Format external hdd

I have been given 2 external usb hdd by my father, they where being used on a windows laptop.
How do I format them to work with my iMac and eventually with my TM?
Thank you.
Michael.

Connect them to your iMac. Open Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities) The dives will appear in the list on the left hand side of Disk Utility.
Select the disk then
Select the Partition tab.
Set the format to Mac OS Extended and press Apply.
NOTE any data on the disk will be erased so if there is anything you want copy it off before doing this.

Similar Messages

Itunes library is on a mac formatted external hdd: can windows recognize it

subject pretty much says it all. can windows recognize my mac formatted external hdd? i know when i had my ipod formatted to windows, the mac recognized it, but will the mac formatted drive allow windows to see it, play the music, and possibly move it to my ipod?
thanks!!!

Default, Windows will not recognize Mac formatted disks.
A number of applications can enable Windows to read them.
Take a look at this page: http://www.macwindows.com/disks2.html
I don't have experience with any of the apps. mentioned on that page, so I can't tell you how they perform.
Maybe posting in the iTunes for Windows forum will result in specific information.
M

I had formatted external HDD as Mac OS Extended(journaled) earlier, but now i want to format the same as ExFAT so that i can copy files between PC and MAC. But it is giving 'Can't unmount' error while i try to run Erase

I had formatted external HDD as Mac OS Extended(journaled) earlier, but now i want to format the same as ExFAT so that i can copy files between PC and MAC. But it is giving 'Can't unmount' error while i try to run Erase

Use the PC to reformat the drive.

Formatting external hdd for PS3 and final cut.

I recently purchased a 1TB external hdd. I would like to partition this drive so I have 320gb to back up my PS3 and the rest to use to store my Final Cut express projects.
Does anyone know if this is possible? I know the PS3 only reads FAT32 and I am wondering if it will be able to pick up my external hard drive if part of it is not formatted FAT32.

Oskar,
This is the Final Cut Express Forum, not a PS3 forum. There's no reason to expect anyone in this forum to be able to answer questions about PlayStations. Tom was quite reasonable suggesting that you search elsewhere.

Formatting External HDD to FAT32

Hi,
I've got a La Cie 500GB external HDD that I want to format from NTSF to FAT32 so that I can read/write from OSX.
From Windows, I know that u can't format greater than 32GB to FAT32.
what is the best way to go about this?
is there anyway to do this from OSX?
I noticed a MS-DOS format option in the disk utility.
what does that do?
cheers

The information you want is provided in LaCie's own site.In case the link doesn't end up as I see it, here's what I did: From their Home page I chose Support > Technical Support > FAQ and completed the fields as FireWire Hard Drive > Mac OS > MS-DOS. Maybe you'll find more by specifically choosing your model.
http://www.lacie.com/support/faq/index.htm

How to format external hdd

i have purchased Toshiba CANVIO Basics 500GB external HDD.
Please help to format this enabling to use with my mac book

o to DISK UTILITY
Format (erase) it in "mac osx Extended journaled"
see from mine below, HD on left selected, .......ERASE tab highlighted.... and middle right roughly, it says "MAC OSX EXTENDED JOURNALED"
thats the format, but yours may be different of course
bottom right ERASE tab lets you erase/ FORMAT your external as you like (remember this erases all data ON THE HD!)
highlighted in RED Erase.......format (middle) ...........erase ACTION to Erase/Format (bottom)
After that:
To show HD on desktop
go into FINDER at top then PREFERENCES then GENERAL tab
then check "hard disks" and "external disks"

Format external HDD for Macbook & Laptop

Apologies if this is not the best community for this query. Wasn't quite sure where to put this one.
I have a Western Digital Elements SE 1TB external HDD which I have been using to manually back-up files (mainly music, photos and documents) from a Dell Studio laptop running Windows Vista.
I now have a MacBook Pro and I would like to continue using my external HDD to back-up files from this too.
Can anyone tell me if there is a way to format my external HDD so that I can back-up files from both and also transfer files between the two?
If so, are there any risks associated with this?
Many thanks.

sure no problem asking questions, thats the whole point of a forum.
NTFS is older Microsoft file system (I still use it for Windows 7 so it's not OLD old) it's built for Windows specific security and therefore not mac friendly out of the box. There are 3rd party NTFS readers/writers, but unless are networking to a Windows host you don't get any advantage to NTFS on Mac. My Windows PC and Mac(s) will transfer files to one another from NTFS (on Windows) to Journaled (on Mac) and from Journaled to NTFS without incident as long as I have credentials to log into either machine from the other. On a network it doesn't matter what format I use (no special software needed), but connected directly to a computer those formats suddenly will (NTFS reader/writer software needed for Mac or Journaled reader/writer software for PC).
FAT32 is from back-in-the-DOS-day (File Allocation Table 32 bit) that has a few restrictions:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/314463
Use FAT32 for flash drives and you will be Mac/Win/Unix cross compatible (all restrictions still apply) but I would not day-to-day use it on my "OS" drive.
If you're going to use the system on Macs and exclusively macs I would go with Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you need to share with Windows later (connect the drive with a USB cable to your Windows box) there are 3rd party packages to allow you to read Journaled drives but for the cost it would possibly make sense buying the adapter for the network and turning it into a NAS or hosting on the Mac and let the PC log into the mac.

Formatting external HDD for both OSX Lion and Windows 7

Heys guys,
Tomorrow I will have my first Apple computer delivered after using Windows for many years. What my question is, is that what would I need to format my Western Digital Elements external HDD to in order for me to use it on both my iMac and Windows computers.
Now at Uni I have access to both Microsoft based and Apple based computers but in this first semester we will be using the Microsoft more than the Macs. I want to be able to open and edit Microsoft word files, Adobe Suite files, and other files such as MP3 on both machines no matter where I am.
I have Google searched this but failed to find what I actually want.
In advance I thank you for your replies!

Assuming you'll be plugging it into all the computers directly, FAT32 or ExFAT.
If you'll be using it as a network share, any format writable by the computer it'll be connected directly to.
(60901)

My rMBP with Mountain Lion 10.8 won't recognise my USB3.0 MS-DOS (FAT32) format external HDD

Hi all, first post.
i'm having a big issue with my new rMBP (2.6ghz, 16GB, 512GB SSD) with Mountain Lion OS10.8 . One of the key features of this new laptop is its USB 3.0 'support'. But it doesn't seem to support it
I have a MS-DOS FAT32 formatted 1.5tb Seagate GoFlex HDD USB3.0. This drive is formatted correctly for mac support and has worked very well with my Macbook Pro 13 inch (mid-2009) for a year or more now. This drive has a lot of data on it I need to be able to access regularly. But it won't!
When I plug the drive in to the rMBP the lights on the drive turn on and the disk starts spinning, but OSX Mountain Lion doesn't even recognise it's there. No device appears in the side bar, disk utilities or similar, and no sound is made even when I 'unsafely' unplug itat on
What on earth is going on? USB 3.0 fail
Cheers
Bisher Photos

I am having a similar issue.
I have an external WD fat32 drive loaded with over a TB of PS3 video data (originally formatted and working well under snow leopard).
I bought a new macbook pro and found the drive inaccessible under Mountain Lion 10.8. (still works fine on my PC and PS3, I no longer have my snow leopard machine).
My research leads me to believe the problem is a bug in the new OS.
The disk utility can see the drive.
The disk utility Validater does report an error and advises I run the Repair tool.
The disk utilty Repair tool reports successful repair but the drive remains inaccessible to ML while still working fine with my PS3 and PC.
I HATE to say this, but I fear my workaround is to go back to using my PC until Apple fixes Mountain Lion.
I suppose I could buy another 2Tb drive, format it with ML and then use my PC to restore the data files. However, that would be an expensive and time consuming experiment with no assurance of success.
Even if it worked, I worry that the next OS update may render the disk unreadable again.
Anyway, best of luck bisherphotos.

Same file is different sizes on differently formatted external HDDs

First question: I have two external drives; one is formatted for MS-DOS File System (FAT32) and the other is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). When I copy a folder from the DOS drive to the OS X drive, the folder is a different size on the two drives. Is this normal? Is there any chance that some of the data is missing or corrupted? If it's normal. is there a way to calculate what the difference should be so I can feel comfortable erasing the DOS drive once I've transferred everything off it.
Second (sort-of related) question: if I don't care to use my external drive with a Windows PC, what is the BEST format for the drive? Why? If I do want to use the drive with a Windows PC, what is the best format? Why?
Thanks so much wonderful and helpful other Mac users!

Hello! The different file sizes are normal in my experience. If you want to use it with both MSDOS is the only way but if Mac only the Mac HFS+ JOurnaled is best. Tom

Can't format external HDD using terminal: Error: -69877: Couldn't open device

Disk Utility won't format / erase Seagate Barracuda 2TB (ST2000DM001) - it is an internal drive but I connected it using a docking station via USB. The disk is brand new and unformatted. System indicates that it is S.M.A.R.T incompatible
When trying to erase the disk, I get error message "disk / link could not be found / opened".
I tried using terminal "diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ newdisk /dev/disk3" but I get this message:
Started erase on disk3
Unmounting disk
Error: -69877: Couldn't open device
Any way I could force format the disk?

Thank you @MrHofman. I had a setup with 2 dock stations and 2 HDDs (my TimeCapsule had crashed and I needed to recover its content disassembling the "box"). I disconnected everything. I restarted the computer., I swithched the USB ports in which I had connected the dock stations; I swithched the HDDs from dock stations, and voilà, the system allowed me to format the "recovery" HDD. Sometimes the "simplest" solutions work...
@Linc Davis: prior to the fix described above, when trying to partition, same thing would occur : "can't open link / disk" error message. But now it seems to be working fine. Thank you anyway!

On project load, CC7.2 on Windows 8 forces me to change scratch disk location away from Mac-formatted external HDD

When I open a project saved on my external hard drive it wants to change the scratch disks to My Documents Folder.
Once I accept it, it opens the project and then I am actually able to change the scratch disks back. Weird.
It's worth mentioning that my external drive is formatted for Mac and I bought a driver from Paragon allowing my PC to read and write to it. Idk if this is where Pr gets confused.
Windows 8.0
Pr CC latest update (todays date: 19 dec 13)
I hope someone is able to fix it.

Hi frbra1,
The reason why you are getting this prompt is just beacause the files that are saved on your scratch disk while working on MAC have location "/Volume/name of the HD/program or file name", but when you connect that drive to windows the location changes to "Drive Name:\" . So. it is the adressing issue of the drive that you are facing with the drives. It is alo not always necessary that the drives get same name when they are attached to the machine.
Regards,
Vinay

How to unmount external HDD automatically on USB 3.0 port ?

Hi All,
Could anybody help me? I use my MBP on battery power usually and have an external HDD. I gave 10 min. to go sleep. Sometimes I have to leave alone my mac e.g. for a long call or manage something. When I come back my machine is sleeping... after wake up I got an alert about unmounting, should formatting external HDD, because can't read it so on... Is any possibility (automator setting?) to unmount automatically before go sleep? I've read the community's discussion but haven't found a real solution. I think it is not lifelike to look at it very attentively during you do 1000 other things and if the unmounting is so important for OS. I trust there is a simple solution maybe you know it.
Thanks,
Zack

From my point of few its not HDD problem because the HDD works in connection with USB 2.0 port.
Im wondering if you already tried to update the USB 3.0 driver.
Did you try this HDD in connection with another computers / USB 3.0 ports?
I think its worth a check.
Furthermore I read about some USB 3.0 controller problems from different manufacturers.
Sometimes it could be possible that some compatibility problems between different devices may arise.

Windows External HDD data to a MacBook Pro...

I have a 120 GB windows formatted External HDD with tons of stuff I want to access and transfer to my macbook. Can I get to the data with a cable or program without burning it to 100 DVD-R's?
Most of it is iTunes. I understand I can get a program from ipodsoft.com to transfer music from the ipod to the macbook.
Thanks for any help...

Just hook the external hdd up to your MacBook Pro.
OS X will mount it as a usable volume when you connect it.
Nothing special you need to do.

How can I migrate an Aperture library from an external HDD with Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) format?

How can I migrate an Aperture library from an external HDD with Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) format?
I used to store my pictures on an external hard drive using the latest version of Aperture. Now I tried migrating my Aperture library to Photos. However, after a short moment an error message popped up telling me that "Photos was unable to make a copy of your library before preparing it. Photos does not have the necessary permissions...".
My external HDD doesn't need any permission repairs nor is the system prohibited to read from or write to it.
Thanks for any advice in advance!
Gohtac

My guess is that the encryption is the problem for the new app.

Format external hdd

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for