- MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC HOW TO
- MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC MAC OS X
- MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC SOFTWARE
- MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC PC
But that’s a very technical and difficult solution for most people. If you don’t have one, you can attempt to run an earlier version of macOS in a virtual machine, then link it to your USB Zip drive. To read HFS or HFS+ Zip disks, you’ll need to use a Mac running macOS 10.14 Mojave (2018) or earlier. It’s likely your Mac Zip disks were written in HFS format on a PowerPC Mac. So if you formatted a Zip disk using a Mac before 2009, the odds are very high it’s in HFS or HFS+ format.
MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC MAC OS X
But until Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (2009), the Mac operating system supported writing to HFS and HFS+ disks.
MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC SOFTWARE
What is a file system, you ask? It’s a software method that determines how an operating system writes data to (and reads data from) a storage medium such as a disk or hard drive. That’s because most Mac-formatted Zip disks use the now-obsolete HFS or HFS+ file system format that macOS today can’t read. If you’re trying to read vintage Mac-format Zip disks with a recent Mac running an up-to-date version of macOS, you’ll run into a significant roadblock very quickly.
MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC HOW TO
RELATED: Even 25 Years Later, the Iomega Zip Is Unforgettable How to Copy Data From a Zip Disk to a Mac
We’ll start with Mac first because that has the most caveats. We’ll cover each scenario in a different section below.
MAC DISC DRIVE WITH PC PC
Once you have a USB Zip drive in hand, how you proceed depends on if you’re working from a Windows PC or a Mac. Those non-USB models won’t work with modern PCs or Macs. Just make sure you don’t buy a Zip drive with a parallel port or SCSI connection by accident.
The higher capacity drives can read the smaller capacity disks (such as 100 MB) easily. Almost any Zip drive with a USB connection will work, including the 100 MB, 250 MB, and 750 MB models. IomegaĪs of December 2021, you can get a USB Zip Drive on eBay for anywhere between $50 and $200 depending on condition and type. The Iomega 100, 250, and 750 USB Zip drives work well with modern PCs and Macs. If you don’t have a USB Zip drive already, you’ll need to borrow one from a friend or buy one yourself. Luckily, there are vintage USB Zip drives that still work with modern PCs and Macs. To read any data off of a Zip disk, you need a Zip drive. But you’ll need a working Zip drive first. Otherwise, if your Zip disks are clean and in good shape, have been stored in a mostly climate-controlled space all these years, the odds are good that you’ll be able to read them. If your Zip disks are clean and were stored properly, reading them should be easy. Attempting to read a very dirty disk can further damage the data on the disk or damage the Zip drive that’s attempting to read it. If your disks show signs of extreme mold or water damage but the data on them is very valuable, it might be worth trying to contact a data rescue service first. Mold can grow on the magnetic disk surface itself in the wrong conditions, and that spells danger for your data. If your Zip disks have been stored in a hot, humid attic or damp basement for 20 years, it’s possible that you might have trouble reading them. First, Assess the Condition of Your Zip Disks To actually read the data you copy over, you’ll need to figure out how to use virtual machines or emulators such as DOSBox and vintage applications to convert your data into a format you can use, and that’s far beyond the scope of what we’re going to cover below.