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User profile for user: spincast
spincast Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Best hfs Solution for Windows

I am considering an external HD. Would stick with WD and save $15, but noticed that Seagate offers free hfs+ drivers for Windows.


I want an hfs+ drive for use with iMovie etc, but want to reserve the option to plug it in to someone elses Windows box if I have to transfer files (I work and live in a mixed platform environment). I figure I can have the drive hfs, and then if need be, I can go to someone else's system, install the free Seagate hfs drivers, and be cross compatible. Does anyone have experience with the Seagate for Mac drives (which the Seagate website claims its sw works with) and these drivers? (BTW the Seagate drivers don't work on an hfs formatted WD drive, already tried it.)


Or is there a reliable, free, third-party solution to read/write access to hfs on Windows boxes?

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Jan 14, 2014 11:49 AM

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User profile for user: GeekBoy.from.Illinois
GeekBoy.from.Illinois
User level: Level 4
2,829 points

Posted on Jan 14, 2014 2:32 PM

There are reliable third party drivers to give you read/write access to HFS formatted drives in Windows. All of the reliable ones I have tried are commercial products, and they can get expensive buying licenses for every Windows computer you need to load them on. I have used the MacDrive product as well as the Paragon HFS+ For Windows product. I prefer the Paragon product so much so that I actually bought licenses for it to replace my MacDrive licenses (6 of them at the time).


What I have found to be less expensive and more "usable" for me was to purchase the Paragon NTFS for MacOS driver and install that on my Mac. This allows me to have full read/write access to my NTFS formatted drives while running MacOS. There have only been a few applications that refuse to work on my NTFS formatted drives and for those, I just keep a dedicated HFS+ formatted drive. Now I can take my external drives (with the exception of one) to any Windows computer and use them without issues, and without having to load drivers on the Windows computer...


This might be something for you to consider.

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User profile for user: GeekBoy.from.Illinois
GeekBoy.from.Illinois
User level: Level 4
2,829 points

Jan 14, 2014 2:32 PM in response to spincast

There are reliable third party drivers to give you read/write access to HFS formatted drives in Windows. All of the reliable ones I have tried are commercial products, and they can get expensive buying licenses for every Windows computer you need to load them on. I have used the MacDrive product as well as the Paragon HFS+ For Windows product. I prefer the Paragon product so much so that I actually bought licenses for it to replace my MacDrive licenses (6 of them at the time).


What I have found to be less expensive and more "usable" for me was to purchase the Paragon NTFS for MacOS driver and install that on my Mac. This allows me to have full read/write access to my NTFS formatted drives while running MacOS. There have only been a few applications that refuse to work on my NTFS formatted drives and for those, I just keep a dedicated HFS+ formatted drive. Now I can take my external drives (with the exception of one) to any Windows computer and use them without issues, and without having to load drivers on the Windows computer...


This might be something for you to consider.

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Best hfs Solution for Windows

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