The Easy Solution for Accessing Mac Disks, Drives, and even RAID Volumes in Windows
MacDrive has built a reputation on blazing quick read/write speeds, unparalleled data security and ease of use. Access your Mac disks from the Disk Management Window or direct from Explorer. Whether it is a new state of the external SSD drive or a high density floppy, MacDrive makes it possible to read and write to Mac disks seamlessly from your PC.
Deadlines. Multitasking. 24/7 connectivity. You need simple, effective tools to get more done daily. By installing OWC MacDrive on a Windows PC, you make it become “Mac aware” and can access Mac-formatted drives easily.
There is nothing to launch or learn. MacDrive 11 Standard allows users to simply connect a Mac-formatted drive to your PC and it will behave like any other disk on the system. You will be able to read and write to almost any APFS or HFS+ formatted hard drive, SSD, CD, DVD, and more. You can even access SoftRAID and Apple RAID 0 and RAID 1 volumes with MacDrive 11 Pro.
It’s so easy, you’ll forget MacDrive is even there.
MacDrive works with almost any type of disk including internal and external hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash drives and more.
Mac disks will appear like PC disks. Open from the app, Explorer or your favorite software.
MacDrive makes your PC smarter. Full read and write access for Mac disks. MacDrive creates peace between the platforms.
Introducing Full APFS Support
OWC MacDrive has been the industry leader for accessing Mac disks in Windows for over 25 years. With the introduction of MacDrive 11, we’re excited to bring full support for Apple’s new file system APFS to Windows.
MacDrive’s support for APFS is unmatched. You get more speed, features, and protection than any other solution. MacDrive provides full read and write support, APFS crash protection, multi-volume APFS disks, APFS formatting, and much, much more.
When you transform your PC with the power of MacDrive, you become a double-duty dynamo with complete Mac disk management. You can open, edit, and save files directly on Mac disks from any application. You can even format, create, and delete partitions on Mac disks making it possible to share data between computers like never before.
No single software solution gives you more cross-platform compatibility than MacDrive.
From filmmakers to recording artists, IT professionals, and students and faculty, thousands of Windows users rely on MacDrive’s speed and data protection.
Windows 8 or later
Windows Server 2019/2016/2012
Works with almost any Mac disks including hard drives, DVDs, CDs, and more.
Read and write HFS+ disks and read APFS disks.
Perpetual License.
If you wish to use MacDrive on more than one computer, you can purchase additional seats at anytime.
Own an old version of MacDrive? You can upgrade older version for a disocunted price. View upgrade options.
Digital Download.
Once purchased you will receive a confirmation email with your download link and serial number.
Customer Service/Sales
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Sunday: 9am-12am
Access denied when formatting or repairing
Typically, receiving an “access denied” error when attempting to format or repair a Mac disk is due to the disk being in use by another process. Usually, this is because one or more Windows Explorer windows are still open showing the disk or its contents. This includes still having “Computer” open in Windows Explorer.
Other causes include files on the disk still in use by applications or resident software (such as antivirus) using the disk.
To resolve this problem, try closing Windows Explorer windows and open applications. If the problem persists, try disconnecting and reconnecting the drive, or restarting the computer.
How to safely remove drives from the computer
Even though Thunderbolt and USB devices are Plug & Play (i.e. they are ready to use upon being plugged-in), you should not just unplug them. By unplugging a drive with a “hot” connection, you can corrupt data on your hard disk or other storage device. It is important to note that even disconnecting a device improperly one time can cause file system corruption.
You can prevent such problems by clicking the “Unplug/Eject” or “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in the system tray (down by the clock). The icon looks like a gray box with with a green arrow on top.
You’ll then be given a list of removable devices that are currently connected to your computer. Highlight the device you would like to remove and click “Stop”.
Windows should then prompt you that it is safe to disconnect the device. If not, this is an indication that some part of Windows is using resources on the disk. To clear this, reboot your computer and before doing anything else, try the above instructions again.
Mac disk not “seen” by Windows (no drive letter)
STEP 1: General MacDrive checks
If you have just installed MacDrive for the first time, please make sure that you have restarted the computer. If you ignore the restart prompt after installing, Mac disks will not be available until the next reboot. This is because our drivers will need to load at the next time Windows boots.
Please make sure you are using the latest version of MacDrive before proceeding. In many cases, updating to the latest version will take care of the issue you are experiencing.
STEP 2: Check that your drive setup is supported
Disks with multiple partition types: MacDrive will only work with disks containing exclusively Mac-partitions. It will not work with disks containing multiple partition types (e.g. a FAT32 and an HFS+ partition), with the exception of disks created with Boot Camp.
Encryption and Fusion: MacDrive also does not support encrypted disks (e.g. using FileVault), or Fusion drives. Both of these drive types require additional software to be used, and for that reason, require the Mac OS.
STEP 3: Check that Windows recognizes the device correctly
A common cause is failed connectivity on your Windows system.
Please confirm that the drive is visible in the Windows “Disk Management” console. To access the Windows Disk Management console, please do the following:
Right-click on Computer (or This PC, My Computer, depending on Windows version)
Click Manage
Select Disk Management
Use the console on the right portion of the Window to check for the presence of the drive
If your drive is present in “Disk Management” make note of the drive number and proceed to Step 4.
If the drive is not present, please contact the drive vendor for assistance getting your drive recognized as a hardware device on your computer. Mediafour Technical Support is not able to troubleshoot hardware, driver, or connectivity problems, but some issues can be resolved by choosing a different port on your computer, using a different cable, checking for loose connections, connecting directly rather than through an intermediate device (such as a USB hub), or, if your drive allows it, trying a different connection type.
STEP 4: Drive needs repair
Another possible cause is file system corruption. To repair such corruption, please try the following solutions:
– If you have MacDrive, you can attempt to repair the drive by going to Start > All Programs > MacDrive > Tools > Repair Mac Disks (or in Windows 8, search the Apps menu for “Repair Mac Disks”), then follow the on-screen instructions to check the disk.
Note: In versions older than MacDrive, it is not possible to check a Mac disk unless it is mounted (assigned a drive letter). MacDrive includes a new repair tool which will check for unmounted Mac disks.
If the affected Mac disk does not appear in the list of disks to check, or if you are using MacDrive 8 or prior, we recommend taking the disk to a Mac to check the disk for problems (e.g. Disk Utility included with the Mac OS).
– If the disk is damaged but the corruption is not repairable by the aforementioned utilities consider “Disk Warrior” or “TechTool Pro”. Both are quality, 3rd-party disk repair utilities that may be able to recover the damage file system and the data within.
STEP 5: Contact Support
Please create a technical support ticket with a detailed problem description and information on your computer’s configuration.
Boot Camp and macOS
If MacDrive is installed after Boot Camp drivers are already installed, no special steps are needed. If you are installing Boot Camp drivers after installing MacDrive, either repairing or reinstalling MacDrive will be necessary; you will be prompted by MacDrive when booting Windows in this scenario.
DMG files
MacDrive offers a feature to “mount” or access the contents of unencrypted DMG files. Sparse image files are supported in MacDrive Pro (not Standard). MacDrive does not support Sparse bundles, however.
Please note that our support for DMGs and Sparse images is limited to those which are unencrypted. MacDrive does not support encrypted disk images (or disks).
Encryption and FileVault
MacDrive does not support encrypted Mac-formatted drives. If you connect such a drive, you will be prompted to format the drive and it will not mount.
If you have enabled FileVault for your Mac disk and wish to use it with MacDrive, please refer to Apple’s instructions for disabling this:
File appear as zero bytes (hard links)
On an HFS+ volume, some Mac software creates “hard links” instead of normal files. Hard links have no content; they are indirect references to regular files. In this way, they are somewhat similar to Windows Explorer shortcuts or Mac OS Finder aliases.
Although the Mac OS Finder shows these hard links as normal files, MacDrive does no support hard links. MacDrive will show hard links as files of size “0KB” (zero bytes).
A hard link can be recognized in MacDrive by right-clicking the file, clicking Properties, and clicking the MacDrive tab. If a file is a hard link, its type will be “hlnk” and its creator will be “hfs+”.
While rare, user-created QuickTime videos are the most commonly seen hard links.
Currently, the only workaround is to make a create a copy of the hard-linked file in Mac OS. This will create a “normal” copy of the file, which is accessible by all versions of MacDrive.On an HFS+ volume, some Mac software creates hard links instead of normal files.Hard links have no content; they are only indirect references to regular files. In this way, they are somewhat similar to Windows Explorer shortcuts or Mac OS Finder aliases.
Although the Mac OS Finder shows these hard links as normal files, MacDrive does not support hard links. MacDrive will show hard links as files of size “0KB” (zero bytes).
A hard link can be recognized in MacDrive by right-clicking the file, clicking Properties, and clicking the MacDrive tab. If a file is a hard link, its type will be “hlnk” and its creator will be “hfs+”.
While rare, large user-created QuickTime videos are the most commonly-seen hard links.
Currently, the only workaround is to make a create a copy of the hard-linked file in Mac OS. This will create a “normal” copy of the file, which is accessible by all versions of MacDrive.
Aliases, or shortcut files, will also appear as zero bytes, but will also have an original normal file that the alias points to. You can simply open the original file instead of the alias to access it in Windows.
Parallels and VMware Fusion compatibility
MacDrive works with Windows running virtually under Mac OS X using Parallels Desktop for Mac or VMware Fusion, with the exception in both cases that the Mac OS X system volume will be inaccessible.
In such cases, the Mac OS X system volume is inaccessible because, as with any operating system, Mac OS X requires exclusive access to any volumes it has mounted.
Please note that you will need to configure your virtualization software to have a particular virtual OS take control of a drive before Windows can use it. This is often in a “Settings” or “Devices” menu. For detailed help with your particular virtualization product and version, please contact the software manufacturer.
