What type of external hard drive do I have to buy that I can use on my mac and windows computer as well

I want to buy an external hard drive that will work on my imac and windows computer

Most all off the shelf External Hard Drives are formatted so that they can be used with both platforms. Just stay away from discount and off name brands.
Buying guide: External desktop hard drives | Macworld

Similar Messages

  • What type of external hard drive should I get?

    First, I'm not sure were I should have posted this question but here goes....
    I am officially 100% an Apple home environment now. I have an iMac, a Macbook Pro, and an Airport Extreme. I want to add an external hard drive and I need suggestions for what to get. I know the Time Machine router is available but I'm looking for a less-expensive option.
    I want to add an external hard drive but I want to make it available to the entire home network so that both the iMac and Macbook Pro can write and access files on one shared external drive. I also want the ability to have both computers to be able to use Time Machine to back up to the external drive. External file access (i.e. via a cloud option/app) for accessing files from my iPhone or iPad is not necessary but would be appreciated.
    Also, is it just as easy as hooking the external hard drive up to the network by USB cable to the USB port on the Airport Extreme?

    There is no such thing as a Time Machine Router, however I think  you are referring to a Time Capsule. Time Machine is an application for backing up. Time Capsule is something else entirely different.
    If you want to hook up an external HD to an Airport Extreme that will work just fine as a network drive however DO NOT use it to back up using Time Machine, at best it's unreliable for using Time Machine.
    Finally if you are looking for a good quality EHD I strongly recommend using OWC (www.macsales.com) Mercury Elite Pro series.
    If you want to back up multiple Macs to a single EHD then you need the Time Capsule. You can get them refurbished from Apple. For example:
    http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD032LL/A/refurbished-time-capsule-2-tb

  • Switched on my imac 24inch intel based and all I get on screen is a folder with question mark flashing,I had backup on external hard drive but when I try to reinstall it can not find my mac hard drive

    Hi when I started my intel based imac this morning all I am getting is a folder with question mark in the middle flashing,I have external hard drive with backup,but when run disc utilities it does not show my mac hard drive.hope someone can help.(it's running mountain lion, well it was)

    Try starting up your Mac while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the startup disk then click Restart.
    The question mark folder indicates your Mac cannot find a system folder to boot from.
    A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

  • I have an external hard drive with a shared music folder, which I can access (from Home Sharing) and play music on my Windows computer. On my new Mac, I can see the drive in Home Sharing but not play any music. What's the solution?

    I have an external network hard drive with a shared music folder (WD MyBookLive), which I can access from Home Sharing and play music on my Windows computers. On my new Mac, I can see the drive and the music in Home Sharing but the tracks will not play. All the other authorized computers in my home network show up in Home Sharing and I can play the content. What's the solution?

    Troubleshooting Home Sharing - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972

  • Need to add a storage drive that I can use between my Imac and Windows

    I have a new storage drive that I want to partition and format for write capability on the Imac for storing large files that are used with other programs while working with the Imac but I also want to place an NTFS partition on that drive for use in Windows. The drive is 1Tb and I only need about 50% for each system.
    I partitioned and formated the first partition using Disk utility and created a FAT 32 in the other but the FAT 32 limitations in Windows is a problem.
    Is it possible to format the first partion in Window NTFS and the second using Disk Utility as a FAT 32 or another partition system that the Imac can read so I can at least have the NTFS partition recoginzed in Windows?
    Is this possible?
    How do I do it??

    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2035940&tstart=0

  • Which types of external hard drives works with T400?

    Hi Thank you for reading my post.
    Can someone please let me know which types of external hard drives works with a T400?
    eSata, USB or firewire?
     Which model and brand you suggest for a 1TB drive?
    Thanks 

    USB 2.0 is the connection that is natively supported on the T400, no eSATA or Firewire port i think, you can get these ports by buying an expansion card for the card slot (i think it is the expresscard one) on the T400.
    Regarding a 1TB drive, most of the large drive manufacturers have one out, but i suggest you unless you need the large capacity, i would stick with a smaller drives like 750 gig or 500 gig since the cost gigabyte is lower. Also i would stay away for storing all your important files solely in these drive, because if these things start to fail it would be on a moment's notice, you probably won't even have time to backup the files, before the harddrive gives up on you. 

  • What kind of external hard drive should I buy?

    I have a MacBook pro and an older iMac desktop at home, and several different PC's at school and work (dells for the most part).
    The files I need to move around are very diverse, from .psd and .ai to google sketchup to CAD to mp3s and PDFs.
    I need to be able to seamlessly move LOTS of files back and forth (and I would also like to use an external hard drive to backup my personal photos, portfolio of work, and itunes library). I am sick of moving files with my small 20g flash drive, and I want everything in one place on one external hard drive. The last WD passport I bought will not connect to PC, and I hate the built-in backup software.
    Any suggestions? What hard drives have worked best for you PC to Mac users?

    Well first off you really need a couple of external hard drives to backup your boot drive.
    If you detest the corny and hobbled TimeMachine as much as I do, then you will likely prefer bootable clones instead.
    So the clones will be GUID OS X Ext J formatted so OS X can boot from them, but the PC's can't read that format easily.
    Also one shouldn't be taking risks moving their clones around and hooking them up to various malware infected PC's anyway.
    Most commonly used backup methods
    Ok, next your going to need one or two external drives for transporting files between computers of different platforms (one backup), however you need to format this drive into something that the Mac and PC can read equally and with no trouble.
    The formula is rather simple, take the portable drive(s) to the oldest version of Windows your using and right click and format the drive there for exFAT (not FAT, not NTFS)
    Now if you have a XP machine and exFAT is not a option, then it can be downloaded for free from Microsoft's web site.
    It's important to format the drive on the oldest Windows PC because XP can't read/format GUID partition maps and Vista and Win 7/8 can. XP uses a MBR partition map instead.
    The Mac can read/write to all Windows partition map schemes and drive formats, except writing to NTFS.
    Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

  • I need to move the iTunes library to an External Hard Drive to free up space on iMac.  Need suggestions on type of External Hard Drive to use.  A Multimedia Hard Drive like LaCie LaCinema Classic HD Multimedia Hard Drive OR a Large Desktop Hard Drive?

    I need to move an iTunes library to an External Hard Drive to free up space on iMac.  I Need suggestions on type of External Hard Drive to use.  Should you use a Multimedia Hard Drive like LaCie LaCinema Classic HD Multimedia Hard Drive OR a standard Large Desktop Hard Drive like Western Digital/Seagate/LaCie?

    There is no benefit to the multi-media feature on the first drive you mentioned. If you are going to look at differences between certain drives, I'd look at the differences in reliability first.

  • I  have a new Mac Pro computer and have migrated my files from my older computer to the new computer. In trying to open a Lightroom catalog on an external hard drive  I keep on getting the message "lightroom cannot use the catalog named " " because it is

    I  have a new Mac Pro computer and have migrated my files from my older computer to the new computer. In trying to open a Lightroom catalog on an external hard drive  I keep on getting the message "lightroom cannot use the catalog named " " because it is  not writable and cannot be opened. I have fixed all the "permissions" and yet it will still not open. How do I fix this?

    Hello Forum Members,
    I figured it out. You have to select  the actual logo of the Lightroom catalog and then click on  "get info" and allow what ever your new user name to "read and write". That worked!
    Henri Silberman

  • I have a new computer and have all my music is on an external hard drive.  I have the external hard drive connected to my computer.  How do I get my music that is on my ipod to go to the itunes on the new computer.

    I have a new computer and have all my music is on an external hard drive.  I have the external hard drive connected to my computer.  How do I get my music that is on my ipod to go to the itunes on the new computer.

    What error message are you getting when you try to launch iTunes? (Precise text, please.)

  • I had all photos on a Windows desktop.  Got a mac laptop, installed LR5, and put all images from Windows onto an external hard drive.  When I go to import them into LR on the Mac, they are all locked.  Help, please.  Thanks

    I had all photos on a Windows desktop.  Got a mac laptop, installed LR5, and put all images from Windows onto an external hard drive.  When I go to import them into LR on the mac, they are all locked.  Help, please!

    "I plugged the external into the Mac and moved a folder of images onto the desktop.  It looks like it went from read only to not locked.  Is this possible?"
    Yes, that's exactly what happened. If you buy another drive, you could copy from your existing drive to the new and your files will be read/write. The new drive will have to be formatted as an HFS drive (that's the Mac's format). If you need to format it, you use Disk Utility which is in the Utilities folder on your Mac. Be careful with that -- it wipes out whatever is currently on the drive. Make sure you format the right drive.
    I keep all my images on an external drive, too. In fact, I have two matching drives and sync them so I always have a backup.

  • My external hard drive works on PC but won't even show up on my mac?

    My external hard drive works on pc but won't even show up on my mac? What can I do?

    If it is in the wrong format it must probably still show up though, if your mac does detect it, go to disk utilities> choose the device from the left hand side > go to the "erase" tab and change format to "Mac OS extended (Journaled) then hit "erase".
    IMPRTANT! : this will erase ALL of the files on your external hard drive
    If this dosent work, make sure your external hard drive's USB port is compatibe with both USB 2.0 and 3.0 and also make sure your mac USB socket isnt damaged either.
    Hope this helped

  • How can i save my individual playlist on itunes on my external hard drive because i want to buy a laptop and install itunes and move all my music and playlist thats on my desktop to my laptop and almost all my music is from a bunch of cd's i own

    how can i save my individual playlist on itunes on my external hard drive because i want to buy a laptop and install itunes and move all my music and playlist thats on my desktop to my laptop and almost all of my music is from a bunch of cds i own

    Hello ryane84
    The easiest and most efficient way to copy your music is to follow the steps under the External drive section. Make sure that you have organized the iTunes library first before you copy it over. Then put the copied iTunes folder in the same Music folder on your computer.
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
    Regards,
    -Norm G.

  • I have a new MAcBook Air and my photos don't fit on the internal hard drive.  I want to store my photos on an external hard drive which I will connect to my Air when using Iphoto.  How do I set an external hard drive as the default drive?

    I have a new MAcBook Air and my photos don't fit on the internal hard drive.  I want to store my photos on an external hard drive which I will connect to my Air when using Iphoto.  How do I set an external hard drive as the default drive in Iphoto?

    Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
    4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
    Regards
    TD

  • How do I view and open all my files again that are on my external hard drive?? Error message saying 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer' Three options are Initialize, Ignore or Eject.

    I have recently purchased Toshiba 1TB hard drive and I set it up and I was able to transfer all my files onto it such as my music, photos, documents. I had correctly ejected and used it again and all these files were safely stored and accessible afterwards. However after I rebooted my computer as it had been going slow and I had too much clogging it up once I reconnected the external hard drive I have error message saying 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer' Three options are Initialize, Ignore or Eject. How do I access all my files? I set it up to work on both mac and windows. I have tried both another mac and windows computer and same issue occurs?? I am worried that all my personal files are gone but am confused as the drive has had absolutely no damage to it as it was in a very short time frame and its never left the same spot. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

    Thanks for your quick response. I had a look at your discussion... I tried it on a Windows machine and I thought that was compatible with ExFAT?
    Therefore I need to attempt to use my external hard drive with a machine that boasts OS X 10.6.5 or above and then it should work?
    Thanks

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