Disk Utility / Encryption on Flash Drive used on Windows & Mac

I am interested in using a flash drive whose contents are encrypted. I will be using this flash drive to open/trasnfer files between a Windows computer as well as a Mac. Does anyone have any solutions for running an encryptiont that can be used on both platforms.
I have come across the opensource GNU Project. Is this the best technology use? Also there are different apps for each platform that use this standard. If this is the best solution, do you have any suggestions which are the best apps to use on the Mac and on the PC side?
Thanks,
Tim

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/390385/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-a-mac-or-win dows
"In most cases we recommend you select Microsoft’s exFAT format: this will give you full read and write access in both Windows (Vista or later) and OS X (Snow Leopard 10.6.5 or later)."
That's what I've done so that the flash drive can be read in Win 7 and OS 10.6.8 and above.

Similar Messages

Disk Utility - Erasing a hard drive using MS-DOS (FAT)

Hi all,
I have recently purchased a 500GB external hard drive. I have used Disk Utility to format the drive from NTFS to MS-DOS (FAT) so I can use it with Windows PC's as well as Mac's.
My issue is this.
I copied a 1.16GB file over Firewire 800 to test the speed and then deleted it. After deleting the file the info pane still reports that 1.17GB of the drive has been used.
Why is this?
Thanks!
David

Did you remember to empty the trash can? If not, the file is in the hidden directory .Trashes on the Windows drive. You don't reclaim the space until you empty the trash.

Using Disk Utility to erase Hard Drive

Hi All
I just bought a new external hard drive and am using Disk Utility to erase and format it. I did not know for sure if erasing the hard drive was the right thing to do. Anyway I set up the Volume as follows from the mac help instructions:
1.format OS extended journaled
2.Install OS9 disk driver.
3.("Zero all data" and "8 Way Random Write Format"). So it has been running for about 3 hours now and is only 1/8 of the way writing 0's to disk.
My question is should I continue on and just let it finish up? At the rate it is going It might be done by sometime tomorrow.
Or can I stop the erasing process without hurting the hard drive.
Then start disk utility erasing the hard drive without this Zero all data.
Thanks much

Just to confirm your impression, S. Frigolett: yes, everything should be fine now.
Zeroing a drive is advisable if you have reason to believe there may be bad data storage blocks on it; zeroing identifies those blocks and prevents them from being used (because using them would result in lost or corrupt data). A simple erase doesn't do that, but on a new drive straight from the factory there is no reason to think it's necessary.
The 8 way random write option is for people who have extremely sensitive data to erase from a drive that may pass into other hands, and who want to be sure that no one short of the NSA will have any chance of recovering any of that data. A new, empty drive has nothing on it that even the NSA could recover, so there's no reason to erase it that thoroughly.

How does disk utility decide which optical drive to use for burn?

This is a somewhat daft question and purely out of interest.
How does disk utility decide which optical drive bay to open for burning?
I have two drives in a MacPro and both have the same capabilities (DVD-RW). Why does it sometimes open the lower one, and sometimes the top one?

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
The estimate is based on how long it already took to do how many blocks, and how many blocks are left to do. If you told it to overwrite 35 times, it will be a long, long time before it completes.
The estimate is made grossly large by the presence of Bad Blocks that need to be Read during the test (not the case with Erase and Write Zeroes).
Each Block is written with some redundancy bits, so that small errors can be corrected on reading. A Bad Block causes the drive to re-read. and re-read, and re-read, in hopes of getting correctable data the next time. This should NOT be an issue in writing. But if the drive stops responding (which can and does happen with a bad drive) the Erase function will just sit there, thinking it is making progress, and stretching out the time.
Thanks, Grant.
If I read your reply correctly, Erase and Zero Out free space shouldn't elongate the process, because there's no read occurring.
The drive will not be Mounted while Disk Utility works on it, so it will not be on the Desktop. But ask Apple System Profiler \[ About this Mac > More Info > Serial ATA ] if the drive is still THERE . If it cannot be seen, you have your answer -- the drive dropped out of sight while being tested -- Bad Drive.
Well, now I am confused. It's a FW800 drive. It's on the Desktop. And it appears under FireWire in System Profiler. AND Disk Utility shows a mount point. But the Unmount and Eject buttons are grayed out.
Will the drive be mounted if it fails to respond to Disk Utility? That doesn't seem to make sense.
How do I determine its status? It appears to be stuck at "1 day, 5 hours" but it'll take an hour for that to change. I think it's been that long since I first noticed the time.
Harv

How can I force mount a dvd that isn't even seen by Disk Utility? I can see it on the Mac when using my Windows 7 partition via Boot Camp, but not in Lion, which is how I would rather be running.

How can I force mount a dvd that isn't even seen by Disk Utility? I can see it on the Mac when using my Windows 7 partition via Boot Camp, but not in Lion, which is how I would rather be running.

Well if there is a EFI block, then running a program in OS X isn't going to do a lick of good.
After all EFI was designed for Trusted Computing and Digital Rights Management, to act between the OS and hardware, can read drives, contact the Internet and everything.
Windows doesn't use EFI, will have UEFI in Windows 8 though.

How do I encrypt a flash drive

Hello,
Im trying to encrypt my flash drive, but when I try it says A GUID Partitioning Table (GPT) partitioning scheme is required, but I also want it to work for Mac and Windows if I can, how do I do it?

If you need an encryption you can share between mac and windows, I'd advise you to use something like truecrypt.
You create a crypted container (the name you want) that you can mount as a drive. The app itself can be stored on the key as a portable app for windows.

"Repair Disk" option in Disk Utility need to repair drive.

I have a Seagate GoFlex Desk 2TB external hard drive. I use it as a backup drive for Time Machine. When I plug it into my iMac it dosen't open, I opened Disk Utility and clicked "Verify Drive" and then I got this...
I have backups on this drive. If I click "Repair Drive" will I lose the data on the drive?

After I Repair the drive this is what I get...
What should I do now? Is my drive bad?

Will Restore in Leopard Disk Utility reliably copy a drive with bootcamp?

I have a drive partitioned part OS X and part Bootcamp (with Windows XP installed). If I use Apple's Disk Utility to 'Restore' the drive (to copy the drive to a larger drive) will this work reliably for bootcamp as well as the OS X content? Presumably this just clones the drive?

Once you install MacFUSE you can not use the Startup Disk Utility anymore to boot into Windows, you need to hold the option key every time.
As you stated, NTFS is owned by Microsoft, its their proprietary format and has many different versions of it. I don't think any company has the full right to format NTFS which basically comes down that you can not complain to any of the companies or MS about data loss.
My idea with an image is that I can always read it, so in case the WinClone format or write fails I still have all my files (and not just parts of it). Since I am booted the most amount of time on Mac OS X anyway I don't care that a script creates an entire mirror image of my current Windows drive overnight.
I actually have several basic images that I can always restore in case I want to clean up my drive.

How to create a USB recovery flash drive using recovery ISO image?

This “HowTo” provides information and instruction how to create a USB recovery media flash drive using the Toshiba recovery ISO image files or Toshiba Recovery discs (DVDs)
To create a USB recovery media flash drive, a USB flash drive with at least 16GB disk space is suggested (depends on the size of the ISO images or recovery discs).
Note: Since 2015 the ISO layout has changed and a different procedure must be processed to create the USB media. The new recovery media type can be identified by the names of the ISO files.
More info: http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/HTD4103KB0000R01.htm

Yes, that article should apply to tablets.
But if your USB recovery drive does not get recognized then it must be corrupted - you should be able to format your disk and perhaps try to see if creating a Recovery device on other devices will make it recognizable on your tablet 2.

Im attempting to start up from OSX 10.4.9 back up disc on my Macbook 13inch but it starts up and am able get to utilities then disk utility but my internal drive doesnt show in options on left can anyone help ?

Hi all my trusty macbook 13 inch 5 years old has let me down get a box with question mark in it when i switch on , so apple support tells me to try ans start by back up OSX 10.4.9 disk the built in drive doesnt work so i am using an external toshiba drive .
I switch on holding down c key an apple logo comes on and it starts up im able to acess utilities then disk utility but in the options on the left there is only the Backup disc and the external drive showing my internal mackintosh drive wont show so i cant move further any help

If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

I'm using Time Machine and a LaCie external drive to backup. I also have a 8 GB LaCie flash drive I want to use for small jobs. If I plug the LaCie flash drive in, is my Mac going to think it is the LaCie external drive and start trying to backup?

I'm using Time Machine and a LaCie external drive to backup. I also have a 8 GB LaCie flash drive I want to use for small jobs. If I plug the LaCie flash drive in, is my Mac going to think it is the LaCie external drive and start trying to backup?

no.

Can Lion disk utility dynamically partition a drive?

Can Lion disk utility dynamically partition a drive? I see many posts that Leopard Disk utility can but nothing about Lion.

Yes. I'll post a link to instructions. Be sure to create a full reliable backup before you begin (don't just do the backup, test the backup to be sure it's good), and the only application that should be running until the process is complete is Disk Utility.
http://osxdaily.com/2009/11/20/resize-partitions-in-mac-os-x-with-disk-utility/
Some people have problems resizing partitions because of the hidden Recovery HD partition. It sometimes gets in the way because Disk Utility can move it "up" but cannot move it "down".

USB Flash Drive is seen by Mac but will not mount

I use an HP 32GB flash drive, formatted exFAT, to transfer files. My Windows PC and other MacBooks in my house running older Mac OS X versions read this flash drive just fine. This flash drive used to show up on the desktop of my newest MacBook Pro 15 (late 2011) too.
However, after upgrading to 10.7.5 I experienced numerous problems (Time Machine, etc.) and the USB Drive fails to mount onto the desktop or be recognized by any application. I cannot get Apple's Disk Utility to recognize the flash drive either.
Interestingly enough
1. The System Information window of my MacBook Pro shows the USB drive when it is attached. The Mac even knows it is an HP 32GB drive. But Disk Tools does not see it, I cannot format or read it in any other way on this Mac.
2. when I launch Windows 7 OS through Parallels, then install the USB drive, these applications too fail to recognize the flash drive. But if I pull out the USB flash drive then a screen appears for a split-second, as though somehow the MacBook Pro knew the drive had been pulled.
Moments ago I downloaded the OS X 10.7.5 supplment "Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63)", but while that may have fixed Time Machine, I see no changes to the USB drive recognition.
Any ideas?
MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

iDVD '11 works on Mountain Lion. You just need to get an old iLife '11 DVD.

Flash Drive Format for BOTH Mac & PC

Is there any way I can format my flash drive (scandisc) for both mac and pc? Thanks!
Jesse

Bottlerocket wrote:
Thank you so much! I had my doubts that a definitive solution to this problem existed. I am very grateful.
Just thought I would also throw this out as an option: "IronKey The World's Most Secure Flash Drive" (https://store.ironkey.com/personal) works on PC, MAC, and Linux (see specs for details). But at a price range of $79.00 (IronKey Personal S200 1GB Secure Drive - FIPS) to $299.00 (IronKey Personal D200 32GB Secure Drive - FIPS) this seems like a hefty price to pay, but also no need to have something like PGP on each machine.
Three reviews I found helpful were:
http://www.net-security.org/review.php?id=216
http://www.rohos.com/2010/04/ironkey-security-review-part-2/
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewId=112356
What I don't like about what have read is the self-destruct feature. I understand it offers protection from data theft from tampering attempts or brute-force attacks, but as the PC Advisor reviewer noted "10 consecutive failed logins will leave you with an ornamental keyring" so that is actually an open door to a denial of service / denial of data attack - your data is secure but could cost you $299.00 and your data if someone had access to it in your absence and just wanted to be prankish. Yea, I know they could also disable more expensive equipment in like manner, so guess this is just more in line with a valid argument for protecting physical access to systems as part of overall security plan. In this case, maybe handcuff the thing to yourself.
Also the product does offer more of it feature set to PCs, and I would rather have equality here for the price. And although interesting, I am not immediately sold on it added features such as seemingly anonymous surfing with hardened version of Mozilla Firefox and IronKey's servers (similar in concept to using Tor network) - it may be neat and advantages in some situations but it is not a panacea of speed and complete privacy if you delve into such things.
All that being said, think it would be nice to play with and see how it works; and other manufactures are also putting out efforts in this direction so it is kind of interesting to at least be aware of it and how it might be useful and look towards its evolution. Depending on the environment, you might be better off getting a 64GB encrypted SSD, set it up on your PC and then access from your Mac via something like a virtual windows machine using Parallels for Mac (http://www.parallels.com/).
Also, may want to look at True Crypt (Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux) at http://www.truecrypt.org/. Much reading there, but also think there would be a solution that would just cost you your time; have read varying reports, google and you will have much to read for the next few days but may be just the ticket to meet your needs.
If you do start implementing any of this, would love to hear about how it plays out. Assume others would also.

Which USB 64GB flash drives are compatible with Mac Mini?

I need to use a USB 64GB flash drive, formatted for both PC and Apple, with my Mac Mini. The largest USB flash that Apple sells is 32GB. Which USB 64GB flash drives are compatible with Mac Mini. If most are, are there any that I should avoid? Thanks.

I'm assuming that when I connect the USB to the Mac it gets formatted for Mac. Then I follow your directions and it gets formatted for Windows, in addition to Mac. I'd choose ExFAT since it is a 64GB USB.
No no. A brand new drive will be formatted as "something", most likely something for Windows, and that could be FAT (which a Mac can also read and write to) or NTFS (which a Mac can read but not write to).
So, you'll need to make sure it's formatted as ExFAT, instead of what it is. A medium can be in always only one format.
About the expense: Fry's is advertising a 64GB Patriot USB Flash Drive for $22.99. Is that considered expensive for a USB flash drive?
That'd be dirt-cheap, I'd say. Expect it to be very slow.
I've read answers that are somewhat related to my question, and some warn that USB's are slow. Maybe I should consider another option?
USB is not that slow (though there are faster buses). And USB flash drives come in different speeds, where especially the "write" speed can vary hugely.
The advantage of USB is that it's widely spread, and lots of media is on the market, making it very affordable. The only other affordable alternative is an external HDD, I'd say, where you get much bigger drives for less money than a small 64GB USB flash drive...
My main objective is that, in switching from Windows to Mac, I want to be able to access Windows files that I've backed up to a Seagate Free Agent. I bought a LaCie with the Mac Mini, but will still want to use the Free Agent. I need to reformat the Free Agent for the Mac (hopefully for Mac and Windows; while learning to use the Mac and Numbers and Pages I may have emergency jobs that I'll need to do with Excel and Word on the PC), so my plan is to move the files on the Free Agent to the 64GB flash drive, reformat the Free Agent so that, hopefully, the Mac will read the files on it after I move them back to the Free Agent from the USB.
Why don't you copy the content of the Free Agent meanwhile to the Mac's HDD? Then copy it back after re-formatting the Free Agent? Why would you need an extra USB drive?
Any ideas you have about how to achieve this objective will be appreciated. Maybe I should buy a third, small, external hard drive? Maybe there is a way to move the Windows files from the Seagate to the LaCie?
Exactly... you seem to have already extra space on the LaCie drive...
My understanding is that the Apple Store does not want to move files from an external hard drive to the Mac.
I don't know where this could origin, but that's as wrong as it is funny. What has the App Store to do with you moving some files from one drive to another?
I should add that I don't have enough remaining free space on the PC hard drive to hold the files on the Free Agent, so that is not an option.
No, but you have a Mac with a built-in HDD, and you got the LaCie drive. Again, the Mac should have neither a problem to read from the Free Agent, nor to write to the LaCie.
From what you're telling here, you have lots of space already with what you have, I can't see the need for the USB flash drive, at least not for the purpose you mention here.
It seems that your understanding is that (a) a drive comes in a particular format for, or not for Mac, and you can't change it, and (b) that for some reason (App Store?!) Macs aren't allowed to copy files from external files. Well, both is wrong...

Disk Utility / Encryption on Flash Drive used on Windows & Mac

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for