Can Macs on a network read files off of NTFS formatted HDs?

Factual Questions
1

As you can probably surmise from the topic, I’ll be putting together a mixed platform (Win2K and Mac) network in about a month. Thing is, my Win2K computers’ hard drives are NTFS formatted, which, IIRC, not even Win98 can read. So, will my friend’s Mac be able to read files off of 'em?

2

Windows 9x machines can access NTFS files that are shared over the network, just not on a local drive. For macs you’ll need to install File Services for Macintosh. It’s under Other Network File and Print Services in Add/Remove Programs in 2000 Server.

3

Mac Windows Integration
This book might be worth a look

Windows 2000 Mac Support Little Black Book: The Hands-on Reference Guide for Integrating Macintosh Desktops with Windows 2000 Server Environments

etc etc

4

Originally posted by Number

That is correct. To the other machines on the network, it doesn’t matter what format the drive is in, it only matters what network protocol is being used. Macs from ancient days to MacOS 9 speak AppleTalk natively for accessing networked drives, while PCs generally use NetBIOS (SMB), but NT Server (not Workstation) and 2000 (again, the Server version only as far as I know) has the optional Services for Macintosh which puts a (rather low-quality but good for the price) AppleTalk implementation to enable sharing volumes for Macs to access.

Alternatives exist: You can use Miramar’s PC MacLan product, which is a more robust implementation of AppleTalk on the PC, and which allows for two-way AppleTalk sharing (i.e., the PC can access volumes shared by Macintoshes using AppleTalk, which Services for Macintosh will not let you do); or you can install either DAVE (from Thursby Systems) or the competing product from Connectix, called DoubleTalk, either of which provide NetBIOS networking to the Mac, in which case the Macs have access to everything the PCs see in their Network Neighborhood, and the PCs don’t have to adjust for the Macs at all.

Also, MacOS X has a rudimentary and underdeveloped (but free and native) support for SMB built in, so if the Macs use OS X you don’t need to implement Services for Macintosh for them to be able to connect to your shares. (I use DAVE under OS X nevertheless because it is so much better than the built-in OS X implementation).

5

You may also want to check http://www.macwindows.com/ for more general-purpose information about making Macs and Wintel PCs play nice.

6

Neat. Thanks guys, this may work better than I would have ever expected. Even if I do have to buy some software to get some files off the Mac.