Question Using Mac Time machine with a PC

[Rushlight]

My grandma is going to replace her old mac computer with a newer windows 7 pc, however, she has A LOT of pictures, videos, Emails etc. on her time machine.
She is currently using the time Machine as a backup/router, and i know the router works fine with a pc.
The problem is that the time Machine HD is in Mac extended format... i need to know if it is possible to continue to use the time machine in it's current state with a pc (as an external HD).

If not, we'll have to copy everything to another external harddrive in FAT 32, and that would be a major pain in the ass.

 

[daship]

Or just get another mac, or a dual boot PC with mac and windows.

 

[mercer95]

would it be possible to connect them both to the router and copy them over the network?

or even just link them together with a Ethernet cable?

 

[Ijack]

I presume that you mean a Time Capsule rather than Time Machine (Time Machine is software, Time Capsule is hardware). Really this is piece of hardware that is designed to work with Macs, so I think you are going to have problems using it with a PC.

The question is, why on earth is your Grandma replacing her Mac with a Windows PC? With the investment that she has in Mac hardware and the experience she has, she would be far better off buying a new Mac. Has someone persuaded her that she needs Windows? - she doesn't.

 

[Rushlight]

The reason is that
a) she has had Manny problems with mac in the past.
b) macs are FAR more expensive for what is now arguably the same quality (depending on the pc brand)
c) i cant help her with mac issues and she doesn't understand the concept of Tech forums.

Yes, i meant the device. I know the format that the device backs up the files in (its a simple date change tree) i thought about the network, and that is no problem, but i need to know if when i copy the stuff over the network, will it be able to be read by the pc. this is mostly a formatting issue.

 

[Ijack]

c) sounds like someone has persuaded her.

I think she's going to have problems changing to Windows. Whether you like them or not users who are not particularly computer literate don't tend to have lots of problems with Macs. Still, it's her choice.

I doubt that you will be able to use the existing backed up material as is with Windows. I suspect that you're going to have to use the Mac to access it, copy it to the Windows machine, and then copy it back to the Time Capsule from the Windows machine. It might be better to scrap the Time Capsule also and get a more generic storage solution. Mac equipment doesn't tend to play nicely with PCs.