VThe other day I posted a question about hard HFS hard drive corruption after booting Windows. Although I'm still not sure that it was truly the cause, the community thought the most likely culprit was Mac Drive 10, which I used on Windows for HFS+ write functionality. I decided to remove it and try to get Apple's read-only Boot Camp HFS drivers to work instead. After a few bumps, I got it to work, and I return, victorious, to show others the way. So ready your ears for some serious hearing.
NOTE: Nearly everything I am writing here is available from this MacRumors thread, but, like so much on the Internets, is so drawn out and fragmented that it's hard to figure out what the final takeaway was.
Part I: Acquire the Boot Camp drivers for your system (multiple steps)
Follow the instructions on the top post (note that it is updated) at the aforementioned MacRumors thread. In all likelihood, you want the ones he has linked with purple text, which will download the file "Apple_HFS_Read_Only_Driver_v6.0.1.0.zip".
When you are finished with the steps there, you will note that your HFS drive(s) is/are nowhere to be seen. But fear ye not! This is can be easily (?) remedied.
Part II: Tell Windows to give you a drive letter.
Step 1. Find the volume number of the drive you want to map.
After restarting Windows, go into Disk Management and count the number of partitions (skip unallocated areas) up to the one you want Windows to mount, starting from "Disk 0". See an example here.
In the image linked above, I want to have permanent access (read-only, remember) to that 1862.70 GB partition that is highlighted. Counting the partitions from Disk 0 to that big data partition gets me to 10.
Write that number down or store it in your monkeybrain memory register.
Step 2. Fire up regedit.
Any of you who have also engaged in customization shenaniganry on Windows will be well acquainted with regedit, the registry editor. For those of you who are less masochistic, the registry is the big dumb pile of krufty garbage that controls everything that Windows does and is the reason that Windows is such a dog, and why wiping and reinstalling Windows frequently gives you a brand-new-machine feeling. Regedit is the utility you use to edit it.
Here's how you open regedit (for those unaware):
- Hit the Start menu.
- Type "regedit"
- When the icon of an all-blue, smashed Rubik's Cube comes up, hit enter.
- Say yes that you want it to make changes to the machine, as that is the entire freakin' point.
Now, you need to navigate the endless tree of folders on the left until you get here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/system/CurrentControlSet/Control/Session Manager/DOS Devices/
Step 3. Make a new registry key to make Windows assign a drive letter to your volume(s).
In some whitespace in the "DOS Devices" window (right pane of regedit), right click, select "New," and then "String."
A new string will be created, and it will want a name. Name it the drive letter you want to assign (make sure it's not already taken!), followed by a colon ( : ) and hit enter. In my case, I wanted it to assign H, so I typed H:
Double-click your fancy new string with its fancy new drive-letter name. An "Edit String" box will come up, with a text field labeled "Value data:"
In the "Value data" field, type the following, where "#" is the number of the volume partition that you counted to in Disk Management: \Device\HarddiskVolume# In my case, as I wanted to mount the 10th partition, I typed \Device\HarddiskVolume10
Click OK.
Repeat for any other volumes as necessary.
Close regedit and restart Windows.
Enjoy your read-only access to your HFS drive, monkeybrain.
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