transfering from windows to mac
[383 byte] By [jkneps] at [2007-11-11 22:07:37] 
In advance I apologize as I have to think this question has been asked a million times but I can't find it anywhere. Please help. I am a long time windows user wth a windows formated external harddrive with all my "legal" music on it. I just bought an IMAC and want to transfer the music but am stuck. Can anyone please help or direct me to where I can help myself. thank you.
# 1 Re: transfering from windows to mac
What format is your external drive? Do you wish to leave the external drive connected or just copy the files over?Macs will still read and write to a FAT32 drive and read a NTFS formatted drive. Just connect it to the iMac and it will show up on the desk top. If it's NTFS you may want to consider copying all the files off it and converting it to FAT32 for a cross platform backup drive.
Once you can see it on the desktop open iTunes and make sure the General tab in the Advanced Preferences has a check beside "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library". The "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" option will change the file names and organize by artist/album/ folder structure so remove the check if it matters to you. Once thats done you can copy the files onto the iMac by selecting the iTunes File/Add to Library then select all the files off your external drive in the window that pops up. This will copy the music over to the iMac's Music/iTunes/iTunes Music folder and add it into iTunes Library. Go get a cup of coffee or tea cause it may take awhile depending on how large your collection is.
Sparkee at 2007-11-15 16:07:26 >
# 2 Re: transfering from windows to mac
I will look into it tonight. I really appreciate the help and hope it works. I will get back to you.jkneps at 2007-11-15 16:08:27 >
# 3 Re: transfering from windows to mac
i have a Maxtor Harddrive (maxtor one touch 2). its plugged into the imac via a fire wire from the harddrive that converts to a usb on the other end into the imac but the imac doesn't seem toeven knowit is there. is there something i am doing wrong. The blue light is on the hard drive but there is nothing happeningon the desktop or anywhere on the computer to aknowledge there is something connected. What else can i do.....thank you again.jkneps at 2007-11-15 16:09:26 >
# 4 Re: transfering from windows to mac
It is probably best to connect it to the iMac using a firewire to firewire cable into the iMac's firewire port. The drive should eventually show up as an icon on the desktop and in Finder. Some times this does take a little time for the drive to show up.Sparkee at 2007-11-15 16:10:31 >
# 5 Re: transfering from windows to mac
does my mac have a fire wire connection. its 4 months old and i didn't notice one. THANK YOU!!!!!jkneps at 2007-11-15 16:11:30 >
# 6 Re: transfering from windows to mac
I don't think there been a Mac made for years with out a firewire port. Apple actually favored firewire over USB for some time. 4 months old would make it a white model? Check this link for the connectors on the back of the iMacs. (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304286) They're beside the USB ports on the back, I think it's pretty much the same on the new models.Is it possible your external has a USB "A" connector to USB "B" connector cable? Check this site for pictures of connectors. (http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/connecters.html) A USB "B" connector could be mistaken for a firewire connector.
Even then the iMac should still mount the USB drive. It is also possible it is having problems mounting it if it has been formated as a NTFS file system, but OS X 10.4 should still be able to read it.
Sparkee at 2007-11-15 16:12:30 >
# 7 Re: transfering from windows to mac
you are right. after looking at the pictures its a usb type B on one end which i plug into the hardrive and what i think is a usb A that I plug into the imac. nothing happens. frustrating. btew..you've been very kind to help. thank you. could i be doing anything wrong?jkneps at 2007-11-15 16:13:34 >
# 8 Re: transfering from windows to mac
I can't see you doing anything wrong, it should just show up on the desktop and/or in Finder after it has been plugged into the computer. You could open Disk Utility and see if it shows up there. Disk Utility is found in Applications/Utilities. If it shows up there it may be that OS X can recognize it's file structure. I had an external drive formatted FAT 32 that my iBook had problems with, but it would still see it eventually it just took awhile. I had to plug it in a few times before it would show up on the iBooks desktop. Once I got all the files off it I reformatted it still as a FAT 32 drive and it's been working great since. You could also try accessing the drive over your network (if you have one) by plugging it into your Windows and sharing the drive.
Sparkee at 2007-11-15 16:14:27 >
# 9 Re: transfering from windows to mac
ok so i'm so frustrated because you have been so helpful and i still don;t have music!!!! is it possible to take my ipod that I've used and is formated for windows and download the music into my apple itunes. I have an old ipod and i'd like to get the music into my iphone and my new nano. When I plug the ipod in, the computer says i will lose the data if i reformat. In advance...thank you.jkneps at 2007-11-15 16:15:35 >
# 10 Re: transfering from windows to mac
I'm sorry I can't help you with your external drive and it is my pleasure to help you, that's what this place is all about. There is software available that can copy files from the iPod to the computer, although I'm not familiar with most I have played with Senuti a little. Check out Senuti (http://trac.fadingred.org/senuti/wiki/About) (I like the name, iTunes backwards), it will copy your music off the iPod into iTunes. You should find all the info you need on their site. The Senuti Quick Start (http://trac.fadingred.org/senuti/wiki/QuickStart) will help you with the process.
On the USB drive issue, if Disk Utilities can recognize it, and you have all the data on it backed up, try reformatting it in Disk Utility as a MS-Dos File System. This will erase everything on it, but may make your Mac see it better. If you don't need to use it for your Windows PC, format it as a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) drive. I find the Mac will mount it quicker than a MS-Dos drive and causes less problems, however it is not compatible with a Windows PC.
Sparkee at 2007-11-15 16:16:36 >
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