spincast
Level 1 (5 points)

Q: 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

by spincast,Solvedanswer
spincast spincast
Level 1 (5 points)
A:

Thanks Illinois. I ended up going with the Seagate for Mac drive. I believe it's the Paragon software that they include, and it seems to work. I needed the hfs+ drive for Mac backup purposes. It works great, worth the extra few bucks (I just have a thing about preferring WD drives...I'll get over it.)

Posted on Jun 4, 2014 11:27 PM

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Q: Best hfs Solution for Windows

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  • Helpful answers

  • by GeekBoy.from.Illinois,Helpful

    GeekBoy.from.Illinois GeekBoy.from.Illinois Jan 14, 2014 2:32 PM in response to spincast
    Level 4 (2,814 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.

  • by spincast,Solvedanswer

    spincast spincast Jun 4, 2014 11:27 PM in response to GeekBoy.from.Illinois
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 4, 2014 11:27 PM in response to GeekBoy.from.Illinois

    Thanks Illinois. I ended up going with the Seagate for Mac drive. I believe it's the Paragon software that they include, and it seems to work. I needed the hfs+ drive for Mac backup purposes. It works great, worth the extra few bucks (I just have a thing about preferring WD drives...I'll get over it.)

  • by Faslane,

    Faslane Faslane Jan 29, 2015 5:30 PM in response to GeekBoy.from.Illinois
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Jan 29, 2015 5:30 PM in response to GeekBoy.from.Illinois

    AGREED! Paragon HF+ just seems to run and not require an entirely different app to do so and I'm sick of having to email Mediafour (MacDrive) when I forget to de-activate the product and wait a day....with Para HFS+ I just reinstall with my credentials and I'm good to go.

  • by Appledigg,

    Appledigg Appledigg Apr 16, 2016 3:02 AM in response to Faslane
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 16, 2016 3:02 AM in response to Faslane

    MacDrive and TransMac could be considerable choice. Which one is the best? This comparison table might be helpful:

    Paragon HFS+ vs MacDrive vs TransMac