[Pamela]

I was wondering what people's experiences are regarding the most consistantly reliable media to transfer files from the mac to a pc and the reverse?

Examples...100mb zip disk, 250mb zip disk, cd-r, cd-rw, dvd etc...

My point is it seems even when I'm just going from pc to pc that not every pc reads the cd i've burned?! (software issues most likely...like what software you burned it from). Is there a tried and true software program and tried and true method for making sure that your cd (and the files on it) are compatible with any machine you stick it in?

I've found zips to be so much easier...but most computers aren't equiped with them.

 

[däycüs mäximüs]

when i switched, i used cd-rw's, burned through roxio easy cd creator (it's called roxio toast for macs). just burned a whole bunch of them with my important files and loaded them up when i got my gorgeous g4 imac.

this seems to be the easiest way to do it, since my pc was sold before i got my mac.

otherwise, you could always get some twisted-pair ethernet cable and go from your mac to pc (assuming you still have your pc, that is).

 

[Pamela]

I think you misunderstood me...it isn't to transfer MY files...I can fiddle with that.

It's for in the real world...when I have a file and don't know what type of computer I'm going to need to transfer it to...therefore not being able to account for platform and software availability etc...

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

are we to assume that you wish to be able to read, modify and save these files on each platform?

 

[Pamela]

yes.

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

What about an USB drive? you can store and save files to it by attaching it to the computer of choice.

Just make sure the USB drive is formatted 1/2 as NTFS and 1/2 as Mac.

Move the files you are working on back and forth from the NTFS partition for PC and the Mac partition for Mac.
The NTFS will retain the Mac info. when being moved back to the Mac. A Fat32 partition will not.

I think that may work.

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

I also have assumed that the PCs you are using support NTFS. i.e. Win NT, 2000, XP, etc.

 

[Pamela]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by macspectrum:
What about an USB drive? you can store and save files to it by attaching it to the computer of choice.

Just make sure the USB drive is formatted as NTFS.

I think that may work.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

hhmmm...maybe. I AM getting an ipod and hoped that that would do the trick...but people weren't sure if I would be able to plug it into a pc or non os 10.2.4 machine.

When you say usb drive are you talking about those little keys or a big drive?

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Depends on how much data you are carrying around.

I would suggest a real USB and FireWire drive. FW is much faster for Macs but most PCs don't have FW yet, but most PCs do have USB.

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Just make sure the USB drive is formatted 1/2 as NTFS and 1/2 as Mac.

Move the files you are working on back and forth from the NTFS partition for PC and the Mac partition for Mac.
The NTFS will retain the Mac info. when being moved back to the Mac. A Fat32 partition will not.

 

[Pamela]

I guess I was hoping for an easier answer. Like "format this type of cd *this* way" or "this is how you make your ipod work to hold non mp3 files and then transfer them to any computer"

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Sorry about not having a 'magic bullet' for you.

I didn't think the USB drive was that difficult, after al you did say you wanted to save the data back to the media.

Or were you going to keep burning CDs all the time?

There usually is no free lunch.

 

[Pamela]

Maybe I should have stated the purpose of why I'm asking...

I work at home on my pc or will be on my new powerbook. I create jpegs, flash files, pdf's, word files, powerpoint presentations...etc...

Then I go to school and I need to be able to bring a file or two with me once in a while to do a presentation or share a file for my project...you know...the usual reason you'd burn a file to a cd.

Like I mentioned before...it seems that burning a file onto a cd isn't fool proof and more than once I've been stuck with the cd not being readable or the files not being readable on the computer I'm trying to use it on.

SOOO...I was wondering if anyone had advice on minimizing this problem.

Pretty simple really.

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Now I'm confused.
First you agree you want to modify these files on multple systems and then save these modifications on multiple systems.

Now you say you don't. Now you say it's pretty simple, really.

Which is it exactly? 1 or 2? black or white? stop or go?

 

[MACSPECTRUM]

Here's your SIMPLE solution:
http://www.ehmac.com/cgi_bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=9&t=001364

 

[Pamela]

whatever.

 

[Kuni]

I'm very confused by this thread. ;

This will sound stupid, but it's worth a shot; hope you won't think I'm being patronising. *bows respectfully* Are you certain that the software these files are created in is constant across both platforms? I've had problems bringing things to school and vice versa if the program they were created in is up-to-date, but the program I try to access them with is outdated, and can't read the new file.

100 Mb zip disks are great for file transfer between Mac and PC, but the problem is that they're a bit more rare than CD drives, obviously. 250 Mb zip drives, in my experience, are even rarer.

USB drive is probably the most convenient way to go. I'd recommend looking into that option, but that's just me.

 

[Pamela]

I know Kuni...this thread ended up being more complicated than it was supposed to be. And yes, the programs were the same. One case was pdf's so it's irrelevant and the others were jpgs and photoshop files.

For instance. I got a new cd burner for my pc and it automatically burned in the "mt. ranier" format (I really have no idea what that is)...I took it to school and didn't think much about it...popped it into my laptop to do my presentation and it didn't see my files at all. Tried it on the teachers mac...didn't work their either.

I got home and put it in "regular mode" (turned of the mt. ranier format) so then I popped it in my laptop and it worked.

Another example. I have the nero burning software at home. I took my disk to school and popped it into one of the pc's there to work on it and it wouldn't read my disk. The computers had Adaptec easy cd creator installed as their burning software and they didn't have nero so it didn't read my disk.

Those are just two very basic difficulties I've had with burning to cd and then putting it on a machine other than my own.

I don't think zip is the answer. But the cd thing just gets more complicated with all the different formats and platforms out there it seems. I thought maybe someone knew of a foolproof way to burn that most to all machines could read. I'm not going to go out and spend hundreds of dollars to work around this problem. I was just asking for some advice.

I still think the ipod should be able to do this somehow though. I'm waiting for a genius to show up and tell me how

 

[betelgeuse]

The burning software that's used shouldnt make a difference in terms of compatibility. I always transfer files from computer to computer using cd-r's across all platforms and have never had an issue. It is however a known issue that *some* cd drives can't read cd's from *some* cd-r's.

as for ipods i've used 1 on both mac and pc fine without issues.

I suggest something like lacie's pocket drive - fair amount of disk space, fast, small (fits in your pocket) and cross platform compatible. and it supports firewire and usb i think.

 

[Kosh]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pamela:
I guess I was hoping for an easier answer. Like "format this type of cd *this* way" or "this is how you make your ipod work to hold non mp3 files and then transfer them to any computer"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The rules I would follow are:

- don't use CD-RWs, use CD-Rs
- don't use cheap CD-Rs
- write a lower speeds

Just this week, my employer was distributing Quicktax on CD-Rs or CD-RWs (legally) at work. I don't know what they used, but the CD would give errors when read from the CD-ROMs of various PCs, even mine. I then tried it in my CD-writer drive and it seemed to work better. Either they used cheap CD-Rs or it was a CD-RW.