# Getting photos from mac to Windows



## Delirius80 (Sep 8, 2009)

Hi there,
My in laws recently mailed mailed me a CD (they live out of state) that has a lot of important photos on it from my wedding. The problem is that they have a MAC and I have Windows XP. Unfortunatly, it won't allow me to view the photos because of this. How can I view the photos or upload them to my PC? I don't know anyone that has a MAC, and my in laws live out of state. Thanks for the help!


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## ChuckE (Aug 30, 2004)

I can think of two possible reasons for your problem:

1) Missing file name extensions ---
Many picture file types are usable on Macs or PCs, and you have not told us what the file type is that you have, and perhaps you don't know. The file type, in the PC world, is almost always determined by a (usually) 3 letter ending to a file name, that is called the file name extension.

One problem you may have, when bringing over a file (be it a picture or anything else) from a Mac to a PC is that Macs do not require a file name extension, whereas PCs do require that file name extension (there can be a very rare exception). The PC uses those file name extensions to "tell" the PC what sort of file it is, so that the correct application (the program used to open your file) can be started.

So, if those pictures coming from the CD, made on a Mac, are attempted to be opened on a PC, and there is no file name extension, then the PC may ask you what you want to use to open the picture with.

The fix is to add an appropriate file name extension to each picture. The problem is that, while on the CD, you can't rename them (the CD makes the files (usually) unalterable. So that means you need to copy those pictures off the CD and onto your hard drive. Then you can rename the file to include an extension. 
I know I am not giving you details here, but to try and do it here, not knowing what you actually have, or your ability to understand what I might say, is going to get real confusing, real fast. And do you even understand anything I have written so far?

The other possibility...
2) The CD is written in a format that is not readable on the PC. --- 
I don't think this is you most likely possibility, since many CD formats are usable on both platforms. But there is some slight possibility. If this is the case, then you will need to get the files into a more transportable format. Either get back to the person that gave you the CD, or ask someone what has a Mac, and some more computer knowledge than you, and see if you can get the CD re-written.

Good luck.


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## janiels (Sep 11, 2009)

try to upload those photos on photo sharing sites, after that you might view your photo..


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

I got all 3000 pictures from my sisters wedding sent to me from her. She burned them to a DVD on her mac. No issues at all on my pc. It is not a MAC to PC issue per se. Pictures/Images are not really OS specific. JPG, TIFF, GIF


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## ChuckE (Aug 30, 2004)

While JPG, TIF, and GIF are not platform specific, without file name extensions they become problematic when trying to open them on a PC. There are PC viewers that can open extension-less graphic files, such as FREE IrfanView, but without the extensions you can not direct any application to simply open the file. (There was one way, I sort of remember, that you could hack the PC to use a specific application to open otherwise non-specific files, but I forget how, or where, it was.)

We also do not know what the image file types are, as of yet. There are some image file types that are used pretty much exclusively on the Apple. Perhaps the CD used one of those types, or perhaps the CD was created using a CD slideshow program that would only run on the Apple.

By the way, even with a slideshow, the individual photos *may* also be somewhere on the CD and in a form that IrfanView can still open. IrfanView can open many dozens of different graphic file formats, including some Apple ones.
Note: you do need to also install the free plug-ins, which extend the capabilities of the basic IrfanView.


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## ChuckE (Aug 30, 2004)

janiels said:


> try to upload those photos on photo sharing sites, after that you might view your photo..


We do not know, yet, if *Delirius80* can even read the CD. That has not been determined. If the CD can not be read, the files can not be uploaded. If the CD can be read, some image sharing sites require a select group of only certain file types. And that depends upon the filename extension. If the extension is not there, or not of one of that group ... the same problem.

Let's get more info, some feedback from *Delirius80* would be nice.


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## vicks (Jan 31, 2005)

Here is something I found when I searched for you.

http://www.isobuster.com/hfs-recovery.php

vicks


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## ChuckE (Aug 30, 2004)

And using the same search items, on Google, yields: HFS disc reader for Windows


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