Transfering Files Windows to Mac

I have the hard drive from my old laptop that has all my files on it and I'm going to order a macbook pro in the next day or two. Anyways how do I transfer files from the hard drive to the new computer if the hard drive has windows on it? Would my new mac like freak out and start doing weird things? Or maybe I just used windows for too long and I'm freaking out that every little thing I do to a computer diminishes its capabilities in some way lol the hard drive itself is actually separated from the laptop.

BTW this won't sway my decision to buy a mac. I've already made up my mind a little over a year ago lol and was waiting for my computer to fall apart.

 

Go to a computer store like CompUSA and get one of their $15 notebook USB drive enclosures (assuming PATA drive, SATA ones may be more expensive).

Install the drive in the USB enclosure, plug it in to your Mac, and voila, copy whatever data files you want off of it. Of course you'll need a compatable Mac application to process the files - for instance something like NeoOffice or OpenOffice to process Word, or Excel files.

OR if your drive is still in your PC and your PC is still working, SHARE the appropriate folders on the PC and if the Mac is on the same network you can copy them over the network. (Click on Network in Finder, locate your machine and click on it, then click on directories and drag and drop to your mac documents folder or another appropriate spot)

Mac's Rock ;-)

 

Get a crossover cable. That's always the cheapest and most economic way.
OS X can read files in a NTFS partition, so you would be able to copy files from your Windows NTFS onto your OS X through OS X. Note that Windows cannot read or write to or from a HFS (OS X) partition.

 

He seems to have just the HDD, not an actual Windows machine to play with. If he can actually attach the drive to a machine, then this is indeed the simpler and most cost effective way.

 

Yeah I just have the hard drive, not the actual computer. The actual computer fell apart into a billion pieces so I took the hard drive out.

 

yeah, external drive enclosures will work.
I just recently bought a firewire one for my 7200 rpm 60 gig drive from my old POS sager. Works like a charm.
Get a decent one and use it as a backup drive.

 

I should be getting my macbook pro by the third or fourth of january by Apple's estimate. anyway I ordered a hard drive enclosure on amazon but I'm not sure if it's going to fit lol. I ordered this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Slim-...s_2/104-6311684-9455938?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

and my hard drive is an IBM travelstar 40GB. PLEASE TELL ME IT FITS....

I'm going to miss the 115000+ viruses written for windows...wait, no I'm not!!!!

 

There are a number of variables. You need to know drive size, drive height, and interface type. Its also nice to know drive speed and if the enclosure is USB powered or comes with a power supply.

This enclosure matches the 2.5" size of your drive. You don't mention the height of your drive nor does the enclosure but it says "any notebook drive" so you are likely ok. I expect from your drive size thats is PATA and while the drive enclosure again does not say, thats the most common type in notebooks more than a year old (many recient or higher end notebooks use SATA). I'll also assume a 4200 or 5400 RPM drive from its size (less safe) which means it will likely run off USB power (many 7200 rpm drives won't).

Bottom line - it likely will work fine, I'd give it an 80% chance of success.