Transferring files from Mac to PC

[Jon Joel]

Okay so i have a good bit of files (none of which individually are over 4gb) that i want to move from my Mac to a new PC I am building, all of these files are either images (in .jpg .gif or .png i think) or videos (in .mov .mp4 .swf and more probably).

My question is, what is the safest and most cost effective way to do this, they are all valuable files and i do not want to lose them in transfer or anything like that, would an external drive be good for moving them? if so i heard i had to format it differently into fat32 or exfat or something. I also heard you can use ethernet connection. I do not have an external drive yet but have no problem purchasing one if it's necessary. Any help on this matter would be nice. I am fine with my PC being the only thing compatible with the hard drive after the files are moved, because that's all i want to do.

I've also been wondering the age old question of which hard drive is better for my new PC, i'm only planning on getting a 1tb drive but i see so many different answers. I really do not want to lose any of these files. Same sort of thing if i need to purchase an external drive, i just want something reliable. Thank you for your responses. I will include my systems if it matters at all.

-----------

Mac

MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010) on newest version of OS, i think it's 10.10.2.

My new PC I'm building

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9VNYzy) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9VNYzy/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646e31231v3) | $239.99 @ SuperBiiz
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $28.89 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97gaming5) | $134.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f312800cl9d8gbxl) | $64.75 @ OutletPC
**Storage** | [Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz75e250bam) | $97.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $49.30 @ Amazon
**Video Card** | [MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-gtx970gaming4g) | $339.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Case** | [NZXT Phantom ATX Full Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-phan001rd) | $112.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Optical Drive** | [Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-optical-drive-drw24b1stblkbas) | $18.95 @ OutletPC
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-gfc02050) | $86.89 @ OutletPC
**Wireless Network Adapter** | [TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/tp-link-wireless-network-card-tlwdn4800) | $34.80 @ Amazon
**Other**| VIZIO razor tv|
**Other**| Redragon Karura K502 USB Keyboard| $25.99
**Other**| Redragon LAVAWOLF M701 3500 DPI| $18.99
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1264.51
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| **Total** | **$1254.51**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-04-21 19:32 EDT-0400 |

 

[zechstiver]

You may be able to find your answer here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2636421
Hope this helps!

 

[Jon Joel]

i've already seen that but it doesn't seem very reliable because of all the typos etc. in there

 

[jsmithepa]

By how important those files are to you, as long as you have them backed up somewhere, you will be OK. The transfer method is not really that important. If you want to be absolutely certain, can always (1)Copy, then once you verified, then (2)Delete. Yes, an external USB drive will work fine. Ethernet works too, you may have to find a crossover Ethernet cable if you don't already have a hub/switch/WIFI router with Ethernet ports on the back. What's your pleasure?

 

[kenrivers]

If you purchase an external drive you should format the drive as either FAT32 or exFAT. I have a MacBook and a PC and I use an external drive formatted as exFAT and both the PC and MacBook are able to read and write files to that drive.

 

[hendry_2]

Cost effective? Why not use an ethernet cable? You don't even need a dime to do this. Just use the ethernet cable lying around your desk.

Ethernet cable is the best and fastest way to transfer files between PC and Mac. I normally get transfer speed of 125MB/s. Yes, that's MEGABYTES. Which means you can transfer 20 GB of files in less than 8 minutes.

Here I found a step by step guide to set up ethernet cable to transfer files between Mac and PC: http://www.tufitech.com/how-to/transfer-files-from-pc-to-mac-fast-way/

I hope you find this helpful.

Have a good one.