getting information from PC external hard drive to Mac external hard drive

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getting information from PC external hard drive to Mac external hard drive

I am a photographer and have recently made the switch from PC to Mac to be able to work better and also to use the programs I like to use in full-functionality. However my only issue right now is that I have Past work that is complete and saved onto an external hard drive from me PC. I do understand that I am going to have to get a new Hard drive for my Mac to store me recent and future work on it, however I would like to know if there is any way where I can get the older work from the PC hard drive onto the Hard drive I'm going to be using on my Mac.

As silly as it may sound is there a place or does the apple store have a way to perhaps transfer these files onto the new external. Or what is the best way I could do it myself even. Whatever will do the job withou losing/messing up files I will take!

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Oct 21, 2012 8:34 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,117 points

Oct 21, 2012 8:54 PM in response to hrlygrl798

Hi, you should be able to do it yourself... have you plugged the PC external drive into the Mac & see if it shows up or not?

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Answer 2

hrlygrl798 Author

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Oct 22, 2012 1:40 PM in response to BDAqua

Yeah I've plugged it into the Mac the light comes on that is on the external (which means it's powering up) but the external is not detected by the Mac I can't open it's contents. This is the external hard drive that I was working off of on my PC http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/adet.to?poid=2000011851

I did some reserach and found that it's not compatible on Mac's, so it left me to find a new one, but i have no way of transfering the files.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,496 points

Oct 22, 2012 2:04 PM in response to hrlygrl798

Look in Finder's Sidebar and see if the EHD is shown, it should be. If it is then double click it and simply navigate to the files you want to move and then copy and paste to the iMac. Put the files in folders, do not paste them to your desktop.

Apple discusses this in Switch 101: Migrate your WIndows files or s ystem to you Mac in :

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2518

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Answer 4

hrlygrl798 Author

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Oct 22, 2012 2:16 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I just double checked on that, and still no luck, I was thinking about doing them through migration assistant but I have almost 200 gigs of large file size photos and they would take forever to transfer and possibly clog up my Mac.

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,496 points

Oct 22, 2012 2:23 PM in response to hrlygrl798

hrlygrl798 wrote:

I just double checked on that, and still no luck, I was thinking about doing them through migration assistant but I have almost 200 gigs of large file size photos and they would take forever to transfer and possibly clog up my Mac.

Unfortunately that doesn't say too much, what does " just double checked on that," mean exactly. Please be specific, remeember we aren't there to see what you're doing so you have to be more descriptive.

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Answer 6

hrlygrl798 Author

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Oct 22, 2012 2:25 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I plugged the drive back into the Mac and looked into the Mac's finder and also the computer location under the "go" bar and neither displayed or allowed me to access the device.

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Answer 7

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,496 points

Oct 22, 2012 2:30 PM in response to hrlygrl798

Does the EHD show up in Finder's Sidebar. If you don't know how to use the Sidebarr here is an informative article:

http://www.cultofmac.com/109747/configure-the-finder-sidebar-and-see-more-in-lio n-os-x-tips/

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Answer 8

hrlygrl798 Author

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Oct 22, 2012 3:21 PM in response to rkaufmann87

I followed the article that you forwarded me and checked my side bar settings, even after making sure everything was checked off as the article says still no luck.

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Answer 9

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,496 points

Oct 22, 2012 3:30 PM in response to hrlygrl798

Take the drive to your local Apple Store or AASP and they can show you how to view it and move files to you iMac. If your iMac is less than 90 days old or you already bought AppleCare (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) you also have telephone support which I'd recommend calling.

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