I have a 5TB hard drive that was formatted for use with my Apple Mac laptop, but now that laptop is gone. I currently have a Windows laptop and I can't access any of the files on the hard drive. I've got over 20 years' worth of photos and files stored on it, which I want to recover. What steps should I take to access my data going forward?
2 Answers
Definitely avoid reformatting the drive for now. That would wipe all your precious data! Focus on getting a compatible app to access your files first before considering any formatting options.
You'll need some third-party software to read the Mac file system on Windows, like APFS or HFS+. Check out a few reliable programs that help bridge this gap.
I understand the risk! Eventually, I might need to reformat it to use with Windows, but for now, recovering the data is my top priority.