Formatting external hard drive for MAC and Windows

I have an external hard drive that I would like to make compatible with BOTH Mac and Windows. I don't want to split it but is there any way that I can make it compatible to where I can use it back and forth between both? I have classes and use Photoshop on both systems and need to be able to read and write to the hard drive from each system. Please let me know if this is possible and how? Thanks

I have a 500GB external HDD which I had to format o Fat32 a while ago. I don't remember exactly how I did it, but I remember it was a pain in the *** and took forever (I was under Windows XP).
So short answer to your question is yes. It is possible and as the above person said, you need to format to Fat32. Long answer is it will take some time and effort. Here are a few links to help you get started:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm
http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/270038-format-new-hard-dis k-into-fat32.html
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/sujet-676-formatting-your-drive-with-fat32
I haven't tried any of these (I believe I formatted mine downloading a third party app), but you might be lucky. Good luck.

Similar Messages

External hard drive for Mac and Windows?

Hey all,
Is it possible to set up an external hard drive with a partition that has one side compatible with Mac and the other with Windows, similar to a Boot Camp setup on an internal drive? If so, how do I do that? Thanks for any advice you can give.

Rekishika:
Yes it is possible. Use Disk Utility from Leopard and partition the external drive to the desired space for each. Format one side with Mac HFS+ Journaled and the other with FAT32 (You can reformat the FAT32). You can also format both external partitions to FAT32 if you want Leopard and Windows to access (read and write)either one of them.
Axel F.

Formatting an external hard drive for Mac and Windows

Hello,
I just bought a brand new Seagate Expansion Desktop Drive (2TB) and am trying to work out how to format it. I want to move all my photos and movies to it from my laptop so i have more space. I have a Mac OS X 10.5.8 laptop but i also wanted to make sure it was compatible with other Windows computers in case i need to use it on someone else's PC.
I've read through a few posts over the net and i am getting confused as i'm not IT-intelligent at all. I've seen there are possibly 4 different format types.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you!

Answered here: Formatting brand new external hard drive

Formatting external Hard Drive for Mac and PC Access

I have a USB External HD by Seagate that I want to add to my Airport Extreme BS that creates my LAN for a Mac PB, WinXP laptop and HP OfficeJet printer. The disk is currently formatted as NTFS and I don't think a Mac can read that. My HD manufacturer (Seagate) told me 1) FAT32 is unstable for PC and/or Mac usage and 2) my 300GB Pushbutton HD (3 years old) "will not work" on a LAN.
I think both issues are BS as they now have the Maxtor "network HDs" to sell. Any truth to this??
Second question: Seagate forums suggested that I format HD to FAT32 or Mac format and then buy "MacDrive" software so the PC can read/write to the drive. Same question: BS or truth.

I think there is a decent amount of BS in there...
I have a USB HD that came out of the box formatted as FAT32- both my MacBook Pro and PC laptop can read & write to it just fine. I haven't had it long enough to comment on stability, but haven't had any issues yet. I don't have any special software on the PC, either- I think the info from the Seagate forums sounds like people remembering the "old days" of Windows 98 and pre-OS X systems, when you did need software like that for true cross-platform drive access.
As for the drive not working on a LAN- well, the hardware doesn't know the difference, so as long as it's connected via USB to the AEBS, it's fine. What could cause an issue would be your PC OS version. I have found WinXP to be really good (well, for a Win OS, anyway) at playing nice with others. Vista is a train wreck for many, many reasons, but may be OK for this too. Anything earlier than XP may be a bit more troublesome.
Hope my 2 cents helps...

Formatting external hard drive for mac

Hi I am having trouble reformatting an external Hard drive from my Windows computer to my new Mac any guidance would be appriciated thx.

http://www.cultofmac.com/92845/formatting-external-hard-drives-in-os-x-video-how -to/

I want to format a Seagate Expansion External Hard Drive for Mac and PC

I ordered a Seagate Expansion 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive to use with my new Mac and my old PC (or at least get my photos off of both and put them on the drive). I thought all HDs could be formatted to use by both, I was able to get a Mac HD to work with my PC in 2008 (but it died). I am reading that this drive is PC only. I have Parallels and Windows 8 on my Mac if worse comes to worse but I would like all of my computers, real, virtual old and new to be able to access the external drive. Has anyone encountered this issue before? What should I format it in? FAT32? If yes, how would I go about that on a Mac. Or should I just return it?
I'm kind of Mac clueless. I spent my childhood through college on a Mac but I graduated right when OSX came around and I don't know how to work with the Mac "under the hood" like I did with OS9 and with Windows. So please talk to me like I am an an adult idiot.
Thanks!!!!

The optimum choice is to format it ExFAT, but do so on the PC, not the Mac. Alternatively, you can make two partitions - one for the Mac; one for the PC. Partition the drive using GUID when you make the two partitions. Format one using Mac OS Extended, Journaled. Format the other on your PC using NTFS if you won't need to write to it from the OS X side or use ExFAT if you do.
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to two. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) you will use for Windows from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to MSDOS.
6. Click on the Erase button.
When you connect the drive to your PC reformat the PC volume to either NTFS or ExFAT.

Tricky stuff: formating hard drive for Mac and Windows

Don't know how to format an external USB hard drive for these purposes:
#1. Store a bootable backup for my MacBook (Intel)
#2. Must be readable and writeable by both Mac OS 10.4 and WinXP (mainly for file storage)
Can I do 2 partitions, with Mac OS Extended (journal) + GUID to serve purpose #1, and MS-DOS + Master Boot Record to serve purpose #2? My research suggests no, it seems both volumes must use either GUID or MBR? Thanks

Hi,
I have two Western Digital external HDs with nearly exactly these specs.
Partitioned them with GUID partition scheme and have Partition 1 as bootable OSX clone and partition 2 with FAT32 for file storage/sharing between OSX and Windows.
So, what you want is what I have/use right now.
Regards
Stefan

Partitioning an external hard drive for Mac and PC

I want to partition an external hard drive (3TB) into 3 even partitions. I want to use one for PC storage, one for Mac storage and the last for Mac backup. Is this possible and how do I do it?

Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. Re-partition the drive to create the three partitions. The one you wish to use on a PC you should format MSDOS (FAT).
When you connect the drive to your PC it should have no problem reading the partition set up for a PC. Now while on the PC you may wish to consider reformatting that partition using ExFAT (if supported on your PC.) This format is more compatible with both OS X and NTSF supporting long file names and other FAT filesystem irregularities.

External Hard Drive for Mac AND PC

I need to purchase an external Hard Drive to be able to back up both my iMac and my partner's PC. I am currently looking at buying either:
Iomega UltraMax Hard Drive 500GB FireWire 400/USB 2.0
OR
Iomega 500GB Minimax Hard Drive with Dual Interface + USB/FireWire Hub
Can anyone tell me is it possible to format either of these Drives to be able to accept both Mac and PC, and if so, do either of these drives let you have a permanent connection to both at the same time, so they can be set up and left to do their backups automatically without always swapping cables over etc.
Does anyone have a preference between these drives?
(Oh, and for info, I won't be using Time Capsule as I only have 10.3.9!)
Thanks

I think there is a decent amount of BS in there...
I have a USB HD that came out of the box formatted as FAT32- both my MacBook Pro and PC laptop can read & write to it just fine. I haven't had it long enough to comment on stability, but haven't had any issues yet. I don't have any special software on the PC, either- I think the info from the Seagate forums sounds like people remembering the "old days" of Windows 98 and pre-OS X systems, when you did need software like that for true cross-platform drive access.
As for the drive not working on a LAN- well, the hardware doesn't know the difference, so as long as it's connected via USB to the AEBS, it's fine. What could cause an issue would be your PC OS version. I have found WinXP to be really good (well, for a Win OS, anyway) at playing nice with others. Vista is a train wreck for many, many reasons, but may be OK for this too. Anything earlier than XP may be a bit more troublesome.
Hope my 2 cents helps...

How do I use an external hard drive on Mac and Windows?

How do I format an external HD for use on Mac and Windows? She has two laptops and have to use both.

format the external for Mac and use MacDrive or HFS+ for Windows on the windows side.
use the FAT32 format and live with the "4-GB-per-file" limit
format the drive NTFS and install e.g. the NTFS 3G driver on the Mac.

Same External Hard Drive for Mac and PC?

Hello,
I just bought an iMac and a Lacie external hard drive. I plan to format the Lacie for the Mac. However I'd like to use it to tranfer my files from the PC. Will the Mac formatted Lacie External Drive work with both the iMac and the PC?
Thanks!
Jim

Another alternative is to get a Lacie drive and use it native to MAC. To acess read/ write capacity to your NTFS partitions refer to my post in:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1425010&tstart=0
regards,

External Hard Drive for Mac to Windows?

Today I bought a 3TB My Book external hard drive. The only reason I need this is to move my 2,000+ pictures and 100+ videos off my Mac and keep them safe. These pictures and videos are filling up my memory and I can't seem to do much else with the whole 10GB I have free.
Setting up and backing up My Book with Time Machine seemed to be a breeze and I can see all of the items on it that I need to. Honestly, I didn't want to back up my whole computer, I didn't need to. All I need off the Mac is the pictures and videos and I must be able to move them safely to another computer, if I want to.
So here's my problem, before I even attempted to clean off all the pictures and videos from my Mac, I wanted to make sure I could see them on the drive from my husbands Lenovo laptop which runs on Windows 8. The device is recognized when plugged in but in no way can he open the external hard drive to see any pictures or videos, or anything for that matter. At this point, I'm very frustrated, I don't have enough money to spend an arm and a leg on hard drive. But obviously, you get what you pay for..
Is there any drive (I want something that's at least 2TB for future use) that will be able to transfer my pictures and videos from my Mac to a Windows computer, and vice versa? Is there any way that I can get this My Book to work with Windows 8 now that I've used it for my Mac? If not, it's going back ASAP.

huge storage, low cost, high quality, very small and portable.
BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 15mm thick 2TB drive (have several of them, lots of storage in tiny package)    $100
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48    /ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1390020791&sr=8-3&keywords=toshiba+2tb
best options for the price, and high quality HD:
Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or $65 per TB on 2.5"
Perfect 1TB for $68
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim perfect for use with a notebook
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s    r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
*This one is the BEST portable external HD available that money can buy:
HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive $88
http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Mobile-Portable-External-0S03559/dp/B009GE6JI8/ref=sr    _1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383238934&sr=8-1&keywords=HGST+Touro+Mobile+Pro+1TB+USB+3.0+7 2 00+RPM
Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"
Hitachi is the winner in hard drive reliability survey:
Hitachi manufacturers the safest and most reliable hard drives, according to the Storelab study. Of the hundreds of Hitachi hard drives received, not a single one had failed due to manufacturing or design errors. Adding the highest average lifespans and the best relationship between failures and market share, Hitachi can be regarded as the winner.

Formatting LaCie External Hard Drive for MAC and PC

Hi,
I just recently purchased a LaCie 500 GB Hard Drive from the Apple Store in order to back up and store most of my PC (Window) files. Most of my files that I need to back up are on CD, DVD, and USB mini drives. I was thinking of transferring the files through my MacBook Pro but I'm not sure how to partition the hard drive, since most of my files are generated from PC's and I would need to connect the hard drive to a PC in the future anyway.
From what I understand, the files that I save in the Windows partition will only be recognized when on a PC, and the same for the MAC. But what about simple compatible files that are read cross platform, such as Word documents? Would I still only be able to access each file depending on the platform and the partition?
Is there a way that I can just partition it into a single storage space – as how servers store data, regardless of whether it’s a PC or MAC file? I’m also wondering what would happen if I were to plug it into my laptop first? If it doesn’t ask me to partition the drive on my PC, will it ask me when I plug it back into the MAC afterwards? And if I partition it then, what would happen to my data?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you

Hi, njoay
I just moved to Mac from Windows last week onto a new MBP. I purchased a Lacie 500GB ruggedized drive. Here is what I know and tried:
1) If you format the Lacie in Mac format, then you can't use it on a Windows machine without software eg MacDrive.
2) If you format the Lacie in NTFS, you can only read from it when connected to Mac without other software.
I work a lot with VMWare, so I need the LACIE to be able to connect to both PC and MAC. I found a solution from another MAC user: "Paragon NTFS for Mac OS" (see http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/) which you can purchase for US$39.
This is what I did:
1) connect my Lacie to my PC and formatted it in NTFS format.
2) Installed Paragon NTFS onto my MAC
3) Connected LACIE to Mac.
Here are the results:
1) Connection with USB2.0 from Lacie to Mac - it works (can read and write to LAcie formatted in NTFS)
2) Connection with Firewire 800 from Lacie to Mac - it does NOT work. The disk gets ejected. I have logged a support call with Paragon on this issue and am waiting a reply.
3) Connection with Firewire 400 from Lacie to Mac - have not tried it yet.
Hope the above helps.

FAT or exFAT for external hard disk for MAC and Windows

Hello, could you tell me which format I have to format an external hard disk to use with Time Machine in order to recover data on MAC or Windows.
Thank you very much for your answer.

Like Kappy says, TimeMachine only works on Mac's and it formats the drive itself, then it's files are mosly a pain to get at via anything else but TimeMachine on a Mac.
If you want something to backup the entire OS X side of the Mac and that can also be later accessed by a Windows PC (with MacDrive installed to read te HFS+ format), like if your not going to get another Mac again and want to get at your files, then you need a bootable clone drive.
If you want something that backs up only your user files to a external exFAT drive, (to be read on Windows, Mac or Linux machine) then there is plenty of software to do that, one is free called SyncTwoFolders and it does that, it makes sure both folders are Synced in ethier or in one way directions.
Most commonly used backup methods
Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's

How to Format Toshiba Hard-Drive for Mac with Parallels?

Hello,
I recently bought a Toshiba Hard-Drive with the following features:
500GB
It is a Canivo Basics 3.0
It is USB 3.0 and 2.0 portable hard drive
It has already been formatted NTFS for Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8
The box says that it can be reformatted for Mac
I have a Macbook Pro with Retina Display that I bought this year in late March/early April.
It runs OS X Mavericks, and Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac.
I would like to reformat it so that I can use it on my laptop both with Windows and Mac OS at the same time. I do not wish to use a partition as I want to access the hard drive through Mac and Windows at the same time on my laptop and I also want to be able to access the Mac things on a Windows computer and vice versa.
I have never formatted a hard drive before, and I would like to use a completely safe software, or no software at all, if it is possible.
I am sorry but I don't have a very high knowledge of this.
Thanks,
Sandy-Wood

It would be easier, using Parallels, just to format the drive for "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". You can see it both in the Windows/Parallels and the Mac side. Leaving it formatted as NTFS is not going to allow you to access (write to) the drive unless you use third-party software. Formatting it for Mac lets you use it, as I said, on both the Parallels VM and the Mac side.
If you were using Boot Camp, I would advise leaving it formatted as NTFS and purchasing NTFS for Mac to access the drive on both OS's. You can mitigate that by formatting the drive for Mac:
Good luck,
Clinton

Formatting external hard drive for MAC and Windows

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