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accessing an ntfs drive on a windows/mac network

i have a situation i'm wondering if anyone can help me with. i have a netgear router with 2 windows xp machines attached-1 wired to it and 1 wireless. i have a macbook and an ibook that attach with airport and work fine, except using host based printer sharing- but that's another topic. here's my question- i have a 250 gig usb lacie drive attached the wireless xp machine, the drive is shared and is formateed ntfs. i can access the drive wirelessly from both macs with full add/delete file permissions. when i attach the drive directly to a mac usb port, i can copy files from it but not to it. i get a permissions error. anyone know why i can't write to it when i'm connected usb but can over the wireless network? just makes it complicated to back up big folders like itunes which is about 60 gig. i can move the lacie to the other xp machine but it would be easier just to plug in my laptops.

macbook and ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.7) mixed windows mac network

macbook Mac OS X (10.4.7) mixed windows mac network

Posted on Jul 5, 2006 8:33 AM

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8 replies

Jul 5, 2006 10:43 AM in response to Mike McC

The Mac OS cannot write to a NTFS partition. That's just something it is not able to do. So, that's why it won't work when you connect the drive directly to your Mac.


Now, why does it work when you have it connected to your PC?

Well, that's because your Mac is not talking to the drive then. It is actually talking to the PC, which is itself acting as a go-between for your Mac and the Hard drive.

Basically, the Mac makes a request or issues a command, the PC then performs that task with the hard drive. The results are then sent back to the Mac by the PC.

So, therefore, the Mac only has to talk with the PC in this arrangement. So, you are getting around the compatibility problem by using the PC as a translator.


I hope this explanation is helpful.


Now, if you want to use the hard drive directly with both a PC and a Mac, then you could format the drive as FAT32. Then, you could plug it into either the PC or the Mac, and both systems would be able to directly read and write it.

But the FAT32 format is less efficient in storing files. That's a more involved discussion. But essentially, the NTFS file system stores files in smaller clusters which allows files to take up less space by not using more space than needed to hold a given file.

Also, the FAT32 format has a maximum file size of 4 GB. But, rarely do you ever need files that big. So, you should be fine.


I hope this helps.

Jul 5, 2006 10:55 AM in response to Mike McC

thanks, this explains the mystery. interesting that os x can read ntfs but not write. one of life's little mysteries. don't want to format fat for performance reasons since i use this drive to back up my thinkpad laptop for work. guess the answer is the firewire lacie formatted for mac that will back up the 2 laptops.

Jul 6, 2006 11:23 AM in response to Mike McC

thanks, this explains the mystery. interesting that
os x can read ntfs but not write. one of life's
little mysteries. don't want to format fat for
performance reasons since i use this drive to back up
my thinkpad laptop for work. guess the answer is the
firewire lacie formatted for mac that will back up
the 2 laptops.


it's not really a mystery. MS did not give out the liscense for NTFS

Jul 6, 2006 11:43 AM in response to Mike McC

Hello,

Working with Windows and Macs on the same network, and sharing volumes / hard drives can be tricky business.

By default, Windows Sharing on the Mac shares everything in your "Home" folder.

I do not know if there is a specific setting to share external hard drives with a Windows system. I just haven't tried that before. But, I do not believe that there is a built-in setting for that.

You could look at the following program for that feature:
http://www.hornware.com/sharepoints/

You might need to Map another drive in Windows to see that external drive.

Just out of curiosity, you might try creating an "Alias" to your external hard drive, and placing that Alias in a folder that your PC can see. Perhaps that will give you a back door into the drive.

So, give that a shot.


Additionally, you might read over the guide here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=54704


I hope this helps.

accessing an ntfs drive on a windows/mac network

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