Using Mac external hard drive with Windows I have an external HDD that I've been using with my Apple laptop (OS X 10.6.8). When I plug it into my Windows 7 machine it appears under Device Manager but does not appear in My Computer and I have absolutely no idea how to access its files.
While you can physically connect a Mac hard drive to a Windows PC, the PC cannot read the drive unless third-party software is installed. Because the two systems use different file systems for storage: Macs use the HFS, HFS+, or HFSX file systems, and PCs use either the FAT32 or NTFS. Luckily, if the drive type (e.g., SATA, IDE, or SCSI) is compatible with your motherboard, there are a few solutions to this dilemma.
NTFS and FAT drives open natively in macOS.
You can delete a Mac-based HFS, HFS+ or HFSX partition and format it to be usable with a PC. If there are any files you want to keep, copy them from your Mac hard drive to another storage device, then review the page linked below.
Through the use of third-party software, Microsoft Windows can be configured to read a Mac hard drive. Free programs are available, but they have fewer features and are not as easy to use. One of the best free programs is HFSExplorer. If you are willing to pay, MacDrive and TransMac cost about $50. They do a good job of allowing users to view the contents of a Mac hard drive on a PC due to their user-friendly interfaces. There is also a $20 solution from Paragon called HFS+ for Windows.
Welcome to the MacDrive Support page.
Here you can find answers to some of the most common MacDrive questions, as well as view recent changes to MacDrive. As always, if there is a question you can’t find an answer to, please drop a note to our support team.
MacDrive Standard 9.3.2.6
New: Support for Boot Camp systems with unencrypted Core Storage Mac partitions
New: Support for disks with multiple RAID partitions
MacDrive Standard 9.3.1.1
Fixed: Problem handling temp files created by some applications.
MacDrive Standard 9.3.0.5
Improved: MacDrive is now much faster when creating large numbers of files.
Fixed: Under certain conditions, renaming a folder that contains a large number of files can cause a crash.
Fixed: Minor issue when creating HFSX volumes.
Fixed: Disk corruption when creating heavily fragmented volumes.
Changed: For performance reasons, preserving classic Mac information when copying between disks is now optional.
MacDrive Standard 9.2.0.2
Now supports Windows 8.1
Fixed: Right-clicking a drive in Windows Explorer can crash Explorer.
Fixed: In some situations, activation failures displayed an incorrect error message.
MacDrive Standard 9.1.1.11
Fixed: Windows Explorer slowdown when right-clicking on a computer connected to a network but without Internet access.
Fixed: Several stability improvements to fix BSODs reported via Windows Error Reporting.
Improved: Offline activation automatically offered when encountering errors with internet activation.
Improved: Added specific dialogs for some activation scenarios, such as if attempting to activate MacDrive 9 Standard with a Pro serial number, or vice versa.
Improved: Clearer instructions in disk protection warning when reformatting a Mac disk with Windows.
How to play hou yi. Fixed: Misc. bugs.
MacDrive Standard 9.1.0.21
Fixed: Disk corruption when creating millions of files.
Fixed: System freeze if the computer is restarted immediately after copying files to a Mac disk.
Fixed: Activation offers more options if automatic activation fails.
Fixed: Crash in MacDrive CD/DVD burner.
Fixed: Misc. bugs.
MacDrive Standard 9.0.6
Fixed: Time Machine problems in Windows 8
Fixed: Potential disk corruption when creating millions of files
MacDrive Standard 9.0.5 https://universitygoo.weebly.com/norton-disk-doctor-windows-10.html.
Fixed: Some Windows 8 Store apps are unable to access files on Mac disks
Fixed: MacDrive was unnecessarily protecting partitions on removable media disks
Improved: License activation is now more reliable
MacDrive Standard 9.0.4
Fixed: In some situations, MacDrive won’t activate
Fixed: Upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8 might prevent computer from starting
Improved: Problems with activation in switching between virtual and non-virtual Windows
MacDrive Standard 9.0.3 Mac matte lipstick red pepper.
Fixed: On some computers, Explorer crashes when right-clicking a disk
Fixed: Problem storing VMware virtual machines on a Mac disk
Fixed: MacDrive 9 interferes with Windows Experience Index on 64-bit systems
Fixed: Some Icelandic characters don’t work in file names on Mac disks
Fixed: Some DMG images aren’t mountable with MacDrive
Fixed: Very large fragmented files are sometimes unusable (user-created QuickTime files are sometimes affected)
Fixed: System crash when using Mac volumes with names longer than 32 characters
Fixed: In rare situations, activation claims to be successful but isn’t
Improved: Simplified activation wizard
Improved: Maintaining activation after reinstalling Windows
Improved: Protects Mac disks when attempting to reformat a Mac volume in Explorer
MacDrive Standard 9.0.1
Fixed: Potential disk corruption when hibernating Windows on a Boot Camp computer
Fixed: Some disk images (DMG files) don’t open correctly
Fixed: Some computers incorrectly show an error saying that MacDrive isn’t properly installed
Fixed: Some licenses would incorrectly become inactive, requiring reactivation
Improved: Better feedback when attempting to activate in a Guest user account
MacDrive Standard 9.0.0
Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista/XP-32bit and Server 2012, 2008 and 2003.
Get answer to frequently asked questions about MacDrive, activation and other technical issues.
Scroll to top