Going from PC to Mac...Should I do this?

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Mack Entertainment said:
I just checked and my external DJ hard drive is formatted NTFS so I'm going to have to but a new drive, format it on the Mac. And copy the files over. It may be a while before I go mac lol.


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NTFS can be read by Mac. It cannot be written to.

DJ Bobcat said:
Also, the command line interface (CMD) is a positive, not a negative for Systems Administrators and the like. Sometimes the GUI is too cumbersome.
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Agreed - I often use command line shortcuts. It can be quicker than click here, click here, then click here. There are also instances where you need to run PowerShell (root level CMD) to execute scripts, commands, etc. that cannot be run from the GUI.

For those of you that may try to dabble, playing with PowerShell the wrong way can have catastrophic results.
 
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ittigger said:
NTFS can be read by Mac. It cannot be written to.
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Yeah that's it. I'm not quite sure what VirtualDJ does when it runs but clicking on a genre directory takes much longer with this drive connected to my macbook. It could be trying to write something and that's what slowing it down. Either way I think a clean mac formatted hard drive is probably going to be safest in the long run.
 
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Mack Entertainment said:
Yeah that's it. I'm not quite sure what VirtualDJ does when it runs but clicking on a genre directory takes much longer with this drive connected to my macbook. It could be trying to write something and that's what slowing it down. Either way I think a clean mac formatted hard drive is probably going to be safest in the long run.
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I use Serato on Macs with an NTFS library .. no issues. In Serato, I have the option of using Crates, browsing and/or using the iTunes index.

I primarily use the iTunes index but browsing and crates has no issues. Maybe VDJ is trying to write a DB to the drive? Serato writes to the local drive.

Keep in mind that if you convert a drive to HFS or HFS+, it will not be written to by MS. Any processes you do to add music to the drive will have to be relearned and redone on OSX. If you need to write from both OS, Apple and MS can natively read and write to FAT.
 
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ittigger said:
Keep in mind that if you convert a drive to HFS or HFS+, it will not be written to by MS. Any processes you do to add music to the drive will have to be relearned and redone on OSX. If you need to write from both OS, Apple and MS can natively read and write to FAT.
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Thanks for the heads up. I have some experience with my mac but just never DJ'd with it before. It should be fine but just not as quick of a process as I was hoping for.
 
The current Mac OSX is a Unix derived OS and the UI is a subsystem (same as disk handling, networking, etc.) .. not an integral part of the OS kernel .. no different than Windows (itself a Unix like OS - actually Posix - since NT).

Windows NT derived OSes (Windows 2K and greater) don't actually run DOS, but they do have a DOS virtual machine .. though I believe only on the 32 bit versions and not sure about versions after 7.
 
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ittigger said:
That's true for older Windows machines (Win 3.11 / 95). Not so much since Windows XP and beyond. Win7 was a rewrite, so alot changed with that too. You can still get to a command prompt, but it's not the same DOS of old.

Your point is valid though - Traditionally, Apple has been a hardware based GUI whereas Windows has been a software based GUI.

Part of the reason for all the Windows updates is the user base. MS is the premiere attacked platform in the world. By design, Windows has not been as secure an OS as Unix and its variations, Linux, OSX, etc. Add in that the users are not being proactive in protecting their systems properly (users have Admin acct, etc).
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Thanks. I see why your username starts with IT haha. I haven't been keeping up with technology very well so this has been an interesting thread. It's been over 20 years since I took computer classes. I remember being surprised when apple dropped the motorola processor, went with intel and came out with the mac mini that required connecting all peripherals via USB. It seemed like a step backward at the time.
 
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steve149 said:
The current Mac OSX is a Unix derived OS and the UI is a subsystem (same as disk handling, networking, etc.) .. not an integral part of the OS kernel .. no different than Windows (itself a Unix like OS - actually Posix - since NT).

Windows NT derived OSes (Windows 2K and greater) don't actually run DOS, but they do have a DOS virtual machine .. though I believe only on the 32 bit versions and not sure about versions after 7.
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So you mean I could play Rogue on a mac? No telling how many hours I pissed away with that stupid game.
 
steve149 said:
Windows NT derived OSes (Windows 2K and greater) don't actually run DOS, but they do have a DOS virtual machine .. though I believe only on the 32 bit versions and not sure about versions after 7.
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The DOS virtual machine was for apps that needed that environment. As far as I know, CMD and PowerShell do not use the VM.

The DOS virtual machine is still alive and well in Win7. If you have a 64 bit machine though, the VM will try to run 32 bit on a 64 bit platform, which may or may not work well. This would be classified as a MS Feature.
 
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Mack Entertainment said:
Yeah that's it. I'm not quite sure what VirtualDJ does when it runs but clicking on a genre directory takes much longer with this drive connected to my macbook. It could be trying to write something and that's what slowing it down. Either way I think a clean mac formatted hard drive is probably going to be safest in the long run.
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VDJ is creating a do on the root of the drive. It cannot write to NTFS from Mac. That is probs lay what the hang up is. But I would think it would read the existing g database file.
 
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Inspired by this thread I went about to changing my main desktop to run Ubuntu 14.04 (LTS) as it's primary OS. I'm running a small 256GB SSD in this machine. I keep kicking myself for buying such a small SSD off of the bat but it works out okay I keep all my big stuff in the cloud and on an external.

On a hunch, I pulled out an old OEM Windows 7 Home Premium DVD that was tied to my old desktop. The mobo fried and I threw it out 2 maybe 3 years ago. What do you know it activated in a virtual machine! I spent most of Friday and Saturday letting it update itself and restart ad nauseam. This morning I have a full usable Windows 7 install corralled in a virtual machine.

Attached is a screenshot -- What you see is my Ubuntu desktop on my primary monitor and Windows 7 running full screen on the second monitor. Pretty schweet!

W7 on top of Ubuntu.png
 
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Are you saying you have Windows 7 running without it having been married to the motherboard, or you actually had to activate it with Microsoft?
 
Handinon said:
Are you saying you have Windows 7 running without it having been married to the motherboard, or you actually had to activate it with Microsoft?
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Yup, surprisingly so for me. I was expecting to have to call in and all that jazz. I ran the install and put in my key. Once I got to the desktop, I activated Windows from the start menu with no hassles.

Screenshot from 2015-03-01 11:33:32.png

Maybe it has something to do with the license not being in use for 2-3 years? I'm surprised as it's an OEM disk and supposedly they're tied to the mobo. I'm going to try it again on my new laptop with a second Home Premium DVD I have for my old laptop that bit the dust a couple years ago too.

Currently copying my 200GB Dropbox folder to an external before wiping and doing a fresh install of 14.04 on my laptop; 14.10 doesn't play nice with waking up from suspend. I've been abusing Time Warner Cable. :D I must have downloaded that 200GB folder 5 or 6 times in the past few weeks playing around with OS reinstalls.
 
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If you have a Windows 7 install disc and not the MFR's rebuild disc, then it would have worked. MFR's rebuild discs (with the preinstalled crap) are the ones that look for the original hardware.
 
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ittigger said:
If you have a Windows 7 install disc and not the MFR's rebuild disc, then it would have worked. MFR's rebuild discs (with the preinstalled crap) are the ones that look for the original hardware.
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Ah that's the key. The computer I bought this disc for came with Vista. When W7 came out I bought an OEM W7 disc because it's a little cheaper than full retail. I was under the impression that any OEM install disc was tied to the hardware hash.
 
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