External Hard drives Mac OS and Windows

I have a question on external hard drives. I am looking for an external drive that will work with both my Mac and Windows xp pro. I remember that Mac used to be able to read windows format but not vise versa. I know that thumb drives switch back and forth with no problem but it seems that hard drives do not. I went to the store and was told and the boxes state that the windows drives must be reformatted to work with Mac and the WD Mac drive said that it must be reformatted to work in Windows, (as I expected). Is this something new between the OS's or something to do with the drive sizes? Any help would be appreciated as I would like to be able to move large files, usually movies, between the two formats by simply moving the external drive from one to the other.
Thank you

If you reformat that flash drive to use +Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)+, it will probably work. But then, you would not be able to use it on the Windows PC (until you reformatted it again).
then probably the best option although more expensive will be to buy an ethernet drive and connect to my router.
Or maybe you can do a direct transfer from PC to Mac or Mac to PC over wired Ethernet, and put the extra storage drive on the Mac or PC, formatted to be optimal for the respective connected OS. If your PC has gigabit Ethernet (and your router is has gigabit ports), it should be fairly fast. Make sure the cables are rated Cat-5e or better.
Wow another Power Mac 8100 user who added a G3 card to it.
Still a machine that is set up and runs fine, for using my old Mac OS 9 programs. I bought mine used after it was already a few years old, but it was used as my primary Mac longer than any other machine before or since. It stayed relevant for a long long time.

Similar Messages

Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows

Existing discussion thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1715002?start=0&tstart=0
Hi,
I have a large (~212GB) iTunes music library that was created using iTunes on Windows. All music files, etc are held on an external drive. Now I want to be able to access my existing music library from my MacBook Pro running iTunes on OS X. When I launch iTunes I hit the key so I can select which library file it should use. I'm not currently able to select my iTunes library on the external hard disk.
I've tried following the steps covered in an existing discussion thread that I have found, Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac, but that hasn't worked for me unfortunately. The linked post suggests renaming the library file (.itl) to remove its extension but the library is read-only. I've also tried doing the same when the external hard disk is connnected to my windows laptop and then switching back over to my MacBook Pro. But this has also not worked yet.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

Existing discussion thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1715002?start=0&tstart=0
Hi,
I have a large (~212GB) iTunes music library that was created using iTunes on Windows. All music files, etc are held on an external drive. Now I want to be able to access my existing music library from my MacBook Pro running iTunes on OS X. When I launch iTunes I hit the key so I can select which library file it should use. I'm not currently able to select my iTunes library on the external hard disk.
I've tried following the steps covered in an existing discussion thread that I have found, Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac, but that hasn't worked for me unfortunately. The linked post suggests renaming the library file (.itl) to remove its extension but the library is read-only. I've also tried doing the same when the external hard disk is connnected to my windows laptop and then switching back over to my MacBook Pro. But this has also not worked yet.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

I use only two channels, have plenty of memory in my hard disk, and external hard drive, no effects, and still having problems with Garage band. Giving messages as you have too many live channels

I'm frustrated, I am doing everything you recommend, I use only two channels, have plenty of memory in my hard disk, and external hard drive, no effects, and still having problems with Garage band. Giving messages as you ave too many live channels, the disk is slow prepare...can you help?

Quote from: Richard on 15-November-07, 20:33:05
tornado2003,
What you need to do is boot into Safe Mode. Then delete the VGA Drivers.
After that boot normally and install the latest nVidia ForceWare Drivers
Take Care,
Richard
i guess you missed that:
Quote from: tornado2003 on 15-November-07, 17:26:52
ive tryed booting xp in safe mode but it just freezes after it loads up a couple of needed files .
ive even formatted my hard drive and tryed installing a fresh xp on it but it just keeps locking up when it gets to the "starting windows setup" .(this is just after it loads all the drivers from the xp cd)

TS1717 I cannot get iTunes to automatically launch at startup in Windows 7. I need it to do this so my Apple TV 'finds' my Music Library, which is stored on an external hard-drive, connected to my Windows 7 PC.

I cannot get iTunes to automatically launch at startup in Windows 7. I need it to do this so my Apple TV 'finds' my Music Library, which is stored on an external hard-drive, connected to my Windows 7 PC. Anyone know how I do this? I cannot seem to find anything on Google, which is surprising.
iTunes helper launches OK, but not iTunes itself. Am I being dim?
Thanks

The iTunes application should be installed on the system drive. You may need to repair iTunes to fix that error regarding a missing .exe.
To organize your library properly see Make a split library portable.
If you don't have a working version of the library that can be transformed into a portable shape I have tools and techniques that can repair the broken links.
tt2

External hard drive gone wrong and copied everything to Imac HDD filling it completely

I have had my iMac backed up to an external hard drive for years and randomly the External hard drive is now not readable and it has seemed to copy everything to my imac hard drive filling it completely.
any ideas how to firstly fix the external drive without losing everything on there and second why it would have copied everything to the Imac?
I cant even do a restore from a back up as its all backed up to external drive and its saying its not readable.

If they're still in two folders (iTunes app and Music) on your external, can you not just copy those two back to the internal drive and expect it to work properly again? It's my understanding that music you wish to be active in iTunes must be on your internal drive.

Can I use an external hard drive to download and store my iTunes library?

Can I use an external hard drive to download and store my iTunes library?

Yes - in most cases you can just copy your entire library (by default C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes) to your external drive, with the result being a iTunes folder in the root of that drive with a structure like this:
Then hold down SHIFT when you start iTunes, and when you see this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the iTunes folder on your external drive, and click Open. See turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable for more information, including steps you may need to take to align your library structure before moving it to an external drive - this applies if you currently have some/all of the media in your library stored outside the standard iTunes Media folders.

My laptop and external hard drive both failed and got corrupter.

My laptop and external hard drive both failed and got corrupter. I've lost my quick time pro 7 and all my music, I still have my Ipod with the music on, How can I get it back on to Itunes and quick time pro back on to my PC? Many thanks.

Since your current editing workflow is based around Virtual Copies there are no actual files containing the edit data. Therefore, you'll need to use the 'Import from another catalog' option ( see File menu).

Migrating music to an external hard drive for access by Windows & Mac

Hey folks
I recently migrated my collection of music to an external hard drive by:
1) changing the iTunes music folder location from the default (Music/iTunes/iTunes Music) to my external hard drive through iTunes Preferences.
2) Selecting "Consolidate library" from the Advanced drop-down menu.
Afterwards, I moved my library file to the same parent directory I put my iTunes music folder in on the external (in fact, I moved my entire iTunes folder excl the music folder which was obviously already on the hard drive). When I restarted iTunes I held down OPTION and then chose the library file on my external as the iTunes library file to be used. This was all done on a Mac.
No problems - all swell. But... I moved the library file to the external because I want to be able to use the external with multiple computers from which I can import music that will automatically be copied to the same folder (the music folder on my external) and managed accordingly. When I tried to open the library from my Windows laptop at home nothing happened. The library file I copied from my Mac had no extension, so I renamed it .itl so the Windows version of iTunes would pick it up, but selecting it as the new library did nothing.
Q1: Are iTunes library files (I assume always .itl's?) interchangeable between Mac and Windows? If not this might explain why the library didn't load up.
Q2: Is my method wrong? Is there a different procedure for getting multiple copies of iTunes on different computers and operating systems to all use the same library, saved on an external hard drive, which itself references music from the same external hard drive? Is this goal even possible?
Q3: Is it possible to have 2 or more libraries for a given installation of iTunes?
Bonus Q4: How is the album artwork saved? When I consolidated my music on the external, did this move the artwork across with it (integrated with each music file?) or was it still sitting on my Mac hard drive in the Album Artwork directory? I have since moved this folder to my external as well, when I moved the entire directory including library file across, and album artwork is visible when the library is open on my Mac, but I don't know whether its getting the images from the hard drive or the external hard drive.
Okay last one - I swear! Q5: When I couldn't get the laptop version of Itunes to open my Mac library file, I imported all my music into the default laptop library which references the music files still all located on the external. Considering the 130GB of music I'm dealing with, this took a while, but what took even longer was "Processing album artwork", which dragged on for ages. What is actually happening during this procedure - is iTunes accessing an online database to find the artwork, or is it working with the artwork already processed and saved in the album on the external?
Thanks very much in advance! Sorry for all the questions but I'd like to crack this thing once and for all.

The procedure for sharing a library between a Mac and Wintel PC on an external drive is quite simple. I did this myself so that I would have my music available to me when I worked in my lab.
First before you transfer anything to your external hard drive, the music library on your Mac should already be consolidated. Once that is done, transfer the iTunes folder (./Music/iTunes) to the external drive. Unless your music files are in a folder outside the iTunes folder—for instance, my music files are on a separate, larger volume on my Mac from the iTunes folder that is on the boot volume—copying your iTunes folder will put everything that iTunes needs onto the external drive.
Now you have two options for using your library on two machines. The first, which I prefer, is to leave your Mac’s iTunes library in place and use the external strictly for the Wintel PC. In this instance, you would need to add the .itl extension to the iTunes Library database file. When you attach your external to the Wintel PC at work and choose the library, your should be taken into iTunes with your music library intact.
In this instance, your external drive can also serve as a backup of your iTunes library because it is highly improbable that both your external drive and Mac Pro’s iTunes folders will go bad simultaneously. For backup purposes, you will need to place another copy of your iTunes Library database file on the external drive, without the extension, for your Mac; I have had issues with Macs recognizing .itl files. Of note, the content of your library on the external drive will be the same if you need to recover from the external drive, but as the Wintel PC will not update the database file without the .itl extension, any settings you change or playlists you add in Windows will not be transferred to the Mac unless you recover the Mac’s library from the iTunes Music Library.xml file that the PC would have kept current.
In the second instance, if you wish to run your library off of the external drive for both your Mac and Wintel PC, you would follow the same procedure described above, but you would need to have both an iTunes Library (Mac) and iTunes Library.itl (Windows) database files. Effectively, this would mean that once a change is made on either system, it will not be reflected on the other. As you are most likely to add new songs via your home computer, you will need to replace the .itl file with a copy of the Mac database file whenever you add music, playlists, etc.
Given the storage capacity of my Power Mac G5 and the logistics involved in managing a library stored solely on an external volume going between a Mac and PC, I find the second option to be more trouble than it is worth. For me, it is easier to maintain my Mac’s iTunes library then copy the iTunes folder over to the external drive overnight when I wish to make any updates (e.g., new content, playlists, etc.) available to my work computer. In the morning, I just add the .itl extension to database file before disconnecting the external drive and taking it to work.
Now that your first two questions are answered, yes you can have more than one library, but doing so is poor database management. You should have all of your content in a single database and use iTunes to separate content. iTunes already separates music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, etc., but further division of content is up to the user. iTunes has had playlists and folders for a few versions now, so it is quite easy to organize your library’s content in as simple or complex a folder/playlist structure as you please.
How album artwork is saved depends on how you acquired your music. Music you purchase from the iTunes Store has its artwork placed into a separate artwork database built in the Album Artwork folder in your iTunes folder. I believe that the same occurs if you allow iTunes to find and import album covers. If you rip CDs or acquire music from other sources, you manually add the artwork, in which case the images are stored in the music files.
Lastly, when iTunes has to build a library it can take a while. Your library is twice as large as mine and on a slow(er) laptop drive the time to built a library will be excessive. Unless iTunes is crashing or freezing, let it runs its course until the library build is completed. Also, if you have copied your music files to your laptop’s internal hard drive, you should not leave iTunes referencing the external drive. In the worst case, you would want to copy your iTunes folder from the external to the laptop’s internal drive’s default iTunes folder location. Remove the iTunes Library file and allow iTunes on your laptop to rebuild the library from the XML file.

How can I partition my external hard drive into NTFC and Mac OS Extended Journaled?

I brought a 1tb external hard drive from Western Digital. It currently have one partition which is Mac OS X (Journaled). I want to have two partition, one Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and one NTFC for Windows. When I try to choose 2 partition and choose a partition type, I only get the following choices:
1. Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)
2. Mac OS X Extended (Case-Sensitive, Journaled)
3. MS-DOS (FAT)
4. ExFAT
5. Free Space
I don't want to use MS-DOS (FAT) because I am limited to only 32gb of space and I need plenty of space for Windows files.

Assuming that entire drive is GUID and you keep the existing journaled partition.
Make a second partition that is exFAT (more storage ability than FAT) using DU.
Then mount the drive on a Windows 7 and reformat that exFAT as NTFS. But remember that Mac can read and write exFAT natively, but cannot write NTFS without special software. Perhaps exFAT is what you want.
But more the the point: is the journaled partition used as a backup device? If it is, I would leave that drive alone as a backup drive and use a second device for "data only" sharing between types.

External hard drive for PC and Mac, how to format?

Hi
I have 3 laptops at home which I use for different roles:
1. A recent Macbook Pro with Leopard;
2. PC with Windows XP SP2;
3. PC with Windows Vista.
I have just ordered a powerful external drive (actually four drives of 1TB each in one enclosure, configured into the fastest RAID 0 for my work and storage needs.
I will need to edit High Definition movies directly from that hard drive, so I need to have very fast access to all files (up to 100MB/s - have eSATA connections sorted).
Now my question is how should I format the hard drive so it is read and write accessible by all three computers?
FAT32 is not an option because it has performance issues (and I need my HDD to be really fast) and wouldn't support files larger than 4GB (many of my videos are larger)...
I probably also cannot create 2 separate partitions as I need to use the same files with both Mac and Windows systems (not at the same time but e.g. download a 10GB file with my Vista computer while I am away, later edit it with MBP, then maybe record it onto a blu-ray in my Windows XP machine.)
I am sure there are many people out there with both Macs and PCs that need fast external hard drive where FAT32 is not good, so how do you format it?
Many thanks!

Hi,
if what you are looking for is a 4-disk-raid NAS with e-sata connection, you are looking at US$1000 (without drives) for something like the Allnet ALL6700 or the QNAP TS509pro which can use a 5th disk for raid-5 redundancy. (With a 4-disk-raid-0, the chance of losing ALL data is 4 times higher than when storing on a single disk)
With many NAS-devices, you don't have to worry about the format/file system - as capaho wrote, the box does it for You (don't take my word for it for a specific model). My DLink Nas ist Ext3-formatted and runs fine with OS X and/or XP - but can only be connected via LAN.
If you have connected it to a switch/router and you are accessing it via LAN, don't expect a transfer rate of more than 20MByte/s (Gigabit-Lan) unless using professional equipment.

Switching external hard drive between pc and mac

I'm planning on buying about a 160-200g external hard drive. I have a pc with windows xp that I use, and I also have an iBook G4. It's becoming an annoyance moving files that I want on both computers, not to mention I am running out of hard drive space on my iBook. So I figured the best solution was an external drive...however I've been reading some posts and it seems as though you can only format them for a mac or a pc, not both. Can I use an external drive on both my computers with out having to partition the drive? Any other info on this would be appreciated. Also, if I can use it on both, can I hook them up simultaneously? Thanks!

yeah the auotplay search on the windows machine on a
large external can take ages but it only did this the
first time with me, but it still does take a lot
longer for it to recognise the drive.
just hit "cancel" button when autoplay starts up - once autoplay starts mean windows has recognized it anyways - it just is doing that to see if it should start up like windows media player or whatever :-P

HT201250 external hard drive Mac to Windows

I have had a mac of which I just killed the hard drive. I was backing it up with an external hard drive using I believe time machine.
I have brought a new computer which is a windows 8 operating system but I can not open the external hard drive. How do I open it, so I can then put my files onto my new computer??

Install the MacDrive trial on the PC.
(77797)

External hard drive for pc and mac

How can I format my external hard drive to use it with both my pc and mac without deleting everything that's already on it?

No. The process of reformatting the drive wipes out all data on the disk drive.
Allan

Sharing external hard drive between PowerMac and Mac Pro

I have a western digital external hard drive connected to a PowerMac and one connected to a Mac Pro. The PowerMac can see the Mac Pro external, but not vise versa. Can someone tell me what could possibly be wrong? Both computers have the sharing setup and we have partitioned the hard drives.
Thanks

I'm assuming that you have Leopard on both Macs? When you say that you "see" the Mac Pro's external drive, are you seeing it in the sidebar? And if so is that showing up as the Mac Pro, or as the drive? It seems to me that if you're seeing the one, then what you've done is to "connect as" with the user login, but haven't yet done that with the MacPro to the PowerMac. Have you from the PowerMac clicked Add at the bottom of the User's list to add the right username, or clicked New Person to enter a name and password?

A recent convert from PC: External Hard drive, iTunes library, and NTFS

So I recently picked up an iBook and am using it in addition to my Toshiba laptop. My entire collection of mp3's is about 13,000 songs, occupies over 40 gig and is stored on an external hard drive. All tags are complete and accurate (That was a long, hard month!).
I would like to have my iTunes library "import" my collection, but it is far too large for the iBook HDD. If I understand correctly, I can't import it to my external HDD because being NTFS, my Mac can't write to it (and I assume "importing" involves some altering of the files or their tags). Mainly I want to take advantage of iTunes' search function.
Currently, when I want to add to my collection, I rip the CD in iTunes, Transfer it to my Creative Zen Touch, plug that into the Toshiba, then transer to the external HDD. whew.
So--what do you all recommend?
Bonus section:
Soon I will be getting an iPOd 60 Gig. Will I have any problems transferring tune to it without being able to write from the iBook to the external HDD?
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Just a thought:
So if I were to install iTunes for windows on the PC, then let it do the importing onto a separate folder on the external HDD would iTunes on the Mac recognize it as an iTunes library and let me search?
To quote Spinal Tap: "There is a fine line between clever and supid."
What side of the line is this idea on?
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
ibook g4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

External Hard drives Mac OS and Windows

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