
once again Obrigado (Thank You)
Rui from Portugal

External Hard Drive Is "Read Only"

Hi,
I'm currently running OSx Lion on my MacBook Pro and I recently wanted to use my external hard drive to transfer some files from my Mac to my PC. The problem is, after plugging my exxternal into my Mac, I noticed I only have the ability to "read" the files on the external. The external hard drive is a Maxtor OneTouch 4 and it is a Windows NT File System (NTFS).
When I do "command+I" and go to "Sharing & Permisions" it just says "you can only read". There are no other options, no padlock icons... Nothing.
Is there any way I can fix this? If so, can it be put simply (I am still struggling to use a Mac, as you can see, haha).
Thanks in advance!

Mac will not write to a NTFS volume. There are third-party apps out there which can fix that, but I've no idea if they'll work with Lion.
If you need to transfer files between Mac and PC regularly, re-format the drive as FAT32 (or exFAT, aka FAT64, if the windows version supports it).
exFAT would be preferable if it's available as FAT32 has a file size limitation of 4GB.

My old computer died. I removed the hard drive and converted it to an external hard drive. I want to get the bookmarks from that hard drive onto the new hard drive. I have Firefox 3.6.1 right now. Where do I find the bookmarks on the old hard drive?

If I had to I could go to Internet Explorer Favorites on the old hard drive and find that file and bring those over to the new computer and into Firefox but those are outdated. Where would the favorites for Internet Explorer be found if you can't tell me where to find the Firefox Bookmarks file. I'd much prefer to find the Firefox Bookmarks, though.

See:
* [[Recovering important data from an old profile]]
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

I am not much of a computer technician. I bought a time capsule thinking I could use this for an external hard drive and keep my MAC hard drive free. Was I mistaken? One I back everthing up on the TC, can I delete everything off of my MAC?

I am not much of a computer technician. I bought a time capsule thinking I could use this for an external hard drive and keep my MAC hard drive free. Was I mistaken? Once I back everything up on the TC, can I delete everything off of my MAC and then use my TC as my hard drive??

Once I back everything up on the TC, can I delete everything off of my MAC and then use my TC as my hard drive??
TC was designed to backup your Mac. The TC literature is pretty clear about this:
If your Mac's hard drive has a problem....it will sooner or later....you can use your backup on the TC to rebuild your Mac.
But.....if you move all of your data to the TC from your Mac....you only have one version of that data now, and it is on the TC.
Have you thought about what will happen when....not if....the TC has a problem? Since the only version of your important data was on the TC, and the TC has failed......you lose all of your data.....because you have no backup.
A much better plan would be to add a USB or FireWire hard drive and connect it directly to your Mac. Move the data on your Mac over to the hard drive.
Then, the TC will backup both your Mac and the hard drive. So, you have original data on on one drive and backups on another drive.
That would be a minimum backup plan. Most of us have more than one set of backups.

Help! Erased Hard Drive and can't get my library from my iPod to my HD

HELP! I recently had to erase my hard drive and start fresh. I have Mac OS X 10.3.9 cleanly installed. I now have the problem that I can't get my music library from my iPod to iTunes. Many, many hours went into transferring my CD collection into iTunes. I can't fathom going through all of that again! Any suggestions would be appreciated!
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

You can download the songs from your iPod back to your HD with several freeware programs, try out Senuti:
http://wbyoung.ambitiouslemon.com/senuti/
I had the same problem and after installing my OS new i was able to copy back all the songs from my iPod to iTunes. Wasn't able though to keep the playlists, but maybe you find a way how to copy the songs including playlists.
Hope that helped,
Oliver

Reader 9.3 produces Runtime error for all .pdf files on hard drive and email

Does anyone have a resource that can show me how to eliminate a runtime error with Reader 9.3.1, Windows XP w/ SP3 and IE7. I have recently had all .pdf files located on my hard drive and in emails refuse to open because of this message:
"Runtime Error!
Program C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information."
So far, I have uninstalled and reinstalled Reader 9.3 from the website; added update 9.3.1 and tried to reopen files with no success.
My organization sends a ton of .pdf files and it is not good when you can't open them for review and action.

Hi All,
Although I don't normally post in forums, I thought it prudent to lay this matther to rest. I have tested the following solution:
It appears that Adobe Reader likes to check access to each parent folder as well as the actual application data folder. Apparantly there are other programs that also do similar things. As a result if you have your appdata redirected to \\server1\profiles\%username%\appdata adobe reader would first try directly access \\server1\profiles. If the user does not have to Traverse folder permission, this fails. Typically you will need to change your permissions on you profile share from:
-                   Users - Read Attributes (Apply to: This folder, subfolders and files)
-                   Users - Read Extended Attributes (Apply to: This folder, subfolders and files)
-                  Users - Create Folders/Append Data (Apply to: This folder, subfolders and files)
-                   Users - Read Permissions (Apply to: This folder, subfolders and files)
To the share permissions suggested by Microsoft in KB 274443:
-                   Everyone - Create Folder/Append Data (Apply onto: This Folder Only)
-                   Everyone - List Folder/Read Data (Apply onto: This Folder Only)
-                   Everyone - Read Attributes (Apply onto: This Folder Only)
-                   Everyone - Traverse Folder/Execute File (Apply onto: This Folder Only)
Hopefully this helps everyone.

Docking my hard drive and reading PC files on a Mac

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