First MacPro and a couple of questions...

[Reelybored]

Hey all, been lurking this site for a bit trying to gather knowledge the vast knowledge that so many of you have to offer in the Mac world. Being that this is my first venture into Mac there are some questions that I can't seem to find the answers to and I'm hoping to get some help from some of you folks.

1.) I have a 1TB HD on my current windows PC with about 460gb worth of data in it (docs, pics, vids, etc.) Is there anyway to insert this HD into the Mac Pro, transfer the files into another HD in another bay, then format the 1TB HD to Mac standards? OR do I have to clear the HD first and only then can i put into the Mac pro and find some other means of transferring the 460gb worth of data into the Mac?

2.) I still want to have access to my PC and from what I understand I can do so with a KVM switch in that I can share a monitor. However, I have a dual monitor setup and if my research serves me correct, for the most part KVM switches that support dual setups are pretty expensive. I wont be needing the both screens when I want to work on my PC. My question is, can I somehow setup everything with a KVM switch so that I can use the dual monitor on my mac but only one monitor when I switch over to the PC? If yes, how would I go about doing this?

Thanks so much in advance and I apologize for the lengthy post. Really excited about owning my first Mac!

 

[diazj3]

1) You can just insert the PC drive into the MP, transfer the data as OS X can read the drive, and then - if you wish to use that drive with OS X, format it accordingly. Or, you can use the drive to import the information into a VM.

2) I'm not familiar with KVM - hope someone else can help you with the specifics... but - if I may ask - why use both computers simultaneously? have you considered a VM or Bootcamp? you can use both OS in the mac... no need for an extra machine.

cheers!

 

[Reelybored]

1) You can just insert the PC drive into the MP, transfer the data as OS X can read the drive, and then - if you wish to use that drive with OS X, format it accordingly. Or, you can use the drive to import the information into a VM.

2) I'm not familiar with KVM - hope someone else can help you with the specifics... but - if I may ask - why use both computers simultaneously? have you considered a VM or Bootcamp? you can use both OS in the mac... no need for an extra machine.

cheers!

Thanks so much for clarifying #1 as I was hoping this was possible, saves me a bunch of time.

As far as using my PC, I won't be using it simultaneously probably mostly as storage. still trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to do, might just can the whole idea and just be completely done with my PC, but having been a PC user for, well, for my entire life it's just not that easy to let go

If I do decide to ditch the PC, can I pull the 500gb HD that's on it right now and do use the same method you suggested with my other HD even though this HD would have Windows installed in it? OR will the Mac OS just ignore it and I can proceed to transfer the files into the Mac, reformat the drive then just drag all the files in?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Reelybored]

1) You can just insert the PC drive into the MP, transfer the data as OS X can read the drive, and then - if you wish to use that drive with OS X, format it accordingly. Or, you can use the drive to import the information into a VM.

2) I'm not familiar with KVM - hope someone else can help you with the specifics... but - if I may ask - why use both computers simultaneously? have you considered a VM or Bootcamp? you can use both OS in the mac... no need for an extra machine.

cheers!

BTW - I have a BD drive (read/write) on my PC and from I understand Mac doesn't support BD, or am I way off on this?

 

[DanielCoffey]

Your MP has no internal BD drive but I believe you can use any external (USB2/FW800) BD drive without issue. I am sure this can be verified with purchasing recommendations by someone who has done it.

 

[Reelybored]

Your MP has no internal BD drive but I believe you can use any external (USB2/FW800) BD drive without issue. I am sure this can be verified with purchasing recommendations by someone who has done it.

Thanks for the info Daniel!

 

[initialsBB]

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There is no native movie playback support for BD in OS X, but it will work for all the rest.

For the KVM, connect the primary monitor to the mac, the secondary to the KVM. I don't see why it would not work, and that would allow you to see the Windows machine side by side to the mac when you need to.

 

[Reelybored]

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There is no native movie playback support for BD in OS X, but it will work for all the rest.

For the KVM, connect the primary monitor to the mac, the secondary to the KVM. I don't see why it would not work, and that would allow you to see the Windows machine side by side to the mac when you need to.

thanks for that info. i dont even need it to be on at the same time, it was more so just to have the option of using the pc if/when i needed to use it. but it looks like it is possible to do with the KVM.

thank you for the information, appreciate it

 

[jonnymo5]

There are some programs available that will let you access the windows drive from Mac OSX and pull the files over to a different drive. Then you can just format it and use it in your Mac.

As for the Blu-ray you can install it just fine but there is no support for playback of the movies. You can read data off of it and write to it just fine. To watch the movie on your mac you would want to rip it to an MKV file. MakeMKV is a great program for this.

 

[ActionableMango]

Yes you can use the KVM switch in the manner you describe, just hook it up to the primary monitor and leave the secondary monitor hooked up to the computer directly.

Be certain your KVM switch is rated for the resolution of your monitor. For whatever reason, many KVM switches max out at 1920x1200, and some max out at even less than that.

 

[Reelybored]

Thanks Jonny. You wouldn't happen to know the name of said program off the top of your head would you. I'll google it and see if I can find anything but just in case i can't...

I don't really plan on watching movies with the BD drive, it was morseso for authoring HD home movies and data. Is the mac capable of that? (no, from what i understand)

Thanks for your help!

There are some programs available that will let you access the windows drive from Mac OSX and pull the files over to a different drive. Then you can just format it and use it in your Mac.

As for the Blu-ray you can install it just fine but there is no support for playback of the movies. You can read data off of it and write to it just fine. To watch the movie on your mac you would want to rip it to an MKV file. MakeMKV is a great program for this.

 

[Reelybored]

Yes you can use the KVM switch in the manner you describe, just hook it up to the primary monitor and leave the secondary monitor hooked up to the computer directly.

Be certain your KVM switch is rated for the resolution of your monitor. For whatever reason, many KVM switches max out at 1920x1200, and some max out at even less than that.

Sounds great! Thank you! now to find a decent one

 

[ActionableMango]

Thanks Jonny. You wouldn't happen to know the name of said program off the top of your head would you. I'll google it and see if I can find anything but just in case i can't...

Recent macs, or maybe any mac with fully updated Snow Leopard, can read NTFS natively with no additional software needed. If you have an older mac/OS, look up NTFS3G or MacFuse.

 

[goMac]

Any Mac since... well, as far back as I can remember, can read from a Windows drive.

Writing files back to a Windows drive is a bit more complicated, but if you don't need to do that, it's not something to worry about.

 

[ActionableMango]

Any Mac since... well, as far back as I can remember, can read from a Windows drive.

Writing files back to a Windows drive is a bit more complicated, but if you don't need to do that, it's not something to worry about.

I just looked it up. It looks like NTFS read support was introduced with OS X 10.3 Panther. As far back as you remember might be referring to FAT, not NTFS.

 

[goMac]

I just looked it up. It looks like NTFS read support was introduced with OS X 10.3 Panther. As far back as you remember might be referring to FAT, not NTFS.

I've been using Macs a long long time, so my memory gets fuzzy at a certain point. 10.3 is about as far back as I can clearly remember OS X features...

 

[Reelybored]

thanks everyone for all the help. did a bit of research and came upon that info that states I can pretty much connect my ntfs hdd into a mac and transfer (pretty much what a couple of you have already said) i believe my incoming mac comes with OS 10.6 so I should be good.

Now to research KVM switches this is fun!

 

[initialsBB]

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You could skip the KVM entirely if one of the monitors has 2 inputs: use the DVI input for the mac and the VGA for the PC, then switching between the two at monitor level. It means having a spare keyboard an mouse for the PC, but it would be cheaper than a KVM...

 

[Reelybored]

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You could skip the KVM entirely if one of the monitors has 2 inputs: use the DVI input for the mac and the VGA for the PC, then switching between the two at monitor level. It means having a spare keyboard an mouse for the PC, but it would be cheaper than a KVM...

wow, it never dawned on me to check behind my monitor being that it is mounted on my wall. checked it out after reading your post and lo and behold, there are two inputs! (1 DVI and 1 VGA) This is great and I already have a spare keyboard and mouse.

You my friend are a lifesaver! thanks so much!

 

[Reelybored]

ugh, think i stumbled into a minor snafu. my pc has a graphics card with 2 dvi inputs for the monitor so looks like there is no vga support on it. The other I hav, fairly old dell monitor is VGA, but had to get a VGA to DVI adapter to be able to use it.

So, based on the quick "research" i just did, the two inputs need to be different in order to have the one monitor running on separate computers or the monitor will get "confused" as to which computer is utilizing the monitor. wow, did that even make sense? (think i just confused the hell out of myself! lol) Am i correct in that i cannot use the DVI and the VGA-DVI adapter to make this work? hoping im wrong

 

[initialsBB]

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I just said DVI & VGA because that's what most monitors have, but 2 DVIs will work fine too as long as the monitor has a physical button to switch inputs... Which it should, somewhere !

 

[Reelybored]

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I just said DVI & VGA because that's what most monitors have, but 2 DVIs will work fine too as long as the monitor has a physical button to switch inputs... Which it should, somewhere !

sounds good, thanks! mac should be coming today so i'll try to pick up an extra cable and test it out. thanks again for your help!

 

[initialsBB]

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Enjoy

 

[Reelybored]

on my new mac pro as i type this, loving it!

BTW @initialsBB - all is working great and ur suggestions are perfect! thanks!