How do I use an external hard drive on Mac and Windows?

How do I format an external HD for use on Mac and Windows? She has two laptops and have to use both.

format the external for Mac and use MacDrive or HFS+ for Windows on the windows side.
use the FAT32 format and live with the "4-GB-per-file" limit
format the drive NTFS and install e.g. the NTFS 3G driver on the Mac.

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External hard drive for Mac and Windows?

Hey all,
Is it possible to set up an external hard drive with a partition that has one side compatible with Mac and the other with Windows, similar to a Boot Camp setup on an internal drive? If so, how do I do that? Thanks for any advice you can give.

Rekishika:
Yes it is possible. Use Disk Utility from Leopard and partition the external drive to the desired space for each. Format one side with Mac HFS+ Journaled and the other with FAT32 (You can reformat the FAT32). You can also format both external partitions to FAT32 if you want Leopard and Windows to access (read and write)either one of them.
Axel F.

Formatting external hard drive for MAC and Windows

I have an external hard drive that I would like to make compatible with BOTH Mac and Windows. I don't want to split it but is there any way that I can make it compatible to where I can use it back and forth between both? I have classes and use Photoshop on both systems and need to be able to read and write to the hard drive from each system. Please let me know if this is possible and how? Thanks

I have a 500GB external HDD which I had to format o Fat32 a while ago. I don't remember exactly how I did it, but I remember it was a pain in the *** and took forever (I was under Windows XP).
So short answer to your question is yes. It is possible and as the above person said, you need to format to Fat32. Long answer is it will take some time and effort. Here are a few links to help you get started:
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm
http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/270038-format-new-hard-dis k-into-fat32.html
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/sujet-676-formatting-your-drive-with-fat32
I haven't tried any of these (I believe I formatted mine downloading a third party app), but you might be lucky. Good luck.

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

How do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

how do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

Hi valleydave,
Here are two good links for you to check out:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
The first one goes over, in-depth, what you're looking for in regards to "off site" iTunes.

How can I use my external hard drive for my iphoto instead of my mac book pro memory?

i don't know if this question has been asked before: how can I use my external hard drive for my iphoto instead of my mac book pro memory? just like itunes all my song are save on my external hard drive. make sense?

Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

How can I partition my external hard drive supporting mac OS in one partition and windows OS in another?

Hello everyone, how can I partition my external hard drive supporting mac OS in one partition and windows OS in another?

OK. Start with:
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 two (2). 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. Click on the Erase tab in DU's main window. Select one of the two partitions, preferably the first one, change the Format type: to MSDOS then click on the Erase button.

Can I use an external hard drive to download and store my iTunes library?

Can I use an external hard drive to download and store my iTunes library?

Yes - in most cases you can just copy your entire library (by default C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes) to your external drive, with the result being a iTunes folder in the root of that drive with a structure like this:
Then hold down SHIFT when you start iTunes, and when you see this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the iTunes folder on your external drive, and click Open. See turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable for more information, including steps you may need to take to align your library structure before moving it to an external drive - this applies if you currently have some/all of the media in your library stored outside the standard iTunes Media folders.

I found information on how to transfer my library to a new computer. I am going to use an external hard drive for this and transfer my itunes folder to the new computer. I will then download and install a new version of itunes on my new computer. My q

I found information on how to transfer my itunes library to a new computer. I am going to use an external hard drive for this to transfer my itunes folder to the new computer.
I will then download and install a new version of itunes on my new computer.
My question is this. When I do this, will itunes have all my album artwork for all my library? My library has a lot of my own music and I have spent quite a bit of time copying album artwork that itunes did not add. I am really hoping I don't have to do this again!
Thanks for your help!

If you follow the directions in this Link...
Copy iTunes to an External Drive
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751
Everything should be carried across...

External hard drive between mac and pc

i got a "my passport" external hard drive to load all my stuff onto it from my mac, to be used on our pc. i have to reformat the hard drive for a mac before i can even copy my items on it. but my stupid question is, will it all open up fine on the pc? and i had to search for how to even reformat the external hard drive and found this answer, http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3865/p/228/session/L3RpbWUvMTMxN jMxNjgwNC9zaWQvUi0zeURtRWs%3D, but it is completely over my head. is it even the right thing?

With the drive plugged in, open Disk Utility. It's in the Utililities folder in your Applications folder. You should see the new drive in the left hand column along with your other drives. Click on the external drive and select the Erase tab. Set the format value to MS-DOS (FAT) and click on the Erase button. After that has finished select the Partition tab. Type in a Name for your hard drive and select how many partitions you want from the Volume Scheme. The usual settingis one partition. Click on the Options button after you've selected a partition to make sure it's set for Master Boot Record. Then click the Apply button and after the Partitioning is done quit Disk Utility. Your external drive should now appear on your desktop and be readable on a PC.

How do I use an external hard drive that has been used on a windows machine on my mac....

I have recently just bought a new mac and want to edit files that are currently saved on my external hard drive that I used on my windows machine.
Is there any way to be able to do this or will I have to transfer all files across to my mac and then re-format the external?
Thanks in advance.

Either copy files over, reformat drive from NTFS to a Mac format and copy files back, or tell your Mac how to write to NTFS drives with a third-party product. Tuxera NTFS has high ratings: http://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac/

How can I use my external hard drive on both pc and mac, but also being able to use it to back up my mac data?

I want to be able to transfer some of my files from my laptop to my macbook, but not all of them. I have a NTFS external hard drive and I have heard about reformatting it so that it can read/write across both systems, but can I still use this hard drive to back up the data on my macbook? If I can, how should I go about reformatting the hard drive?

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.

How can I use an external hard drive to both back up and free up storage on my macbook?

I've used a hard drive to back up my 2012 Macbook Pro via Time Machine, but I'm not sure how to use it as external storage to move things like video and music off of my Mac to free up memory and then how to move the same things from the hard drive on to other devices like my iPad or iPhone. For instance, I have a ton of movies and would like to store most of them on an external hard drive so that they aren't taking up all of my memory on my Mac, but want to be able to move them easily back onto my phone or iPad. Also, can I use the same hard drive to both back up my computer and use it for external storage? If so, how do I do that?

Always use two drives for this: one for backup; the other for storage. Don't mix the two uses on one drive. There's a greater risk of data lost without that redundancy.
If you plan to backup using Time Machine, then be sure the backup drive's capacity is at least twice that of the drive you are backing up.

How do i use a External hard drive?

I am new to the whole external hard drive thing an i just received one and i do not know how to use it. I tried just dragging files to it and it did not work. Do i have to use time machine to use this or How else could i use this?

Depending on what your intentions are there are many different uses
If it is only for additional storage on your Mac then it should be formatted Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Now you can use it for a time machine backup volume
Or you can use it to clone a backup to using SuperDuper - http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html - or Carbon Copy CLoner - http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Or you can use it for data storage
Or you can use other backup programs to backup to it
What is your intention and need?
LN

How can I use my external hard drive with my new (firewire-less) MacBook?

I read in another post that the available firewire adapters don't work for external hard drives. So how can I get my music, etc. off my external hard drive and onto my new computer?

Like the second or third one in this picture?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/USBtypes2.jpg
They are USB ports - the smaller one is a mini-USB (like you might find on a digital camera) and the third is a USB-B port (such as on a printer). You can use a mini or standard USB cable (depending on the port) to connect it to your Macbook.
Matt

How do I use an external hard drive on Mac and Windows?

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