Format for external drive

I need to be able to read my external drive in both windows and OS X. What is the proper format? The only choices are 4 different Mac OS formats, MS-DOS and Unix. Thanks.

Hi,
I didn't know that you are talking about these disc sizes.
Personally I didn't had the opportunity to get one of these 1TB drives into my hands (only 500GB drives).
There is another guy in the MacBook Pro Forum with an equal problem with his Maxtor 1TB drive.
So I am starting some guessings:
There is a possibility that FAT32 has a size limit that is below this 1TB, which may come in play.
Also, since the 1TB drives are made of two drives internally , there may be the possibility that the internal organization of these two drives as a sort of RAID or JBOD is preventing the use of FAT32.
Here is a link to command line tool running in Windows, that can format FAT32 on partitions bigger than 32GB, may be helpful: http://www.heise.de/software/default.shtml?prg=40825&osg=1&kat=203&liste=alle&sr t=n
Other than that I am at loss of ideas.
Sorry
Stefan

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I have Home Movies from iMovie to back-up. What format for external drive?

Hello,
I have Home Movies imported into iMovie 11 on my iMac 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.
I am saving the cpmleted movie projects onto an external hard disc. A Seagate 1TB.
I have had problems with file sizes as I keep getting the message that a movie project is too large for the medium. It seems that I can't store anything in HD.
I've looked at the disc and it's formatted as MS-DOS (FAT32)
Am I right that this imposes a maximum file size that I can save?
If so I have looked at the Disc Utility on my iMac and I can see that I can reformat the external drive.
I have a choice of -
Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, journaled)
MS-DOS(FAT) is this the same as MS-DOS (FAT32) it already is formatted as?
ExFAT
Windows NT Filesystem (Tuxera NTFS)
I'm guessing I should choose the MAC OS Extended (jounaled) or the Mac OS Extended (Case- sensitive, journaled)?
The Seagate Hard Drive is model SRDOSPO
I don't understand the differences between the above formats and would like help on chosing the right one for my Home Movies.
I also have an Apple TV3 which I use to watch the movies on my tv.
Are the home movies stored both in the iTunes file on my iMac, so I can see them via AppleTV, and the external hard drive.
If so can I just use the external hard drive without having these large files filling my iMac disc?
Hope that all makes sense.

The difference between case sensitive and non-case sensitive is self-explanatory. Non-case sensitive iis easier to work with as it can avoid confusion with files names.
The others are weird and wonderful/partly useless Microsoft formats only of interest to Windows users, or those who want to have both Apple OS and Windows on the same computer. Not all of them can be read by a Mac at all, some of them have inconvenient file size limitations.
More info here:
http://formatharddrive.net/types-of-hard-drive-formats.html
Message was edited by: Klaus1

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

Do i need to re format my external drive if i am planning on using super duper for my bootable backups or does super duper do that for me?

do i need to reformat my external drive if i am planning on using superduper for my bootable backups or does superduper do that for me? thanks

You need to format a external drive using Apple's Disk Utility
Partition 1
Option: GUID
Format: OS X Extended Journaled.
Before OS X can be installed or cloned onto the drive, or else it can't be booted from.
Formatting a drive erases all data on it, so backup up any data you want to retain off the drive.
I really do not advise SuperDuper for the fact that it doesn't copy the RecoveryHD partition and restore it, as this is needed to reinstall a fresh copy of OS X from Apple's servers.
Erase, formatting, OS X installs on Mac's
A better, more powerful and more intelligent tool is Carbon Copy Cloner.
See the cloning section of my User Tip here
Most commonly used backup methods

Formatting an external drive for both 10.4 & windows?

I just installed windows xp on my macbook pro.
What is the safest/most reliable way to format an external drive so I can use it with both windows and 10.4?
Thanks in advance

'FAT32'
But it has file size limitations.
Better to partition the external drive with Mac Extended on one, and Windows on the other.

Format an external drive from mac to pc

How do I format an external drive (My Passport) from mac to pc (iOS Snow Leopard) without losing my data?

kwnola wrote:
How do I format an external drive (My Passport) from mac to pc (iOS Snow Leopard) without losing my data?
1: Remove the data off the drive
You can do this by installing MacDrive on the Windows PC to access the Mac HTFS+ format
Or you can use a Mac to remove the data.
2: Format the drive on the PC (preferably) by right clicking on the drive and choosing format
A: If data on the drive will have larger than 4GB sized files, then the format you want is exFAT
(if your using Windows XP, you can download exFAT from Microsoft)
B: If the data on the drive will always have less than 4GB sized files, then you should choose FAT32 for most compatibility with all other machines.
3: If you can only format the drive on the Mac then open Apple's Disk Utility in the Utilities folder
Select the drive on the far left, it should have the makers name and a size, then click Partition.
Now select the box and click Options: MBR Then select Format: exFAT or MSDOS (FAT32) and click Apply.
4: If any chance you need to secure delete any data remaining on the drive form being recovered, use the Erase with Zero (or 7x for very secure) before formatting.
Note: Formatting a drive on the PC there will be a option for NTFS, this is for access by Windows only, but software can be installed on the Mac to read/write this format.
If you use exFAT or FAT32, the Mac can read and write this format just like Windows can, no need for extra software.
Linux can read/write just about any format.

Is it safe to format ANY external drive to Mac OS Extended?

Some Seagate tech told me a while back that Seagate drives should ONLY be formatted with their proprietary formatting and that my data is vulnerable if I use something else. (I may have misunderstood this, but I'm 98% certain that's what he said.) I do remember him saying not to use the Mac's Disk Utility to format the drive.
I want to reformat this drive so that it's 100% compatible with my new Mavericks iMac.
Is there any concern about formatting ANY external drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Or are there some hard drives that should not be formatted to Mac using Disk Utility?
I'm under the impression that all external drives are basically the same and I can format them however I want. No drive is "made" to be formatted with a certain OS or a certain format.
Is that correct?

Formatting a drive simply will remove any data currently stored on it. There is no such thing as "proprietary formatting." Drives come out of the factory with no formatting.
Whatever the person told you it was patently wrong not to mention mis-informed.
To use a hard drive properly with any computer it needs to be formatted with the tool that is required for the operating system with which it will be used. For the Mac you use Disk Utility (the tool) and you format the drive using Mac OS Extended, Journaled (the format.)
Your impression is correct.

I want to format my external drive so that my new imac and my pc can read and write ,what should i do?

i want to format my external drive so that my new imac and my pc can read

Start by partitioning the drive as required for the Mac:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. 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 Apply 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.
Now click on the Erase tab in the main menu, then select ExFAT from the Format Type dropdown menu. Click on the Erase button. This format is read/write on both the Mac and the PC. If you have a problem with it on the PC, then format the drive the same way using the Windows formatter.

How do I format an external drive with mountain lion?

How do I format an external drive with mountain lion?

Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
select the external drive in the left pane
partition and format in the right pane

Mac novice needs to know how to format an external drive

How do I format a memory stick or external hard drive? I remember in PCs you could right click and click on format.
Thanks!

In OS X, there's an app called Disk Utility that allows you to do whatever you want with hard drives and external drives.
In order to format an external drive, read > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html The Pondini's site guides you through the steps, so you just have to follow them. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as right-clicking the external drive

Can I disable trash for external drives?

Hello,
Is it possible to disable the Trash for external drives so that files from external drives are completey deleted automatically, or else moved to the trash on my internal hard drive? The problem that I am trying to solve is, for example, when I download pictures from my camera, if I want to make more space available on the camera, I have to first delete the pictures from the camera, and then empty my trash, since deleting the pictures from the camera only moves them to a hidden folder called ".Trash". I would prefer if I didn't have to empty the trash every time I wanted to free up room on my camera external hard drive.
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Adrian
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.1)

It isn't without its risks, but another option may be to ⌘-drag the files to the hard drive, which will simulate a "move" by copying the files to the hard drive then deleting them from the external. If something goes wrong during the transfer, it may be difficult in some situations to determine which files were being copied at the time - ie. which ones were potentially corrupted. It might be ok as a cleanup procedure after the files have been imported normally, but then you end up sitting through the process of copying them to the hard drive a second time - you might as well just toss them in the "Trash". Also, if a large number of files is involved, just don't accidentally drop them on the "Desktop" because the "Finder" can't handle it. Obviously, I'm not a fan of the method, but it's there as an option...

What formatting for external hard drives for my photo students?

I teach digital photography. Our classroom Macs are a mix of Intel and PPC (iMac 20", G5s). My students typically either come with a Mac laptop, buy one while here, or soon after they leave. Some (few!) have a PC laptop or will leave to go home to a PC laptop.
I've been buying one external harddrive per student (with FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, 250 GB) from macsales.com for students to put their digital photos on while here and when they leave my 12 wk. course. I encourage them if they have a Mac laptop to partition their external drive to have one partition for backing up their boot drive, one for their photos.
In the classroom, they may be hooking up their external drive to a PPC or Intel Mac.
What recommendations can you give for what formatting they should be using for their external drives? Intel, for PPC, or...MS-DOS (if they go to a PC)? (One student told me that her external drive which was formated for PPC last summer now won't show up on her MacBook Pro.)
I realize they can only use the FW800 on a few Macs (including 17" MacBook Pro, Mac Pro), and should not be using USB 2.0 for a drive they hope to boot a Mac with. I've heard formatting and using MS-DOS is very unstable (for PCs at least).
Tips, please?
2x2.66 GHz Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.9) 5 GB RAM

I've been buying one external harddrive per student
(with FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, 250 GB) from
macsales.com for students to put their digital photos
on while here and when they leave my 12 wk. course. I
encourage them if they have a Mac laptop to partition
their external drive to have one partition for
backing up their boot drive, one for their photos.
That's impressive and very user-supportive. At work, our students have space on our server to backup/store their work for the semester but are greatly encouraged to backup their stuff with either Cds or DVDs (and we don't supply those). If they use a personal machine, they are responsible for their own backups of their system.
In the classroom, they may be hooking up their
external drive to a PPC or Intel Mac.
For data, the traditional APM formatted drive work with both.
What recommendations can you give for what formatting
they should be using for their external drives?
Intel, for PPC, or...MS-DOS (if they go to a PC)?
(One student told me that her external drive which
was formated for PPC last summer now won't show up
on her MacBook Pro.)
As I mentioned earlier, an Intel Mac can boot from an APM formatted drive although this may or may not be the best solution. Unfortunately with partitioning via Disk Utility (and perhaps other tools as well - I've not investigated this yet), every partition must be of the same scheme GUID or APM.
The most important reason for backups (IMHO) is to safeguard personal work. The OS can be re-installed anytime and settings reconfigured if need be. Since the APM scheme can be used by both Intels and PPC for data, I would go with APM. Bootable or not, their important data will be backed up.
(I don't know why one student had a problem but it shouldn't be related to the partition scheme.)
For a bootable system/backup, I use Carbon Copy Cloner from Mike Bombich. Ideally, so long as there is space, I create a restorable image of a fresh OS install and put it away for a rainy day. I then clone my entire internal drive to the external (APM). Over the last year, I've been able to boot from it on my original iMac CD as well as have a hard copy of my work.
Once backed up, I would later use the option to only copy changed files instead of re-doing the entire drive. That was a feature in the PPC version of the app (which will run under Intel) although I haven't tried the latest universal version (3.0 beta). There are a number of other applications that can perform backups/cloning as well.

Which format for external hard drive to use with time machine backup and connect to windows laptop?

Hi! I have an external hard drive on which I have transferred my iTunes library (just mine - not others). I have also a folder containing just films (some but not all of which are in iTunes too) Everything has been working just fine until yesterday I noticed that Time Machine was not including the external hard drive in back up as it wasn't formatted. So I have moved everything back to the Mac hard drive and and ready to format the external hard drive - but understand that if I do the contents cannot be opened from a windows laptop ... is that right? Is there are format I could choose that would allow Time Machine to back up and allow Windows to open as well (the idea being that I take the external hard drive with me on holidays etc!!) Many thanks for any advice.

ok - I understand. I have managed so far to format the drive (on windows) to exFAT file system - which apparently works with both Windows and Mac - but you're correct - it will not be included in time machine backup as I have checked the back up files and Samsung is not showing. Reckon I'm onto having to buy yet another portable hard drive just for windows - or of course buy myself a new mac book!! Can I ask you please - does the drive have to be clear of everything before I change the format - or can I change it with the files still in there? Also, got any quick ways duplicating the files onto another External Hard drive (for use on the windows laptop) At the moment the files are taking 2/3 hours + to copy over! Thank you!

Format for external hard drive attached to Time Capsule

What format should I used for an external hard drive attached to my Time Capsule that will allow both my Mac and PCs to read and write to it?

It should be HFS+.. it may work with fat32 but that is a lousy format.
The actual format of the drive is irrelevant to the PC.. the TC offers SMB connection.. so it is a true file sharing device.. the format used to store the files cannot be directly read by windows but is "interpreted, translated" via the firmware of the TC.
BTW this is true of all network storage.. A NAS can store files in whatever format its OS requires.. freebsd like freenas might use XFS.. or linux use EXT2 or REISFS.. it makes no difference as long as it offers that store to the windows (and apple) network as SMB.. then windows can handle it.

Trying to format an external drive for imac

Hi I am new to this and have just bought an external drive to back up my imac, 9,1 via time machine. I have followed the instructions in disk utility to erase and reformat, but it is coming back with an error message " could not unmount disk" - can anyone help me get round this please?

An iMac running OS 9.1.x? If so, post to http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=99. If not, since you're mentioning Time Machine, correct your profile information. From Finder->Help->Mac Help: *erase a disk*, returns:
*+To erase a disk:+*
+Open Disk Utility, in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder.+
+Open Disk Utility+
+Select the disk in the list at left, and then click Erase.+
+For more information about erasing, click the Help button (looks like a question mark).+

Format for external drive

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