time capsule as external hard drive for pc

To use HFS Explorer, you must first download Java and install it on your device. This solution to view Time Machine backups on Windows works on all popular versions including Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and even on Windows XP. So, we’ll go with the free solution using HFS Explorer with the only downside of installing Java. But paying for something which comes for free doesn’t make sense. If you want to restore Time Machines backups to Windows frequently and don’t want to install Java on your device, then HFS+ for Windows is the best option for you. Both tools have its pros and cons – you need to pick one of your choices.

However, HFS+ for Windows offers a 7-day free trial which is quite enough to test and understand the software. The former is a free tool with basic user interface but requires Java whereas the latter is a more advanced HFS+ reader with the rich interface but comes with a price tag. HFS Explorer from Cotacombae and HFS+ for Windows by Paragon are two popular softwares for Windows to read HFS, HFS+ and HFSX files systems. But formatting will delete all Time Machine backups permanently, and we don’t want to do this. The one way to connect your Time Machine backup drive to Windows is by formatting it in any of the Windows supported file system. Unfortunately, Windows only supports NTFS and FAT32 file systems, and it can not detect Mac formatted hard disks and disk images. When I tried to connect my external hard drive, Windows failed to detect it since Mac formats the hard drive in HFS+ format while creating the first Time Machine backup.

Recently my MacBook Pro denied to power on even after PRAM, NVRAM, and SMC reset, and I switched to Windows laptop till it gets repaired. Everything looks good from outside, but the real problem starts when you want to access Time Machine backups on Windows PC or laptop. I will connect my 1 TB WD passport external hard drive to Mac, and it creates the latest backup every time. Being a developer, I regularly commit my code to BitBucket for backups and to safeguard personal files and memories I use Time Machine backup every week. Time Machine For PC backups is a powerful and useful feature every Apple users prefer to secure their personal and professional data.

Time capsule as external hard drive for pc