Can Windows Read Mac Os Extended Journaled

Windows can't normally read Mac-formatted drives, and volition offer to erase them instead. Just third-party tools fill the gap and provide access to drives formatted with Apple'south HFS+ file organization on Windows. This also allows yous to restore Time Machine backups on Windows.

If you know you're going to use a drive on both Mac and Windows, yous should use the exFAT file system, which is compatible with both. Only if you didn't foresee that, you may take formatted your drive with Apple's HFS Plus, which Windows tin't read past default. In fact, some manufacturers sell "Mac" drives pre-formatted with this Mac-but file system.

Don't Format the Drive! (Yet)

When you connect a Mac-formatted drive to Windows, you'll be informed that "you demand to format the disk in bulldoze X: before you can use it." Don't click the "Format deejay" button or Windows volition erase the contents of the bulldoze–click "Cancel"!

This bulletin appears considering Windows doesn't understand Apple'south HFS+ file arrangement. That's fine, because other applications do. Just don't format the bulldoze until you become the important files off the drive.

Of course, if the drive doesn't have any of import files on it, yous can go alee and format it. But be absolutely sure in that location's nothing you demand before yous practice.

Option 1: HFSExplorer Is Free and Bones

RELATED: How to Restore Files From a Time Auto Backup on Windows

If yous only need to become a couple files off the drive, we recommend HFSExplorer. It's the only completely free way to access a Mac-formatted drive. It does require Java, however, so you'll have to install that start. Then, install HFSExplorer like you would any other Windows program.

HFSExplorer isn't fancy, though, and doesn't have a lot of features. You can't use it to write to Mac-formatted drives, and it doesn't install a file system driver that integrates into File Explorer. But you can open HFSExplorer, read a Mac-formatted drive, and copy the files to your Windows PC without paying a dime. It can also mountain Mac .dmg disk images to get at the files within them.

This application'due south read-only nature isn't necessarily a bad thing. It ensures that no bug in the third-party driver tin impairment your Mac-formatted drive and the files on it. You can set read-only mode in other applications, too–merely, if you're not going to use their write support, at that place's less reason to pay for them.

To use HFSExplorer, connect your Mac-formatted drive to your Windows PC and launch HFSExplorer. Click the "File" menu and select "Load File Organization From Device." It volition automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. You'll meet the contents of the HFS+ bulldoze in the graphical window. Merely select the files or folders yous want, click "Excerpt," and choose a binder. They'll be copied to the location you choose on your PC.

Pick Two: Paragon HFS+ is $20, Just Offers Write Access and Ameliorate Integration

Paragon'due south HFS+ for Windows is a bit fancier, merely it'll price you. This tool installs a file system driver that allows you to access a Mac-formatted drive like any other bulldoze in File Explorer, or any other Windows awarding with an open or salvage dialog. It boasts improved speed, and we wouldn't be surprised if information technology were faster than HFSExplorer. And, unlike HFSExplorer, it offers full read/write access to Mac-formatted drives, so yous can write to them from inside Windows. Just install information technology, and Mac drives will prove upwardly like any other drive.

If you lot demand to piece of work with Mac-formatted drives on a regular basis and you want the operating system integration, speed, and write access, Paragon HFS+ is a nifty pick and will be worth it for you. But, if you simply need to get some files off a Mac-formatted bulldoze occasionally, this is overkill and you can save $20 by sticking with HFSExplorer.

Paragon does offering a 10-day free trial of HFS+ for Windows, so you can give information technology a attempt and come across if it works for you. And, if y'all just demand to get files off of a Mac-formatted drive in one case, yous can just employ the trial and be washed with the awarding by the time information technology expires.

Pick Three: Mediafour MacDrive Costs $50 to $lxx, Only Includes More Features

Mediafour's MacDrive is similar to Paragon's HFS+ for Windows, just with more features and polish. It'due south noticeably more expensive than Paragon HFS+ besides, at $50 for the Standard version and $70 for the Pro version.

For nigh people, this software won't really be worth it. But it offers a few unique features, like support for Mac-formatted RAID disks. It also offers a graphical interface with support for verifying, repairing, and formatting Mac-formatted drives. Paragon's HFS+ gets out of your manner and doesn't provide a graphical interface–it merely enables access to HFS+ drives in File Explorer and other applications.

If you need all these tools, go for it–this is the virtually total-featured solution for working with Mac-formatted drives on Windows. But you probably don't need all these tools.

Mediafour does offer a v-mean solar day free trial of MacDrive–both the Standard and Pro versions–so you can give information technology a try and see if those features are worth it for you.

Selection Four: Format the Bulldoze as exFAT–Simply Warning, This Will Erase Your Data!

RELATED: What'southward the Difference Between FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS?

Once y'all've gotten all the data off the Mac-formatted drive, you lot'll probably want to format it with the exFAT file system. Both Windows and Mac Os Ten have total read-write support for exFAT drives without whatever additional tertiary-party software. FAT32 has some serious limitations–individual files can but be up to 4GB in size each, for example–but exFAT doesn't.

Rather than use a Mac-formatted drive, y'all should get the of import files off of it and use exFAT-formatted drives for moving information betwixt Macs and PCs.

To format the drive in Windows, right-click it in the File Explorer window and select "Format." Choose the "exFAT" file system in the list and click "First." Remember, this will erase all the files on the bulldoze! Be admittedly sure you have your files off the bulldoze and that you've selected the correct drive you lot want to format!

When you're done, the drive should piece of work on both Windows PCs and Macs with no problem.

By the way, this works great for Windows users too–Macs tin can't natively write to the Windows NTFS file arrangement, although they can read files from NTFS drives. So no matter what your main platform, exFAT is probably the mode to go.

pattenthererace.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/252111/how-to-read-a-mac-formatted-drive-on-a-windows-pc/

Share this post