MacDrive Standard for Windows

Used MacDrive Standard for Windows?

Editors’ Review

Download.com staffOctober 25, 2018

With MacDrive 9 Standard, you can access, manage, and even create and format disk drives for Apple's Mac OS from inside Windows Explorer. Not just hard drives, but removable USB drives, too. MacDrive can repair damaged Mac disks, burn Mac-compatible CDs and DVDs, and do other things disk managers are supposed to do.

Pros

Peace: MacDrive's peace symbol icon emphasizes the software's mission: cross-platform peace and seamless interoperability between the Mac and Windows worlds.

Create Mac disks: MacDrive can create, format, and modify drives in Mac OS Standard (HFS), Mac OS Extended (HFS+), and Mac OS Extended (case-sensitive; HFSX).

Advanced options: We could prevent changes to Mac disks, customize MacDrive's compatibility with earlier versions of Windows and Mac OS, and select files to view in dual-format hybrid CDs and DVDs.

Cons

Balky disk list: Mac-to-Windows interoperability can be a bit slow or balky at times. For instance, the MacDrive Disk Manager's drive list wouldn't or couldn't scroll until after we'd formatted a Mac drive.

Cheaper alternatives: If all you want to do is transfer files between a Mac and PC, cheaper and easier options aren't hard to find (Dropbox, for example).

Bottom Line

If you own or support both Windows and Mac machines, MacDrive 9 Standard can make your life much easier.

Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of MacDrive 9.3.1.1 Standard.

MacDrive Standard for Windows

Used MacDrive Standard for Windows?

Explore More

Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: July 22, 2015

Latest update: October 25, 2018

Version: 9.3.2.6

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Windows

Operating System

Windows 8
Windows 7
Windows XP
Windows 10
Windows Vista
Windows 2003
Windows Server

Additional Requirements: None

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 271,817

Downloads Last Week: 3

Report Software

Program available in other languages

Descargar MacDrive Standard

Last Updated

User Reviews

3.3/5

15 User Votes

Creates beautiful Blue Screens of Death on Windows 7
Mac512KEnhancedMarch 12, 2017
Pros
Allows you to connect a Mac external hard drive to your Windows PC.
Cons
I've had several different scenarios in which MacDrive 10 Standard caused a Blue Screen of Death! Some of the steps that caused a blue screen of death were: * Ejecting an external hard drive. * Ejecting a compact Flash card. * Ejecting a Mac external hard drive. * Attempting to end MacDrive 10 Standard process in Task Manager.
Summary
I spent $49.99 on MacDrive 10 Standard in an effort to import video files saved on a Mac external hard drive over to my Windows 7 desktop. Yes, I was able to successfully import the video files to my Windows PC, but having the MacDrive 10 Standard software on my Windows computer often caused my computer to crash when I attempted to eject a connected external hard drive. Everything you had open on your computer... suddenly killed. Do a Google search for "system_service_exception windows 7". That's exactly what I experienced every few weeks with MacDrive installed on my PC. Not only does it immediately display the Blue Screen of Death and kill any open programs, it takes several for Windows to collect data and dump physical memory to disk. Then your PC reboots. In my case, following reboot, if I had any external hard drives connected, the machine would not reboot. I had to disconnect all external hard drives, unplug the power, plug it back in and reboot again to get the PC back up. Not good. Any software that makes Windows throw an error like, "A problem has been detected and windows has be
Buyer Beware!
natehm8August 19, 2015
Pros
-Worked in Windows 8.1 for writing to Mac partition (iTunes library only)
Cons
-Slowed down system dramatically -May have been responsible for corruption HD -Does not work with Windows 10! Must pay to upgrade to new version!
Summary
Bought this software roughly a year ago and paid $59.99. From the get go with a clean install Windows 8.1 would have issues trying to read/index the Mac partition and Task Manager would show 100% disk usage, slowing down the system. Upon upgrading to Windows 10 I discovered that MacDrive 9 is not supported and shortly after found that MediaFour had released a new version called MacDrive 10 and expected me to pay $30 to upgrade. This is a poor way to treat your customers, creating limited functionality and forcing customers to pay money to upgrade. This is just so you can use one feature in the app, writing to the Mac partition. The operating system was a free upgrade but you expect me to shell out an additional $30 just to use the software? Basically it's a trap and MediaFour is bullying customers into shelling out more money. I contacted MediaFour and sent them my key and purchase date hoping I could at least get a discount. In short their response was "tough luck". I will never purchase software from this company again.
Simply Didn't Work
shauncollegeNovember 28, 2013
Pros
No Pros to List
Cons
Failed to work
Summary
First attempt to use the software failed - I downloaded the trial specifically to access a WD PassPort drive for Mac on a Windows 7 computer, and it could not access the files on the drive. I'm sure it works great for others, but as immediately failed for my expressed purpose, I won't be purchasing this tool.
MacDrive Standard 9.0 causes problems with Win-7 drives
hottbluzFebruary 16, 2013
Pros
Works well when it is working. I did not encounter any problems viewing file contents on my PC's main "C" partition or any of my external Mac OS X drives.
Cons
After ejecting my external Mac OS drive and attaching my external Win-7 drive I started having issues. (I use the external Win-7 drive for my PC's periodic file backup.) When I opened Windows Explorer, and right-clicked on the Win drive to see how full it was, none of my files appeared. Then I got an error pop-up that MacDrive needed to restart. It continued to restart multiple times. This same scenario reoccurred with my internal drives "D" partition. I tried deactivating MacDrive and the problem persisted. I rebooted and tried deactivating MacDrive and still the same problem. Finally I uninstalled MacDrive to regain normal Win-7 drive access.
Summary
If you have only one Windows internal drive/partition and use MacDrive with external Mac OS X external drives you may be okay. I wish MacDrive worked with out interfering with my additional Windows drives/partitions.
Great tool - wish it was free
CleverFrogSeptember 5, 2012
Pros
Used it once - worked fairly smoothly.
Cons
You end up seeing more of the mac file structure odds and ends than the casual pc user might like.
Summary
For a free trial and a decently priced tool, this is the best I've found for its application.
Works as promised!!!
clownfaceFebruary 23, 2012
Pros
Simple straight foward interface.
Cons
Short trial period.
Summary
I was able to recover over 70GB of my niece's files after iced tea was spilled on her mac book pro.
Fantastic MacDrive 8
tonyquinn007May 16, 2011
Pros
This Product Is Fantastic It Works Just Like It States On The Web
Cons
None All My Work Was On imac From My External Hard Drive And I Transferred the files From Mac To Windows 7
Summary
I Would Recommend This Product It's Very Good Thank You.
Didn't Detect Drive
mobilinearSeptember 26, 2010
Pros
Free to try out.
Cons
Drive didn't come up at all.
Summary
I downloaded this trial to get files off an external drive where the enclosure had failed, and onto an ntfs drive. Tried to connect the drive to my pc both via sata and through an external usb enclosure. In both cases, the drive came up under windows disk management with a helpful "would you like to format this drive?" and MacDrive failed to see anything. Plugging my usb hard drive dock into my MacBook Pro brings this disk up fine, so I know it works. Shame MacDrive doesn't. Maybe there are only certain formats/partition schemes that work, but I don't have time to fuss with what seemed to claim to be a simple solution. FAT32 drives work fine for most things. The drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB (from LaCie D2 quadra) --Apple Partition Scheme, HFS+ (Mac OS Extended, Journaled) Dock I'm Using: Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock
works seamlessly. great, but pricey.
woweezoweeSeptember 6, 2010
Pros
easy interface works seamlessly in the background no quirks that i've discovered
Cons
pricey. wish it was more affordable.
Summary
although it's not cheap, i can't find a better HFS+ file reader for PC. no read-only limitations, no dealing with separate windows, etc. it just works.
Works flawlessly!!!
GetKatMarch 30, 2010
Pros
easy to use, simple interface
Cons
no cons at all
Summary

Developer’s Description

By Mediafour Corporation

Share your files between Windows and Macintosh systems.

MacDrive is the ultimate solution for sharing files between Mac OS and Windows. Simply connect a disk to your PC and it will show up just like any other disk. Mac disks act and appear like normal Windows disks, with an apple icon to keep things clear.