Dilemma for WinXP/OSX coexisting?

A

a ronin

Gawd
Joined
Jan 29, 2003
Messages
782
Hi, I've fallen foul to yet another rookie OS X mistake today. Unbeknownst to the incompatibility of OSX and XP's way of handling files, I downloaded America's Army latest game (Full installation) which was 2.6GB into the OSX partition. Obviously I need to get this off it and into a usable parition where my XP installation can see it. I have tried using an ext. drive but as you OS X regulars know, it will only Read but not write.

I've read briefly about MacDrive; is this the best solution for me? Should I consider formatting a drive to Fat32 to use as a liason between the two OS? For now I am just going to burn the game onto a DVD, but for future considerations. Fat32 does have a restriction on file size. I do intend on downloading a lot of ISOs/DVD9, etc; which will be a problem for FAT32.

Suggestions?
 
I would go with the MacDrive route. MacDrive allows XP to read and write on the HFS partition drive.

Writing on a NTFS partition through OSX is different problem as there is no elegant solution.
 
Thanks for the advice. Having just spent a fairly extensive session testing America's Army on this thing, I won't be doing a lot of gaming in the future. The fan was simply too loud, but furthermore, the loudness of the fan leads me to believe frequent gaming ont his thing will undoubtedly wear out the fan and cause issues later. It also makes you appreciate just how silent this thing is when it's doiong everyday mundane tasks.

Back on topic. Are there any freeware alternatives to Macdrive? Still trying to pay off the MBP before I get any deeper in debt.
 
2 good free ways
1st way, reinstall windows xp using fat32 filesystem, this allows osx to read/write to it
2nd way, backup what is on your ext harddrive, and reformat it using fat32 filesystem, that way, both operating systems can read it
 
Arcygenical said:
Hmmm.... Burn a DVD?
Click to expand...

Works for short term solution which I have already tackled, but does nothing for me in the long run.

Are there no free alternatives to Macdrive?
 
a ronin said:
Are there no free alternatives to Macdrive?
Click to expand...

Not for Windows. On Linux, you can use the HFS+ filesystem driver though. I know Ubuntu includes it, though I'm not sure what other distros do.
 
Ok so it's Macdrive it is. Now, another question. How can I set it so the boot loader starts OSX without human intervention? I'm sick of pressing and holding option. Currently Windows XP boots if I don't intervene.

boot.ini? haha
 
a ronin said:
Ok so it's Macdrive it is. Now, another question. How can I set it so the boot loader starts OSX without human intervention? I'm sick of pressing and holding option. Currently Windows XP boots if I don't intervene.

boot.ini? haha
Click to expand...

Go to the Startup Disk control panel or system preferences module . Through that menu, you can change the boot disk/partition.
 
As far as I know fat32 is slower, supports smaller partitions, and isn't as safe in the event of power outage. It also has less integrated security.
 
Fryguy8 said:
As far as I know fat32 is slower, supports smaller partitions, and isn't as safe in the event of power outage. It also has less integrated security.
Click to expand...

and it doesn't support files larger than 4gb in size. So no large movies or dvd images in FAT32.
 
My solution would be to delete the game from the Mac install, go into Windows, and re-download and install it from there. Keep anything you want in Windows in the native Windows partition, and the Mac stuff in the Mac partition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top