Home-Word-Fully working with NTFS on Mac OS X. Mac OS and NTFS: the problem and its best solution

Fully working with NTFS on Mac OS X. Mac OS and NTFS: the problem and its best solution

Windows media, but cannot write data to it by default. Fortunately, there are several ways to get around this limitation, and today we will tell you about them.

This is useful if you want to install Boot Camp on your Mac, since Windows uses the NTFS file system. However, for external media it is better to use the exFAT system. macOS can both read and write exFAT media, just like Windows.

Available options

You will have to choose one from the options below.

  • Paid third party drivers: There are third party NTFS drivers for Mac that you can install and they will work quite well. They are paid, but they are easy to install and will work better than free ones.
  • Free third party drivers: There are also free drivers that provide NTFS support, but they are more difficult to install, especially on Macs running 11 El Capitan and later. They are slower than paid ones and less secure.
  • Experimental supportNTFS fromApple: The macOS operating system has experimental support for writing to NTFS media. However, it is disabled by default and can be enabled via Terminal. There is no guarantee that the function will work properly, and it may even cause problems with the NTFS file system. This can often result in data corruption. We strongly discourage using this support, and it is disabled by default for a reason.

Best paid driver:Paragon NTFS ForMac

Any user of the OS X operating system sooner or later is faced with the need to write something to a drive with the NTFS file system. This could be an external drive or a partition with Windows installed along with macOS. The result will be predictable: Apple computers perfectly read information from these media, but are helpless when it is necessary to write something down. However, this problem is quite simple to solve.

The NTFS file system was developed by Microsoft for the Windows NT family of operating systems and was supposed to replace the “old lady” FAT. Moreover, the morally and actually outdated file system is still alive today, and OS X works great with it. Difficulties for the Apple operating system arise exclusively when encountering NTFS. There are several solutions:

  • use “Terminal” to activate NTFS recording for each individual drive;
  • install a free driver that adds NTFS writing support to OS X;
  • use paid solutions from Tuxera or Paragon.

In general, all solutions have the right to life and are arranged from the most complex to the simplest. You can actually manually enable write support for each individual NTFS drive. This method is the least practical and will require at least minimal skills in working with the Terminal. For this reason we will omit it.

Instead, let's look at much more comprehensive and universal solutions that can solve our problem once and for all. Let's start with a free driver called NTFS-3G. Let's make a disclaimer right away: it works unstable with the latest version of OS X - El Capitan. Therefore, you shouldn't expect support for macOS Sierra to arrive in the fall. NTFS-3G is suitable for users who use OS X 10.10 or older Apple operating systems.

You can download the NTFS-3G driver. We also need MacFUSE.

After downloading everything you need, install MacFUSE, and then NTFS-3G. When installing the latter, you will need to specify the caching method: select No caching. After installation, you need to restart your computer.

NTFS-3G settings will be available in system settings. It's better not to change anything here. Note that you can uninstall the driver from here. That's it, NTFS support is implemented.

Now let's look at paid solutions. There are two of them: Tuxera NTFS and Paragon NTFS.

Tuxera NTFS can be downloaded from the official website of the developer. A trial version is available for 15 days. The full version costs $31. A reboot will be required after installation, and the settings are also available in System Settings. In general, the solution from Tuxera will work immediately after installation and restarting the system; no additional settings are required.

The analogue and main competitor of Tuxera NTFS is Paragon NTFS. This popular driver will cost a little less (990 rubles), but the trial version is also valid for 5 days less. You can download Paragon NTFS. The installation process is very simple, do not forget to restart the computer. You can access driver parameters in a similar way, only their number is significantly smaller than that of a competitor. On the other hand, the average user does not care about this.

The most interesting thing awaits at the testing stage: Paragon NTFS turns out to be slightly faster than Tuxera NTFS. In addition, both paid solutions put NTFS-3G on both blades. Thus, choosing a solution for writing to partitions with the NTFS file system should be based on your needs.

If you work with such drives very rarely, then there is no point in purchasing drivers from Paragon or Tuxera, because the writing speed will probably not be critical.

If you have to work with NTFS partitions on a regular basis, then you should look towards paid solutions. At the same time, Paragon NTFS is cheaper, but has less configuration flexibility. Tuxera NTFS is a little more expensive, but has a large number of changeable parameters. In addition, Paragon's solution has a higher write speed.

By default, a Mac cannot write files to most flash drives and external hard drives. This happens because they are formatted with the NTFS file system. You may encounter this feature if you try to write a file to a colleague’s flash drive or to your external hard drive, which was used before switching to a Mac.

The problem is easy to fix: Mac will work with any drive if you install a special application. Another option is to format your flash drive or external hard drive with the ExFAT file system, which by default works with both macOS and Windows without installing additional applications.

Method 1: format the drive with the ExFAT file system

To format an external drive in ExFAT, you must:

1. Connect a flash drive or external hard drive to the Mac;

2. Open the Disk Utility application. To do this, go to Finder - “Programs” - open the “Utilities” folder. Find the “Disk Utility” application in it and launch it;

3. Select the desired drive in the sidebar and switch to the “Erase” tab;


4. Select ExFAT from the drop-down list in the “Format” section;

5. Click "Erase".

Attention! The data from the flash drive will be completely deleted. Copy them to your computer in advance; after formatting, you can return them back.

Pros:

    simple and fast;

    for free;

    no need to install additional applications.

Cons:

    This method is not suitable for working with other people's flash drives and hard drives. If you have to do this often, it is wiser to install the NTFS driver.

Method 2: Install NTFS Driver on Mac

There are several drivers that solve the problem. We have reviewed the two best solutions and suggest you familiarize yourself with their pros and cons.

Tuxera NTFS for Mac


Tuxera is a driver for Mac computers that helps them learn to work fully with the NTFS file system.

To install the driver, you must:

1. Download Tuxera NTFS for Mac from the official website. The application is paid, but there is a trial version for 15 days;

2.

3. Tuxera NTFS.

No additional settings are required for Tuxera NTFS to work. It will automatically turn on instead of the standard driver and mount all connected drives. After these simple manipulations, the Mac will be able to fully work with connected flash drives and hard drives formatted in the NTFS file system.

Pros:

    easy to install and operate;

    takes up little space;

    transmits data quickly and securely.

Cons:

    high price: the full version will cost $31.

Paragon NTFS for Mac


Paragon NTFS for Mac is a popular driver from the Russian developer Paragon Software. The main advantages of the utility are reliability, stability, high data copying speed and timely updates.

The installation process is similar to Tuxera:

1. Download Paragon NTFS for Mac from the official website. The application is paid, but there is a trial version for 10 days;

2. Install the driver and then restart the Mac;

3. Go to the Settings application. A new application will appear in the “Others” section NTFS for macOS. Here you can configure it or delete it.

Installation is quick and easy. The installer has a friendly interface in Russian. The driver itself has minimal settings: it can be turned on or off. Paragon's write speed is comparable to Tuxera, but its read speed is 5 megabytes per second higher.

Pros:

Cons:

    I am sure that almost all Mac owners have encountered the problem of writing files to a drive formatted in NTFS. If everything is in order with reading information from such media, then for writing you have to turn to third-party utilities.

    You can, of course, enable recording support in the standard driver for OS X by editing the fstab file, but if you don’t want to get an “empty box” instead of a hard drive, then it’s better not to do this.

    Before we look at the most popular NTFS drivers on Mac OS X, I want to immediately warn you that each of them wins in some ways and loses in others. There are several important criteria that should be adhered to:

    1. Reliability;

    2. Recording speed;

    3. Cost.

    Keep in mind, there is no perfect driver. Even the most expensive and widespread product will not meet all these criteria. So choose based on what is most important to you.

    SLNTFS

    A simple, free utility. The program has a minimum of settings, so despite the lack of Russian, not knowing English is not particularly embarrassing. The disadvantages include the need to manually enable recording every time you connect the drive, since by default the utility only has read mode enabled.

    NTFS - 3G

    Another free, reliable program with the ability to write files by default, which makes it more practical. Also, in the utility settings, you can open only the necessary sections for recording, thereby protecting yourself from losing all information. The disadvantages of NTFS-3G, as stated by the developers themselves, include the recording speed, since during development more attention was paid to stability. But if the speed performance of the driver is important to you, then the authors have worked hard especially for you and created a paid version called Tuxera for Mac.

    Tuxera NTFS for Mac

    The program differs from its free counterpart in its high recording speed. At the same time, the interface and settings have remained virtually unchanged. So you pay 25 euros only for the speed increase. I should note that some users say that they didn’t see much of an increase in speed, so before you buy, I recommend making sure whether the game is worth the candle (I haven’t checked it myself, it’s a toad to pay 25 euros :)).

    Paragon NTFS

    A more serious utility for working with NTFS. It is very popular among poppy growers due to its stable operation and wide capabilities, namely:

    1. Russification (although I don’t see much sense in it);

    2. File compression;

    3. It is even possible to create a boot disk.

    Conclusion: I think you are convinced that you can work with NTFS on Mac OS X without any problems, you just need to decide which criteria are of higher priority for you and download the appropriate utility. And as a conclusion, let me remind you that you shouldn’t work too actively with media with NTFS, writing / reading files is as much as you like, but let’s say it’s better not to download torrents to such media from a Mac. And of course, don’t forget about regular backups.

    P.S. You can read about other common problems faced by poppy growers in the article

    Many computer users Mac have to deal with drives formatted in NTFS- standard file system Windows. The built-in OS X driver does an excellent job of reading data from such disks, but when it comes to writing, you have to resort to the help of third-party utilities.

    It is worth immediately warning newcomers to Mac OS X that you should not enable recording support for the built-in driver by simple manipulations with the fstab file - this can damage the disk. Developers Apple It’s no wonder that they disabled recording in the standard driver - it works unstable: there are often cases when some files on the disk are not displayed.

    All the utilities listed in this article have sufficient performance for both simple copying or deleting files on the disk, and for active work with the drive. For example, using third-party drivers NTFS, you can comfortably work with torrents and even streaming data (video, sound) without any inconvenience.

    SLNTFS

    Quite simple, and most importantly - absolutely free utility. The program interface is minimalistic and convenient and does not require any deep knowledge in the field of file systems. The disadvantages include the fact that the utility first connects the disks in read mode - you have to manually enable the write-mount option in the program settings every time you connect a disk, which is not always convenient.

    Download SLNTFS

    Paragon NTFS

    A more well-known analogue for working with the file system NTFS. You will have to pay $19.95 for the program, but it fully pays for its functionality - it can even make NTFS disk bootable. A reboot will be required after installation Mac.

    NTFS-3G and Tuxera for Mac

    Paragon NTFS could safely be considered the best solution to the recording problem NTFS disks under Mac, if not for the utility from the company Tuxera, well known among users of UNIX-like operating systems, which is MacOS. There are 2 versions of the program - free NTFS-3G and paid ($31) - Tuxera for Mac. The only difference is in performance. However, the free version is suitable for most purposes. By default, disks are connected in recording mode. By the way, this utility was developed with an emphasis not on performance, but primarily on reliability and stability.



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