Paragon NTFS is a software designed for Mac users to read NTFS. It is reliable, fast, and affordable as well. Paragon NTFS works perfectly with Mac OS 10.12 Sierra and fully follows the Apple’s guideline in their new security policy, which gives you the assurance of using a software that is fast, easy to use. Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is a great upgrade to an exceptional cross-platform utility that’s easily worth the money, especially if you own the previous version 14, in which case this one’s free.
The price is right, but I ran into several difficulties with this order:* The version shipped was V6.0, not V6.5 as listed on Amazon.
* The current version of this product is V7.0 so even V6.5 is out of date.
* After installing the software on my Mac, I was told that the serial number on the CD case was 'invalid' despite my efforts to enter it exactly as printed the first time, and without the hyphens the second time.
To return the software I had to call Amazon...it was not possible to complete the normal Web-based return form on amazon.com. (I don't know if this process is required for all software purchases, or just for this particular product.)
One of the drawbacks when switching from Windows to Mac is the lack of native NTFS support. You can read from NTFS volumes with no problems, but writing is another story. If your drives use an OS X-friendly filesystem like HFS+ or FAT then you won’t have a problem, but if you’ve got a rather chunky external drive formatted to NTFS (like I have) then you’re a bit stuck.
Luckily software like Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X exists to restore the missing link and make your NTFS volumes useful again. The software costs $19.95, has already been updated with full support for Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8).
The NTFS and Mac OS X Conundrum
New Technologies File System, or NTFS as it is commonly abbreviated to, was introduced by Microsoft in Windows NT 3.1 and slowly gained popularity with the release of Windows 2000 and XP. It has been favoured over FAT32 for a variety of reasons, with most users preferring it for its ability to store files over 4GB – a limitation on older file systems. NTFS is also a journaling filesystem which means it tracks changes before they happen, a feature that aids recovery should something go wrong.
Most external hard drives available for purchase today still come in FAT32 flavour to maintain compatibility between Mac and Windows machines, but many people reformat to either NTFS on Windows or HFS+ on Mac. We’ve even got an article discussing how and why you should ditch FAT32How To Reformat Your FAT32 Drive To NTFS - And The Advantages Of Doing ItHow To Reformat Your FAT32 Drive To NTFS - And The Advantages Of Doing ItYou may not know it, but choosing the right filesystem for your drives is actually pretty important. Although the main idea of all filesystems is the same, there are many advantages and disadvantages over each...Read More and opt for NTFS. If you’ve spent a while saving gigabytes (or terabytes) of data to an external drive and would still like to move things around, delete and write new data to that drive on a Mac then you will need something like Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X. If you work with Windows and OS X then maintaining NTFS is useful, and this software lets you do that.
Anyone using Boot Camp – technology provided by Apple to facilitate the running of Windows on Mac hardware – will also find the software useful. If you’re in an OS X environment and would like to copy something into your Windows partition then you will need NTFS write access (assuming you have installed Windows to an NTFS-formatted partition). Don’t get ahead of yourself though, it won’t work both ways. Transferring back to a Mac partition requires software to enable HFS/HFS+ functionality in Microsoft’s OS.
How It Works
Thankfully Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X is very easy to get started with. So easy, in fact, that I’ve barely got anything to write here. Simply download, mount and double click the installer. You’ll see the same old interface you’re used to with just about every software installation on OS X, then you input a password, watch the installer and restart your computer. Once you’ve done so, you’ll be forgiven for saying “is that it” and scratching your head.
The software doesn’t install any applications whatsoever, instead it installs a driver which enables NTFS write support. On Mountain Lion the only trace on your system is a new preference pane within System Preferences, at the bottom of the list under the Other titled NTFS for Mac OS X. This is where your serial number and product key goes, with options for viewing the user manual and uninstalling the driver. On the General tab is a list of currently mounted partitions and two check boxes – Access Permissions (for enabling NTFS inherent ability to restrict access to certain groups and users for newly created files) and Disable Last Access Time which allegedly improves performance.
There is also a Set as startup button which, for Boot Camp users, sets the currently selected NTFS partition as the default startup partition. Aside from these few checkboxes and buttons, the software is a largely transparent affair, providing a powerful solution to manage NTFS drives and partitions without any bloat.
More Good News
According to Paragon, their NTFS driver achieves “unprecedented” speeds. I have not tested each and every NTFS driver solution for OS X, but I can say that the speed is great and transfers completed without a hitch. It’s nowhere near as fast as internal file transfers on my system, but that’s because my only NTFS volume is an external 7200rpm 1.5TB Samsung drive and I’m comparing it to a new MacBook Pro with SSD.
So I can write, move and delete to my heart’s content, but the driver also allows me to perform some more advanced tasks. These include the ability to use the native OS X Disk Utility tool to perform verification and repair procedures on my external drive, and (if I dare) format the partition to NTFS and start again. The ability to do this without the need for another application is ideal, instead using the driver and existing functionality provided with OS X. You can also do this from the command line if that’s your thing, with full instructions provided in the user manual.
The user manual itself explains just about everything you’d ever need to know about a driver that you don’t even notice is installed most of the time (i.e. not much, but I’m not complaining) and if you get stuck there’s always the ability to ask for help on Paragon’s website.
Conclusion
I was impressed with Paragon’s NTFS driver. It’s an easy and brief install procedure which provides much-needed support for writing to NTFS volumes from Mac OS X. There are a range of usage scenarios, from switchers to Boot Campers and those who need to share drives between Windows and OS X computers. If this sounds like software you need, check out Paragon’s web page.
Explore more about: Disk Partition, File System.
- It really is one of those pieces of software that if you need it, it is invaluable. Not to mention, you only notice it when it’s not installed. Love it.
- If you own multiple computers and/or running multiple OSes (Linux included) NTFS is probably the most tried-and-tested filesystem for using on an external hard drive. I've dabbled with exFAT and HFS+ in the past but either the software sucks (MacDrive on Windows) or there is little to no reliable support (there is no support for exFAT on Linux, and all partitioning software I've tried does not recognise the filesystem at all). I've used Paragon for NTFS in the past when I was switching between Windows and Mac computers regularly and it was by far the most stable solution for me. I would only recommend exFAT for flash memory USB sticks and SD cards with a single partition. FAT32 is not even worth considering (unless you depend on it for devices like the PS3).TLDR; NTFS > HFS+ > exFAT > FAT32
- awesome software...but i lack points and price is too much...ill rather use fat32 format...
- Haha same as me too....
- It really is one of those pieces of software that if you need it, it is invaluable. Not to mention, you only notice it when it's not installed. Love it.
- Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS. Both helped me to get my new external drive writable on iMac and ready to sync on Win7.
- I am thinking for this software, as it will solvea problem of connectivity between my Windows systm (harddisk) and the new MAC system so i can transfer my files between them
- It is nice and also it is avaliable in the site you can start using it for some points
- Genuinely a brilliant bit of software, far more hassle free than ntfs-3g & macfuse.
- 'There are a range of usage scenarios, from switchers to Boot Campers and those who need to share drives between Mac and OS X computers. If this sounds like software you need...'
Windows and OS X...:)