Formating my external HD from pc to mac...

Hi, i have just moved from pc to mac. I have a WD 500 pro. I reformated it on my pc, it is recognised by the mac, but when I try to use it as a backup system using retrospect 6.1, it doesn't recognise there is a drive there....
Also drag and drop doesn't work, it says the file cannot be modified....
I have tryed to format it using the mac using disk utility, but I can't get the HD into the right hand window..... I have looked in the help and it has something to do with the S.M.A.R.T status:not supported.
Help...

Hi kim
Your drive is probably formatted NTFS, the default Windows format which Macs can read, but cannot write to.
If you want to continue being able to use it on both Mac and PC, you should format it to "MS-DOS Format" (also known as FAT32)
If you only want to use it on the Mac, format it as Mac Extended (Journaled).
For either of these, in Disk Utility, you would highlight the drive in the left hand pane, then go to the Erase tab, set the format, and click Erase. What happens when you try this? How is the drive connected to the Mac?
Matt

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Is it possible to format an external hard drive on my mac?

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A HD formatted in EXFAT will transfer data between both PC and Mac.
However dont make the titanic error most do in having merely a single external HD backup of your data, thats a tragedy waiting to happen.
HD are cheap as dirt.
Ideal situation is 3 HD , 1 for Mac backups, 1 for data archives stored away safely and updated as needed / often.
and a 3rd HD in Exfat for data transfers (or a thumb drive for the same thing to save $$)

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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
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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.
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Hi and welcome to Discussions,
you should use the 'Partition-Tab' from Disk Utility and then click on the 'Option'-Button to set the partition Table to GPT (GUID partition Table).
Sounds to me like the external HD is till using the MBR (Master Boot Record) common to Windows PC on which you can't make a partition using the 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' file system.
Regards
Stefan

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Hi(Bonjour)!
The following process will erase everything on your external HD and reformat it to Mac OS journaled partition.
1) open disk utilities application.
2) click your external hard drive's name in the left column.
3) select the "erase" tab in right.
4) select "Mac OS X extended journalized" in local menu.
5) click "erase button".
Formatting a 250 Gig hd can take much than one hour...
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Hi there, apologies for my ignorance however after suffering Windows PCs for 35 years I have finally changed over to 2 iMacs and loving it.
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1. Yes, it will. In any case, all the files you want to keep should be on at least two drives; one may fail at any time.
2. Use FAT32 or exFAT.
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Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions.
I've never used a MacBook Pro nor TimeMachine so you may be best to ask in a more relevant forum.
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cheers
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see doing the following helps
For Mac computer
1. Open the disk utility, hope your iPod appears there (left hand side), highlight it
2. Go to Tab “Partition”, click either “Delete” or “Partition”, if fails, skip this step and go to 3
3. Go to Tab “Erase” , choose Volume Format as “MAC OS Extended (Journaled), and click Erase, again if fails, skip it and go to 4
4. Same as step 3, but open the “Security Options....” and choose “Zero Out Data” before click Erase. It will take 1 to 2 hours to complete.
5. Eject your iPod and do a Reset
6. Open the iTunes 7 and click “Restore”
seems it could be some bad sectors on the HD of your iPod, if the above does not solve, then do a Restore with a PC, and see what happen

Installed my SSD from my Windows 8 PC onto it getting the bootmgr is missing. I formatted the SSD but when I try and plug in my external harddrive to restore my mac settings I backed up using time machine, the computer doesn't show it as an option.

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You need to boot from an OS X installer disc compatible with this model's hardware or you must connect it by Target Disk Mode - Target Disk Mode - so you can re-partition and reformat the hard drive before you can install Mountain Lion on it or any other version of OS X. Here's the process:
Drive Partition and Format
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.
If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
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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.
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I have an external hardrive for MAC, I needed to save something from my work computer so I can pass it on to my MAC, it requiered me to re-format my external HD and now when I connected to my MAC I only have "read only rights". How do I fix it?

I have an external hardrive for MAC, I needed to save something from my work computer so I can pass it on to my MAC, it requiered me to re-format my external HD and now when I connected to my MAC I only have "read only rights". How do I fix it? I run my Itnues from this external and now my library is gone. Luckily I have it saved somewhere else, which is not a problem, but I won't be able to write to this HD for right now. I can't see an option to give those permission back.

cptjuanjvarona wrote:
I have an external hardrive for MAC, I needed to save something from my work computer so I can pass it on to my MAC, it requiered me to re-format my external HD and now when I connected to my MAC I only have "read only rights". How do I fix it?...
Unless what you have to transfer is enormous, skip the external HD altogether and use a USB flash drive; you can get them with capacities to 128GB. Format the flash drive as FAT32 or ExFAT as LowLuster suggests so it can be read and written to on both PC's and your Mac.

Formating my external HD from pc to mac...

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