Format a WD passport drive for MAC

Need to understand benefits of partitioning more than 1 partition and format options. Your help will be appreciated
Dave

First of all use Disk Utility to format the disk. If Western Digital included any Mac-compatible utilities, do not use or install any. You don't need them and there have been reports of problems associated with their use.
If you want to use the WD Passport for a Time Machine backup, format the disk as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". Do not specify case-sensitive unless you have good reason to. Encryption is up to you but I find it adds needless complexity.
You can elect to partition a disk as you see fit. The partitions can have different file formats. If you want to use the disk with Windows computers, format that partition as ExFAT.
Partitioning has its uses, but remember a mechanical or other catastrophic disk failure means all the disk's partitions will be lost.

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Best way to format my 16GB flash drive for Mac and PC transferring large power point files?

best way to format my 16GB flash drive for Mac and PC transferring large power point files?

format flash drive in Exfat for transferring files between Mac and Pc.
FORMAT TYPES
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
Maximum file size: 4GB.
Maximum volume size: 2TB
You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
Maximum file size: 16 TB
Maximum volume size: 256TB
You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
HFS+ ((((MAC FORMAT)))) (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
Maximum file size: 8EiB
Maximum volume size: 8EiB
You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
EXFAT (FAT64)
Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
Not all Windows versions support exFAT.
exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
Maximum file size: 16 EiB
Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

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.

I cannot find the best way to format an external hard drive for MAC, PC, TV?

Hello,
I have a problem: I want to use an external hard drive on my Mac as well as on a PC and a TV. The normal structure of Mac (Journaled) isn't supported by PC/ TV. I changed the structue into DOS(FAT) on my Mac. That's suppoerted by TV and PC. But I'll use the hard drive for storage of HD films so I'm afraid that the structure is not good enough for this (it seems old to me DOS.....) And I don't want the quality to be influenced by a bad structure.
Then I've formatted into NTFS on my PC, but then I cannot put files from Mac on the hard drive.
What is the best solution?
Hope someone can help me!
Regards, Kim

FAT works great, but the problem is that it's old and that you can't store files that are bigger than 4 GB. In this case, you have exFAT, a filesystem compatible with OS X and Windows, but I don't think that the TV will read it.
If you want to use NTFS, you need a third-party application to be able to write in it on OS X, like Paragon NTFS

Formatting a Lacie Hard drive for Mac

Is there anyone who can help me format my Lacie 320GB external hard drive for my Mac. Currently it is formatted for MS-DOS. I've read the manual inside and tried what it says but have got nowhere. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Many thanks

Can you see it in Disk Utility? If so, use the Erase command from there. To open Disk Utility, open Finder and press Command-Shift-U to open the Utilities folder. It's in there.
Select the option Mac OS Extended unless you want journaling, in which case select Mc OS Extended (Journaled)
Erase is the only tool you need.
Pete

Formatting an external hard drive for mac.

Hi- I just bought a SimpleTech Pro 1TB External hard drive from Best Buy. I already own about 4 other external hard drives of various brands (WD, Maxtor, Seagate, Etc.). If I remember correctly, in the past to format those drives for OSX, I've just gone into disk utility, selected the drive on the left, and went to the erase tab, chose volume format: Mac OS Extended, named it, clicked erase and a few minutes later my drive was ready for use. For some reason now I am getting an error (format failed) shortly after I click erase. It will allow me to choose fat32 to format the drive, but whenever I try for a Mac OS format I get this same error. Any ideas?
By the way, I tried this on a Seagate drive yesterday and the same thing happened. So I returned it thinking it wouldn't work with a mac. So I don't think it's the drive.

Choose partition and GUID in option and after format in HFS+
Message was edited by: Nardac

Formatting an external hard drive for Mac/Time Machine.

Hello-
Just purchased a Time Capsule to use both as a wireless Network and backup hard drive. Both are working great. However, I have an external hd (500 gig "My Book") I used with a previous computer (PC). I would like Time Capsule/Time Machine to backup everything on the My Book external hd but I realize I need to reformat in order to have the Time Machine backup this drive. It appears that the only way to reformat the external hd is to erase it's contents. This isn't an option for me as this drive is almost full and has a ton of data I do not want to lose. Can anyone elaborate on how I can reformat this disk so it will be compatible with my new setup without losing any of it's contents? Thank you for your time and help.
Matt

Some 3rd-party apps, such as iPartition, claim to be able to do that. But they +*very prominently+* warn you to back up first, in case something goes wrong. And there have been a few posts here where something did go wrong and the user hadn't backed-up, so lost everything.
iPartition (and I think all the others) cost money, of course. Instead of spending it there, your best bet is to get another external HD, a larger one. Copy the data to it, reformat the WD, and copy it back. Make sure Time Machine is backing-it up to your Time Capsule (ie., not listed in the exclusions box of +Time Machine Preferences > Options).+
Then erase and partition the new one. One partition should be at least as large as your Mac's internal HD, the other 500 GB or more. Use this drive for "secondary" backups of both, via CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. [CarbonCopyCloner|http://www.bombich.com> is donationware; [SuperDuper|http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html] has a free version, but you need the paid one (about $30) to do updates instead of full replacements, or scheduling.
You might even want to get a portable HD for this, so you can take it off-site and also be protected against fire, flood, theft, direct lightning strike on your power lines, etc.

Formatting a USB flash drive for Mac OS X Leopard & Windows XP

I'm pretty new to Mac, so forgive me if this seems a very basic question.
How do I format a USB flash drive so that it can be seen by both an Imac running Mac OS X Leopard and a PC running Windows XP?
If one or other machine can't see the drive it makes transferring files really frustrating.
Your advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

You can either use Windows or OSx to format the flash drive to FAT32. This will allow you to read and write from OSx and Windows. If you just bought the flash drive then double check before you format as it may already be formatted to FAT32.
Use Disk Utility from OSx to format your flash drive OR from windows, click on *My Computer* and then highlight the drive letter and choose File from the top menu and then Format.
Axel F.

Formatting a new hard drive for mac

Hi,
In a previous post I asked about running Snow Leopard on my mac after a hard drive fail. I'm having issues with formatting a new hard drie in my mac. I have a 2007 black macbook and I'm trying to run a 160gb SATA seagate hard drive.
After replacing this hard drive, I booted my mac up from cd, ran through setup fine until I got to the 'select a devide to install to' - the point where my hard drive should be visible. Nothing there at all. Nothing to click on in the box....
My question is, is there a process I need to undertake to format the hard drive or is this an indicator of a much bigger problem?
Thanks
HC

Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, 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 Partition 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.
You can install OS X once formatting is complete by quitting DU and returning to the installer.

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

When I try to format an external hard drive for Mac it keeps coming up as 'error'. Can anyone help me?

I've followed the instructions on the online tutorial but when it is trying to erase the data it comes up with 'volume erase failed, could not unmount disk'.

FAT works great, but the problem is that it's old and that you can't store files that are bigger than 4 GB. In this case, you have exFAT, a filesystem compatible with OS X and Windows, but I don't think that the TV will read it.
If you want to use NTFS, you need a third-party application to be able to write in it on OS X, like Paragon NTFS

WD "My Passport hard drive for Mac."

Hi -
New convert from Windows to MacBook Pro so I apologize if this seems like a dumb question BUT......
Just purchased a WD "My Passport hard drive for Mac." It says on the box that it is formatted HFS+, Journaled for Lion & Mountain Lion as well as compatible with Apple Time Machine. My assumption is that based on this there is no need for me to format this for my Mac since this hard drive was already formatted specifically for a Mac. However, since some of the other information I've seen online refers to always formatting your hard drive before use, I wanted to double check since I am just getting started with my

As you are going to use Time Machine, it will ask you to format the external disk if there are files inside it when you set Time Machine up. Open System Preferences > Time Machine > Select Disk, choose the external disk and the backup will start.
Also, you can create a second partition on the external disk to make clones with Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to have the advantages of Time Machine and the clone

How to format an external drive for mac AND pc use

i want to format my external drive so i can use it on my mac and on pc's as well. i've gathered that the MS-DOS format is the way to go. my question is this: would this create any problems for my mac then?
can i partion one part for ms-dos and part for macos extended?
cheers
-j-

MS-DOS format (or FAT32) will be fine for both Mac and PC. However there is a 4GB file size limit with FAT32.
You could use a dual partition, however the HFS+ partition would not be readable by the PC unless you installed the third party MacDrive.
Look at this page for more information on a dual partition drive for Mac and Windows.
http://macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030613121738812
iFelix

How do i format an external hard drive for use on both windows and mac book air?

how do i format an external hard drive for use on both windows pc and mac book air?

Use exFAT on the PC.
(71374)

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

Format a WD passport drive for MAC

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