Difficulty copying files from an NTFS drive

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Difficulty copying files from an NTFS drive

I'm switching from Windows to Mac, and got a new M1 iMac. All of my media has been stored on an NTFS external hard drive (Western Digital something, forgot what, connected via old USB). Reading the media files has not been a problem at all - but obviously I can't write to that drive.

I got a WD My Passport Ultra for Mac. I used Disk Utility to erase it & format it for Mac OS Extended (Journaled). It's connected via USB-C.

I open up one finder window for each external drive. I drag a folder from the NTFS drive to the My Passport. It claims copying will take 6 minutes, but nothing appears to be happening. On Windows it's obvious when files are being copied but the progress bar isn't budging, the time left isn't changing, and all I see in the My Passport folder is a greyed out copy of the folder and no ability to see anything inside it.

Not sure what to do, besides, cancel, maybe reformat & try again. Is this normal?

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Jul 26, 2021 10:39 AM

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Answer 1

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Jack-19

Level 8

45,706 points

Jul 26, 2021 11:35 AM in response to arphaus

I reformatted it to ExFAT, because it's going to be shared on the network with Windows machines. Individual files copy fine, which makes me suspect that maybe there's a file somewhere that is stopping things.

Just to confirm; it works now?

What's the difference between the Passport and a 'desktop-class drive'?

A desktop-class external hard drive uses an external power supply and has better performance and is far more reliable than a My Passport or any portable hard drive. Drives such as the LaCie 6TB d2 Professional Desktop Hard Drive - Apple Store and the OWC Mercury Elite Pro - MacSales.com (OWC) are desktop-class.

Jack

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Answer 2

Jack-19

Level 8

45,706 points

Jul 26, 2021 10:46 AM in response to arphaus

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.

Could you try copying to another disk, such as a flash drive?

Also, if you are in the return policy for the My Passport, I would consider returning it for something that is a higher quality desktop-class drive.

Jack

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Answer 3

arphaus Author

Level 1

7 points

Jul 26, 2021 11:24 AM in response to Jack-19

I reformatted it to ExFAT, because it's going to be shared on the network with Windows machines. Individual files copy fine, which makes me suspect that maybe there's a file somewhere that is stopping things.

What's the difference between the Passport and a 'desktop-class drive'?

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Answer 4

Jul 26, 2021 11:47 AM in response to arphaus

How macOS and Windows format exFAT drives can lead to issues when sharing the drive between the two operating systems. Test your exFAT drive early before you get too many files on it to see if it works reliably. Also, note that files copied to this drive from the Mac will deposit their resource forks as ._ files on the exFAT drive. You can remove these, without affecting the original exFAT file in the Terminal with:

dot_clean -m /Volumes/your_exFAT_drive

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Answer 5

arphaus Author

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7 points

Jul 26, 2021 12:44 PM in response to Jack-19

It does work, and I see what you mean about the external power supply. I didn't think about that when buying a replacement for the previous drive (which does have an external supply).

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Answer 6

arphaus Author

Level 1

7 points

Jul 26, 2021 12:45 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks for the tip!

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Difficulty copying files from an NTFS drive

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