How to format external drive

Hi,
I purchased a 160 Gig external drive. I want to be able to do an easy backup to it so I assume FAT 32 will not work as file sizes will be greater than 4 Gig, also clicking and dragging doesn't work because of all of the file name errors make it difficult to be sure everything is copied. I would also like to use this every once in awhile to sync music files with my PC but if that is a problem I can work around it.
What format should I use, and what application is easiest at backing up all of the data well. Preferably cheaply or free as well. It is too bad macs don't come with a backup program, or do they??

The Mac OS Extended file system (HFS+) is the Mac equivalent of FAT-32, in that the minimum allocation block size is maintained at 4K, regardless of drive size. The older Mac OS Standard (HFS) file system caused a continuous increase in the minimum allocation block size, when formatting larger and larger drives. Small files parked in oversized allocation blocks caused a considerable waste of storage capacity, so that a large drive would fill up quickly. Journaling is an option that you chose, when you formatted the USB hard drive as an HFS+ volume. As the name indicates, a journal of the hard drive's activity is maintained, to assist in restoring it to the last reliable state, following a crash or power interruption. You can read about it here.

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How to format external drive as MS-DOS (FAT)

How do I format the external drive as MS-DOS (FAT)?
I followed the instructions and have Disk Utility open for the external drive. Then > Erase > changed format from Mac OS to ExFAT and did the same with the RAID tab. But this does not change the Format from Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Thanks in advance for any advice..........It's never easy is it?

biddymon wrote:
Snip snip...........and I appreciate your sense of humor. Unfortunately mine is in the sleep mode at this stage of the game.
(3) Boot Camp 4. downloaded to 16-GB flash drive, which is recognized in Windows but will not install due to following prompt: "The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x-64 (64-bit) version of this program, and then contact the software publisher." This flash drive is formatted as MS-DOS (FAT), although ExFAT was an alternative.
OK, that does not suggest a disk format problem, but it does suggest that (as it says) you have the wrong Boot Camp version, or the wrong Windows version. ie, you have a 32bit version of Windows installed and you may have a 64bit version of Boot Camp on your Flashdrive.
I'll be back shortly, I'll get links for the various versions of Boot Camp, if there is no 32bit version for your Mac a reinstall of Windows is indicated, the 64bit version though.
OK
Even better, here is a link to a page with all the versions, if you click the version name a description will be displayed, find the correct one for your Mac and version of Windows.
Finally this page contains a model by model breakdown of which version of Windows will run on which model of Mac.

How to Format external drive previously formatted for NSLU2

Windows XP.
I've had two external hard drives connected to my NSLU2 for several years. Always worked properly. Nevery any problems accessing files from either drive. Now, I'd like to remove one external drive and no longer use it with the NSLU2 (Disk 1). I just want to use it as a "regular" external drive and connect it directly to my PC by USB. When I plug it into my PC, it is not visible in Windows Explorer. When I right click "My Computer" and select "Manage", I can see it in the "Disk Management" section, but there is no drive letter assigned to it. It has partitions. When I right click on any partition, the "Format" option is grayed out and cannot be selected. Also, the "Change Drive Letter..." option is grayed out and cannot be selected. How can I format this disk back to whatever it needs to be in order to use it as a regular external drive? NOTE: I do not need to keep any files on the drive. I've already transferred the files I need to another drive. Thanks!

Never mind. I figured it out. I downloaded a free utility for formatting large drives in FAT32. The utility ran a quick format in just a few seconds and then the drive became available in Windows Explorer where I can now perform a complete format or just use as-is.

How to format external drive in MS/DOS

Hello. I have formatted my external drives in the past using MS/DOS. Today, Disk Utility does not have this option! I only have two Mac OS options and the Unix file system option.
What gives?
What is the Unix file system? Do I have to use this one now?

Hello. I have formatted my external drives in the
past using MS/DOS. Today, Disk Utility does not have
this option! I only have two Mac OS options and the
Unix file system option.
What gives?
Is this a new drive?
How big is the external drive?
iFelix

How to format external drive as NTFS?

I have a lot of files on my mac, and my external drive is formatted in FAT32. I can't put files larger the 4 GB on there. How can I format the drive as NTFS? All help appreciated!

Also note that even if you do use a Windows computer to format the drive as NTFS and then put it back in your Mac, you can't write to it without installing third party software. As installed, OS X can only read NTFS.
As Niel noted, Mac OS Extended is the best choice, as long as there's no reason for the drive to be accessible from a Windows computer. If it must be NTFS, then you have these choices for the Mac to enable write access.
A commercial product is Paragon NTFS for Mac.
There are now two versions of the open source NTFS-3G software for OS X. NTFS-3G is the free version, which only works with the 32 bit boot kernel. This version also requires installing MacFUSE. A separate component needed for the free NTFS-3G software.
Tuxera, which provides the funding for the free NTFS-3G has their own paid version. Tuxera NTFS for Mac. This version supports both 32 and 64 bit boot kernels. But NOT the newer 64 bit only kernel of some newer Macs. Tuxera's version eliminates the need for the separate MacFUSE installation, and is faster at accessing NTFS drives.
Edit: Checking Tuxera's site, it looks like they've fixed the issue with the newer Macs which will only boot 64 bit. The note they had on their site at one time about it not working seems to be gone.

How to format external drive for mac AND pc use

hi
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-

There are a couple of disadvantages with formatting a
disk as FAT32. Firstly, there is a limit on the file
size for FAT32. I think it like 2 GB so if you
capturing video the results will probably not fit
into this file limit. Secondly FAT32 will not be
bootable. I alway clone my system to a backup disk as
bootable. That way if anything goes wrong with my
system, I can just boot from my backup disk and fix
it.
The problem with doing this though is that the drive will not be usable with Windows (which was in the original posting) unless you use the third party MacDrive software on the PC.
iFelix

How to format external drive for use against windows and mac

Hi.
Please bear with me, a possible MAC newbie here
I'm about to buy the 13" Mac Book Pro (after ditching the Lenovo X301 because of a super slow processor, slow FSB, slow intel graphics).
But I have a couple of questions before I buy this Mac Book Pro.
NOTE:
My main OS (stationary pc) is Windows, and will probably be so for a long time.
But I need a lightweight laptop while on the run, and could not actually find any other one than the Mac Book Pro that met my requirements.
I'm using Adobe Lightroom for indexing and managing images on my windows stationary computer and will also use Lightroom on my Mac Book Pro.
I'm to use an external HDD for this purpose and will need to be able to both write and read to/from that HDD from both MAC and Windows.
Export lightroom library to External HDD from Windows (thumbnails + keywords).
Import new images and edit keywords etc from mac book pro in lightroom.
Import changes into my windows library version after been edited from library in mac book pro.
What options do I have when it comes to formatting that HDD?
What will the PROS and CONS be for the different options?
Note (I'm not to switch to Aperture (my main computer is still Windows))
Regards

Hi.. and thanks for that answer... another related here:
I'm to buy this external drive:
http://www.lacie.com/no/products/product.htm?pid=11038
This page:
http://pc.wikia.com/wiki/FAT32
tells me that windows XP will only format FAT32 to max 32GB,
will my upcoming MAC book PRO be able to format that whole disk using FAT32?
Or do I have to use something else to format it with?
Regards

How to format external drive to MAC OS Extended w/ MBR scheme?

Hello all,
I have a Maxtor 1TB drive that I would like to format to MAC OS Extended (Journaled) but also using a Master Boot Record partition map scheme.
Every time I try using the Disk Utility, I get a partition error. It will only let me partition using a GUID scheme, however the XBox360 that I also connect my drive to requires a MBR scheme.
I have another another Maxtor drive formatted in this manor, so I can't quite understand why I keep receiving this error!
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
Message was edited by: Gio_vanni

Not doable. AFAIK, your choices are APM, GPT, and MBR. Additionally, HFS+ isn't available for windoze's MBR; only MS-DOS or FAT-32.

How to access an ex fat formatted external drive on OS 10.6.8

How do I access an ex fat formatted external drive on OS 10.6.8 ? Drive has audio files and was originally formatted and created by a Windows PC.
When the La Cie drive is plugged in to my mac mini, it says can not recognize formatting.

Read this thread
exFAT mounting problem

Transfer files from Mac formatted external drive to PC formatted drive

i need to transfer quicktime files (that were captured from video with FCP) to a PC formatted external drive (for editing them in after effects on a PC). the files can be transfered by burning them on a DVD, but that will take a very long time and waste many DVDs because i have 60 GB of material... can this be done (without having to purchase expensive software)?

thanx tom,
first of, i like that you made the link appear as one word. how did you do that? it's really cool!
i downloaded the program, but i'm not sure how to use it... reading the guide just made me more confused... if i understand correctly, it will automatically reformat ALL my files to NTFS-3G ones, which are not as stable... i'm a little scared to install it... though i may have totally misunderstood what it says. i see mostly black when i try to read these kind of things...
anyone out there have experience with this program?

How to partition/format external drive?

Hi,
I bought a WD MyBook 320 GB external drive. It is by default formatted in fat32. However, fat32 has a ridiculous file size limitation! (<4GB)
I have 2 Macs, one windows and one linux boxes at home, one linux and one windows boxes at work. I want that all the machines has access to it. But maybe I can forget windows box. I need some advice, which one is better:
1. Format it as HFS+, forget windows, maybe I can use hfsutils for windows, and maybe I can access to it by this (is there anybody using hfsutils???)
2. Format 120 GB in HFS+, the rest fat32. I will use HFS partition just for full image of my mac's harddisks, and fat32 will be accessible to every computer.
Any suggestions?
Thanks...

You cannot format the drive with both Mac OS Extended and FAT32 partitions. If you need FAT32 you must format the entire drive FAT32. If you format the drive Mac OS Extended, then you will need software on the Window's PC that enables reading/writing Mac disks such as MacDrive.
To format the drive:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in the 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. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing (this does not apply to external drives.) Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button and select the GUID partition scheme then click on OK. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
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, if supported.) Click on the Options 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 will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
If you prefer to format the entire drive as FAT32, then in Step 3 select the MBR partition scheme instead of GUID.
If you plan to use the external drive to backup your main hard drive then do that by cloning the main drive:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Set Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only.
2. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
3. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
4. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button.
5. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
6. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
7. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
8. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.

Don't know how to format external hard drive

dont know how to format my new external hard drive can anyboby help me not very good with computers thanx

http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/04/format-an-external-hard-drive-or-usb-flash-drive- for-mac-os-x/
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57600320-263/using-external-drives-to-save- space-on-your-mac-format-them-first/
http://pondini.org/OSX/DU1.html

How do I get my exfat formatted external drive indexed by spotlight?

Well I own a macbook pro and a Toshiba external drive that orginally came with Texura NTFS software so it could work with Mac. But I decided to format it from NTFS to exfat since I ended up losing the Texura program when I formated my macbook hardrive and I accidentally put the .dmg program on the macbook hard drive before I formatted it. I should have put the program back on the drive but I decided to solve the problem by formatting my drive to exfat. But now my problem is that spotlight will not index the drive.
Does anyone know how to fix this problem? or are they any third part applications that I can use to search my external hard drive that act as spotlight alternatives?

To force Spotlight to index the drive open System Preferences->Spotlight; Privacy and add the exfat drive to the list, you can drag it from the desktop or finder, then remove it from the list.
The act of removing a drive from the excluded list causes Spotlight to index the drive.
If that doesn't work post back.
regards

Formatting external drives - How do I do this?

I have a Segate external drive that I've used with my Windows machine for the past year. I'd like to start using it with my Mac but currently I can only read from the drive and can't write. I'm guessing this is because it was formatted using the FAT32 file system for Windows.
Is there a utility available on my Mac that will allow me to format the drive so it'll work with my Mac? Also is there a way for it to copy the data, format the drive and then copy the data back the way it found it?
Signed,
Lots of formatting questions.

I can only read from the drive and can't write. I'm guessing this is because it was formatted using the FAT32 file system for Windows.
Mac OS X should have no problems writing to a FAT32 drive; I do it all the time. Are you sure the drive isn't NTFS?
Is there a utility available on my Mac that will allow me to format the drive so it'll work with my Mac?
Disk utility. The "format" is the "erase" in Mac parlance.
Also is there a way for it to copy the data, format the drive and then copy the data back the way it found it?
The simplest way is to just drag the content to your internal hard drive, erase the external drive, and drag it back.

Error code -36 when copying to Mac formatted external drive

I'm trying to move my iPhoto library to an external drive to save space on my iMac's hard drive. It starts to copy it fine but after a few minutes stops with the error "The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “iPhoto Library” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)"
The external drive is an iomega minimax and is formatted as "Mac OS extended (journaled)". I'm running Mac OS 10.6.3 and the iPhoto Library is for iPhoto '08 version 7.1.5.
Help! Thanks.

Kids birthday party today - sorry about the delay in replying.
This is an interesting problem, if disk integrity and space are not the problem.
My next step would be to use the command line to copy the library to your external disk. To do this, open Terminal and type:
cp -R ~/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library /volumes/yourextenaldiskname/Pictures/
Note that, if you have any spaces in your external disk name, you will need to put a backslash in front of the spaces.
Let me know how it goes.
Cheers,
Rodney

How to format external drive

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