Computer help please, external hard drive

[Hwyl]

My son bought an external hard drive to download some work from his school computer (Mac) and transfer it onto his PC. We've tried plugging it intohis computer and mine, it makes the "bubeep" noise but nothing shows up on the desktop orin "My computer" any ideas

[wardd]

has it been formated?

[Hwyl]

Yes and it was been formatted for a Mac (so I was just told)

[wardd]

are there any device drivers needing to be loaded?

[Hwyl]

No.

[wardd]

can you check the bios?

[wardd]

is it a usb drive?

[Hwyl]

Yes it's a USB drive (Seagate technoology) the Control panel/ install hardware shows it as installed, I don't know how to check BIOS

[wardd]

Yes it's a USB drive (Seagate technoology) the Control panel/ install hardware shows it as installed, I don't know how to check BIOS

on which computer are you trying to find it?

if a pc open my computer and check for drives installed

which operating system is installed?

[Hwyl]

on which computer are you trying to find it?

if a pc open my computer and check for drives installed

which operating system is installed?

I did that originally, even tried the search feature for files on the external hard drive

[Hwyl]

Windows XP on this and Vista on my son;s

[wardd]

I did that originally, even tried the search feature for files on the external hard drive

that's as far as i can help without being there, sorry

[Hwyl]

Thanks anyway, is it actually possible to copy Mac files onto a PC

[wardd]

Thanks anyway, is it actually possible to copy Mac files onto a PC

i've never played with apple so i can't tell you

[Garret]

Gareth -

I'm confused (easily done). Was the drive originally hooked up to a Mac & formatted there? If so, the PC won't recognize it - as Apple formatting is different.

If it was formatted on a Vista machine, it should be seen fine by a Windows 7 machine - but possibly not by an XP machine. If this is the case, I would call tech support for the remote drive & see what they recommend. I think Seagate has 24/7 tech support.

HTH

It is possible to copy files from a Mac to a PC, but often the best way is over the web, as they get translated there.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Some USB external hard drives are only recognised if plugged in and powered up when the computer is booted.

1 Computer powered off.
2 Disk plugged (via USB) into the computer (NOT via a hub)
3 If Present - Disk PSU connected and hot.
4 Power on the computer - allow to boot
5 Log in (only need if computer is configured for multiple users
6 - Check "My Computer".

[Hwyl]

Thanks, that explains it, the files were originally on a Mac, provided by the school, he dropped out of that school and asked me at the last minute to buy the computer off the school fr $1200. I said no (I'd paid the tuition),so he came up with this external hard drive solution..


We'll look into borrowing a Mac and transferring the files over the web

[wardd]

check online for a utility to convert them

may get something free

[elf]

Probably easiest to email them from school to home.

[willmarsh3]

If the disk is formatted FAT32 then the mac and the PC should be able to read the disk. NTFS wont work with a mac or so I was told. NTFS and FAT32 are the file systems. Hope this helps.

[Vince Brennan]

Conversions Plus is one method of converting from MAC to PC (fat) file format. If the drive was originally formatted on a MAC, it will not show up on the PC until re-formatted, but then that will destroy the MAC files. (Catch-22)

I get the impression that the son is no longer at the school and that this drive has the only copy of the relevant files? If so, you definitely do NOT want the drive "hooked up" to a PC!

I'm SURE we can scare up someone local to you with a MAC who can copy the files (to) his HD for safekeeping and then you can experiment with the USB drive for converting.

There are many sites with varying instructions; some of them are HERE HERE HERE as a trial program HERE


Good Luck!

[elf]

Take the drive up to Steve and ask him to help out. He's got both objects.

[Michael Beckman]

If you have windows vista or 7, open start, type Disk Management into the search box, and press enter. This will list everything connected.