How to Get Files from Mac Hard Drive to Windows 10 PC

Report · Oct 04, 2019

I have a client mailing me a "WD My Passport For Mac" hard drive with project files. The problem is, I do my editing with a Windows 10 PC. There was a lack of communication, and now I'm stuck with this issue. I DO have access to a family member's Mac, but I would much rather edit the files on my Windows 10 PC.

Is it possible to transfer the files from the "My Passport for Mac" drive, to my Windows 10 PC hard drives? If so, how long would it take? The project files are around 400GB, and use the "Apple ProRes 442" format.

Report · Oct 04, 2019

I used to have a utility called macdrive that would allow you to read and write macformatted drives...

https://www.macdrive.com/

Worked great when I needed to do that... Next time you can ask them to export to an exfat drive which may be readable on a windows machine... I understand there can be compatibility issues with exfat drives on windows.

There are also utilities for the mac to write to a standard windows formatted drive

https://www.paragon-software.com/us/home/ntfs-mac/

And there may be some free options out there...

Report · Oct 04, 2019

This could be incredibely useful! Thanks for mentioning that!

Do you know if the 5 day free trial has any limits (like you can only transfer a certain amount of files or something?)

Report · Oct 04, 2019

I know it's a drive from your client, but just in case; If you format a drive as FAT or exFAT format you can read/write on both windows and mac.

Report · Oct 04, 2019

Ya, that will be a great thing to know for the next project.

Report · Oct 04, 2019

fat 16 and 32 have serious file size limitations. On researching exfat I did hear about some compatibility problems. Always a good idea to test before trying in a time critical situation (this is the voice of experience speaking)

Report · Oct 04, 2019

Yes, you can transfer the files from the My Passport for Mac drive to your Windows PC across your home network. How long it takes to transfer 400GB will depend entirely on your home network speed.

There is a chance that the drive was pre-formatted as ExFAT (even though labelled "for Mac") in which case it should mount under recent versions of both macOS and Windows. If it is ExFAT, you should be able to connect it and get to work.

Of course, it may also have been pre-formatted as HFS+ (Mac format). If that's the case, I highly recommend MacDrive (mentioned in a prior post). You'll be able to connect the drive and just get to work. You'll also be able to use the drive as a Scratch Disk and to export back to. (Of course, I'm assuming that the drive is USB3 or faster and that the footage will play smoohtly at USB3 data transfer rates.)

You're running Premiere Pro CC2019, correct? You may already know that you'll need that as well for the Apple ProRes422 support on the Windows side, but it's worth mentioning.

Report · Oct 04, 2019

Thanks Warren! I'm not sure which format the drive is in, but it's great to know that I have options either way. And yes, I use Premiere CC 2019, so that's good.