Formatting a External Hard Drive

How do you format a External Hardive to use on a Mac? Any Help would be appreciated. Thanks
G

You might think about investing in MacDrive. It can be installed on your PC so that it can read HFS Journaled format. This is the best option because even though Macs can read DOS there are some funky things that occur. I don't remember exactly what, but I think Dr. Smoke mentions it in one of this links.
However, if you are just looking to do a one time transfer I would first format the drive as DOS, copy all PC files on it, and then bring it back to the Mac copy the files over and then erase and reformat it in HFS.

Similar Messages

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 an external hard drive for vista and snow leopard?

I want to format an external hard drive to attach to Airport Extreme base station to us with Snow Leopard and a PC with Vista. What format should I use for read/write access for both?

I use NTFS for my external drives being used on both Macs and Windows. To get the Mac to write to NTFS, you need a separate program. I use Paragon for Mac software. It works behind the scenes. There are also some free things that do the same thing but I found them cranky and unreliable. YMMV.
Windows can not read any of the Mac disk formats without additional software.. FAT32 is fine but is extremely limited.
For the last year, I have had absolutely no problems on any computer, Mac or Windows.

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

I purchased a portable external hard drive to back up my former pc in the hopes of using it on my mac. Obviously, I did not research this seeing now that I can integrate my files and photos from my pc to my mac. It appears possible to format the external hard drive to my mac os, which should be done prior to downloading files from my pc to the hard drive. Has anyone dealt with this or am I the only idiot that purchased the external hard drive thinking that was the thing to do before my pc dies completely?

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 $$)

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!

How can i format my external hard drive to write files from Mac without loosing the files that i alredy have on my external hard when i used it with windows?

How can i format my external hard drive to write files from Mac without loosing the files that i alredy have on my external hard when i used it with windows?
I have been using Windows to write files to my 1TB WD external hard drive and I do not want to format to loose the files capacity of around 500GB
Someone, Please help

Hi Allen,
Is there any way to store the back up to Mac and restore after formating?

How can a format an external hard drive to Fat 32 format

how can i format an external hard drive to a Fat 32

Drive Preparation
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 MBR then click on the OK button. Set the format type to MSDOS (FAT) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.

If I have to format an external hard drive to make it Mac compatible, will it delete all the content in the external hard drive?

If I have to format an external hard drive to make it Mac compatible, will it delete all the content in the external hard drive?

As others have said, the answer to your question is a big YES. Formatting a drive will delete everything!
To keep your data, yet reformat the drive for optimal Mac compatibility, you will need to:
1) copy your files to a different hard drive (I would recommend two different locations if you value your data)
2) repartition/format the external drive
3) then copy the files back to the external.
You haven't given details but if you need the external to ONLY be compatible with the Mac (and no longer care if if can be read by Windows), then you will want to partition the drive using the GUID partition scheme, and format as the (HFS+) "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" filesystem. You can do so using the built-in "Disk Utility" application on your Mac (in the Applications/Utilities directory). Here are instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph5845
If you need the drive to be compatible with both Mac and Windows computers then please post that so someone can recommend a solution for your specific needs.

I can't format my external hard drive, some one please help me.

i can't format my external hard drive, when i am trying using disk utility its some times not showing the erase option. when its shows erase option its saying earase failed can not unmount the disk.

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.

I get the following error when formatting a external hard drive. Partition failed with the error: POSIX reports: The operation couldn't be completed. Cannot allocate memory

I get the following error when formatting a external hard drive.
Partition failed with the error:
POSIX reports: The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory
I have a Macbook pro 13" A1278. I purchased it around december 2010. I have a HHD 3.5" drive desktop select II 1.5TB. I purchased it around Febuary/March 2011 to use with my Macbook pro. I formatted it and moved all my files to there, I got it so my macbook's hard drive wouldn't brake and I lose everything on my macbook.
Is there any fixes?

First, try a system reset. It cures many ills and it's quick, easy and harmless...
Hold down the on/off switch and the Home button simultaneously until the screen blacks out or you see the Apple logo. Ignore the "Slide to power off" text if it appears. You will not lose any apps, data, music, movies, settings, etc.
If the Reset doesn't work, try a Restore. Note that it's nowhere near as quick as a Reset. From iTunes, select the iPad/iPod and then select the Summary tab. Follow directions for Restore and be sure to say "yes" to the backup. You will be warned that all data (apps, music, movies, etc.) will be erased but, as the Restore finishes, you will be asked if you wish the contents of the backup to be copied to the iPad/iPod. Again, say "yes."

Hello once again.. i have formatted my external Hard drive it using exFAT, now my windows cant detect my device, can u plzz help me the whole purpose is getting ruined, i use Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit

hello once again.. i have formatted my external Hard drive it using exFAT, now my windows cant detect my device, can u plzz help me the whole purpose is getting ruined, i use Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit

This is a problem with the Mac OS X implementation of exFAT. I've had the same problem.
Best is to use a Windows box to format the drive exFAT. Then it can be read by both Windows and Mac OS.
But aren't Macs supposed to "Just Work"? Not in this case.

How can I find out which mac format my external hard drive has

I have a PD LaCie drive. I had formatted it about a month ago, but now reading several posts, it appears that the best format is mac OS extended (journaled). I am not sure if that is the one that I had originally chosen. How do I find out which format my external hard drive has?
Thanks.

Select it on the desktop or in the Finder's sidebar and choose Get Info from the File menu. If it doesn't show up in either location, check the settings in the General and Sidebar tabs of the Finder's preferences.
(63966)

Format an external hard drive to make Time Machine happy?

I have 2 Macs, and have partitioned an Iomega external hard drive (IOMEGA 500GB DSKTP USB 2.0 HRD DRV-USA), purchased from the Apple website, to have a sector for each, so they can work with Time Machine. The new iMac works flawlessly.
However, my G4 Powerbook, upgraded to Leopard, has the problem where Time Machine recognizes the drive, starts to back up the computer onto the formatted (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)) sector of the HD, but does not complete the backup. I have attempted to erase and reformat the HD, but to no avail.
I have tried to find out how to format a Mac disk, since this is the advised fix, but I can't find out how to do so, aside from re-partitioning in Disk Utility, which didn't work.
Does anyone have a fix for this problem?

i have had mixed results with time machine on external drives as well
at work - a g4 dual 1ghz, i can use time machine flawlessly on a LaCie FW drive, I have used it several times to recover files, it works as advertised.
for home - a 1.8ghz g5, I purchased a Fantom G-Force MegaDisk 1TB eSATA / USB 2.0 External Hard Drive and had serious troubles. 1st, I could not format the drive from that mac on several different usb ports (unfortunately i do not have an eSATA card), I kept getting an error message (sorry I can't recall it right now). I had to use my wife's powerbook (10.4) and it formatted no problem. Now, however, my 1st time machine backup is not yet complete after 24 hours (it was 500gb, but seriously, 24 hours?).
I may consider bagging time machine at home in favor of a RAID set-up
what a shame.

Is there any way to write-enable an NTFS-format WD external Hard Drive ?

I have a WD Elements external HD unit, 1TB previously formatted NTFS under Windows XP on a PC. I would like to use this HD unit to both read and write data using both the Windows PC and a MacBook Pro. But when connected to the MacBook Pro (USB), the HD unit shows up as Read Only.
Is there a way to write-enable the HD unit without losing, or having to backup/restore, the mass of data already saved there ?
I have tried installing NTFS-G3 on the MBP, as suggested elsewhere. Having done so, when I "get information" about the WD unit, the disc format shows as "Windows NT File System (NTFS)" and not NTFS-G3 as expected. Ran chkdsk on the WD under Windows to iron out any problems in the disc's file system. It ran for several hours before completing successfully, but there was no change at all - the unit is still read-only after re-connecting to the MBP.
Can anyone help out please?

Why would you expect it to say NTFS-3G? NTFS-3G is just a program that translates the NTFS to something the Mac OS can deal with. It doesn't change the format of the hard drive. The drive is formatted with the New Technology File System (NTFS), not the NTFS-3G file system.
Were you not able to write to the drive with NTFS-3G installed? Did you install the free version? If so, did you install MacFuse, also? It is required for the free version of NTFS-3G.
Edit:
I just plugged in an NTFS drive and I'm guessing what you were looking for was something to indicate what was doing the translation. On mine I get, "Windows NT File System (Tuxera)." So, I think I understand what you meant before. My guess is as I stated above. Make sure you also have MacFuse installed if you are using the free version of NTFS-3G.
Message was edited by: Barney-15E

How can I format an external hard drive to Fat 32?

My brother wants to connect an external hard drive to his Sony PS3 for backup purposes. He bought a Western Digital 3TB "MyBook for Mac".
The PS3 requires the drive to be Fat 32 format. So I hooked the drive up to my new-ish iMac and went into the Disk Utility, selected "Partition", then said I wanted one partition.
I named the drive "FAT32", selected "MS-DOS (FAT)" for the Format.
HERE'S THE PROBLEM: when I go into the "options" menu in order to select "Master Boot Record", it is grayed out. One guy told me that it was because my computer was corrupted, but the same thing happens on my parents (older) iMac.
Another person said it had to do with the fact that the drive was 3TB. Whu...?
If anybody could help with this issue, I would be VERY grateful.

Thank you AnaMusic... this is a nice resource for information.
However I am still not sure I understand why I can't actually DO the partition/formatting. Any idea why the "Master Boot Record" is grayed out? That's the part that has me stymied. As far as I can tell I'm doing all of the required steps correctly.
Again, thank you for your help.

Formatting an External Hard Drive

I took a hard drive from a pc that went ka-put. I bought an enclosure and now use that as an external hard drive. Originally I had formatted it using my work PC, but when I use it on my Mac I can only copy from it I can’t write to it.
I am at the point where I don’t need the data on it anymore so I would like to format it so that I can write to it using OSX or Windows as I have bootcamp and use XP from time to time and like to use the external hard drive as a way to swap info from the two.
When I went into disk utility>Erase it gave me several options but im not sure which one to pick that will give me the result I want. Anyone know which one I should use?

Yes, it's true of Windows too. In fact up to MacOS 10.4 (I think), there was a file size limit of 2Gb that could be saved from the Mac onto FAT formatted drives due to a restriction in the Apple File Protocol. Now, with that resolved, the limit is endemic to the FAT format itself.
This was resolved by NTFS, but the problem with that in your situation is that while both Macs and PCs can see an NTFS volume, the PC can write to it, but MacOS cannot.
Of course, if you need to have the drive accessible to both systems but not share files between them, you could always partition the drive in two, one then formated on the PC with NTFS and the other on the Mac as MacOS Extended. I suspect that's not the sort of solution you're looking for though!

Formatting a External Hard Drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for