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Macbook Pro on trips, Win 7 PC at home - compatible?

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msojka

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Hello,

I'm using Win 7 64-bit desktop PC at home for the photo editing workflow and now I have to decide between PC and Mac laptop that will be used on the longer photo trips for basic editing as well as backup. My question follows...

If I use an external USB drive for the backup (simple copy) of RAW + XMP files on the Macbook Pro (running OS X) can I easily plug the same drive at home into Win 7 desktop and just copy/import the files into the desktop Lightroom folders and catalog?

Thanks!

--
Martin
http://flickr.com/photos/msojka/
E-30 / 9-18 / 12-60 SWD / 50-200 SWD
 
msojka said:
If I use an external USB drive for the backup (simple copy) of RAW + XMP files on the Macbook Pro (running OS X) can I easily plug the same drive at home into Win 7 desktop and just copy/import the files into the desktop Lightroom folders and catalog?
Click to expand...
Yes. Lightroom uses the same format both on Mac and on Windows.

--
Edvinas
 
dhewi said:
The files should be perfectly ok, but Mac can read and write from PC disk formats but unless a lot has changed it doesn't work the other way.
Click to expand...
It doesn't work when file system is NTFS. Both Windows and Mac OS can read and write to FAT32.

By the way, Windows has some stupid limitation on FAT32 partition size, therefore it is better to format that 500GB drive in Mac, it will allow to format your 500GB drive to FAT32.

--
Edvinas
 
Out of the box, Mac OS X can read (but not write to) Windows NTFS volumes, and can read and write Windows FAT32 volumes. Out of the box, Windows cannot decipher Mac HFS+ volumes.

There are programs you can get to let Mac OS X read and write to NTFS filesystems, and to let Windows read and write to HFS+ ones.
 
I know that RAWs and Lightroom files are same. But as you guys pointed there are differences between the filesystems and their compatibility.

I'd specifically need to read from Mac's external drive and copy to Windows. So it seems like this is not a straightforward process and one has to use some third party software to make it work, right? Maybe a built-in file sharing could help?

--
Martin
http://flickr.com/photos/msojka/
E-30 / 9-18 / 12-60 SWD / 50-200 SWD
 
msojka said:
I'd specifically need to read from Mac's external drive and copy to Windows. So it seems like this is not a straightforward process and one has to use some third party software to make it work, right? Maybe a built-in file sharing could help?
Click to expand...
It is straightforward when you format your HDD to FAT32 file system. Both Mac and Windows can read/write to FAT32.

--
Edvinas
 
noirdesir said:
There is only a limit when it comes to formatting a FAT32 volume under Windows, not for using it.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

So just to summarize it:

1. Format USB HDD to FAT32

2. On the trip Mac OS X can write to and read from this HDD without any restrictions and limitations

3. At home Windows 7 can write to and read from this HDD without any restrictions and limitations

Right? ;)

--
Martin
http://flickr.com/photos/msojka/
E-30 / 9-18 / 12-60 SWD / 50-200 SWD
 
msojka said:
Isn't there a 4GB limit when using FAT32 on Windows?
Click to expand...
4GiB is the limit of single file size on FAT32. 4GiB limit is a limitation of FAT32 itself, so OS doesn't matter.

In Windows however, there's artificial limitation for FAT32 partition size (when formatting). 32 GiB, if I remember correctly. There are no problems using FAT32 partitions larger than 32GiB, however.

Therefore you need to format your hard drive on Mac, where such limitation does not exist. For greater compatibility choose Master Boot Record in Options instead of GPT.

--
Edvinas
 
I am using a Windows 7 workstation at home for desktop and I have a newly purchased Macbook pro to replace my old laptop. My main Lightroom catalog is on a 2GB external firewire 800 drive that I have formatted in Mac OS and I purchased MacDrive software which allows my Win 7 desktop to read and write Mac external drives.

What I am finding is the Macbook Pro is out preforming my desktop so I am mainly using the Macbook Pro. In the next year I can see my self replacing PC desktop with a iMac.

Robert
 
Hi,

I have to mention the most obvious solution to your complicity to propagate improper behaviour on a MBP.

Under Boot Camp, you can install W7 64bit on your MBP. Problems solved :)
--
Tony K
 
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