Mac and Windows R/W format?

I have an external HD I use to store backups of files on. When I used Windows, it was NTFS-formatted. However, it appears the my MacBook can read NTFS but is unable to add any new files to the drive. Is there a drive formatting scheme that will allow both read and write from both Windows and Mac OSes, and if so, how do I format the drive using that scheme? The sizes of the files on the drive are no larger than 1GB, so if there are any size restrictions on files, chances are they won't apply. Also, the drive size is 120GB, and I would like to use the whole drive in 1 partition. Thanks.

You can format the drive as FAT32, which the Mac OS can both read and write. You'll be limited to FAT32's 2GB file size ceiling though.
If you'd feel more comfortable with commercial software, there's Paragon NTFS for Mac. Pretty inexpensive way to allow your Mac to write NTFS.

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I have an external drive - WD My Passport FOR MAC. I want to format it to work on both mac and windows. Which format do you think I should use? Will either one cause damage to the files on the hard drive?

I have an external hard drive - WD My Passport FOR MAC. I want to format it to work on both mac and windows. I also want to be able to connect it to my TV and watch movies.
I read up and I think I am supposed to use exFAT or FAT32? I also saw MS-DOS. Which format should I should use? Will any of them cause damage to the files on the hard drive?
My little memory stick uses MS-DOS and it works on both mac and windows.
Please can you just tell me a little about each and suggest which one to use.
I know how to change it once you tell me so don't waste your time writing about changing it.

Will any of them cause damage to the files on the hard drive?
WARNING: FORMATTING A DRIVE ERASES IT COMPLETELY !!
If you need to carry large files (e.g., larger than about 4GB) back and forth, you may need ExFAT. Otherwise MS-DOS works for smaller files.
The Mac can Read, but not write Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) without an add-on program such as Paragon NTFS.

What format for my external drive allows use with Mac and Windows?

I got an external hard disk (1 tr) and i want to used it for my windows and mac, i read i can have two partitions one for mac and one for windows, but i dont really want to have two parts, and I read i can format it by fat32 and i can write and read on both os, is that true?
I want to use it for movies, os backups, and files..
Is it true that i can only save files up to 4 GB when the format is fat32?
please advise..

It this case you would need to to go to "Disk Utility" on mac and select 3 partions which will be under the Parition Layout in my screen shot below. "Current" is grayed out that will drop down select 3 partitions and make one NTFS, second Mac OS Extended, third FAT32. Using the FAT32 for both Mac and Windows but the files have to be under 4GB each.

I have partitioned my time capsule, but I can't get it to work as a Time Machine back up and permanent media server for both mac and PC. What format do I need to partition the drive to so that it works for both mac and windows and so that it will be visab

I have partitioned my time capsule, as I want part of it to act as a media server for both mac and windows. However I don't know what format that I need to partition it to. I also can't make it a permanently accesible drive. I want to restore the drive to the original format (which I don't know) and start again and re-partition the drive in a format that can be used for media by both mac and PC and for time machine back-ups and make the media part of it permanetly accesible so I can add and acccess my files.
Thanks

You are mixing up a couple of things here.
The TC drive cannot be partitioned without removing it.. did you do that?
If you partition it you must use a Mac disk utility and use the HFS+ ie standard Mac format. And GUID partition table not windows type.
You can select erase disk in the airport utility.. that will take the disk back to original format. No partitions. TC is deliberately not partitioned as it is not a media server.. it is a backup device for TM. Over time .. the disk will be filled with TM backups so you have a long history of file changes to your computer.
There is no media server in the TC.. it is merely disk storage.. you can serve files from it to a media device.. but the TC itself is dumb as dumb.
Now the actual format of the drive is irrelevant to the PC.. The TC offers SMB file services to the network. You can copy files to and from the TC as if it was a local disk without caring one iota about the format. The TC handles that .. it is not a local disk .. it is a network drive.
Although you cannot partition the TC. you can still copy files to it.. this does have implications for TM.. but as long as there is plenty of free space should not be a major issue.
You can create a disk image via the disk utility in a Mac.. and as stated you can create partitions if you do it on a Mac with the disk directly connected which means breaking warranty if any exists on the TC.

Best external hard drive format for use with mac and windows?

This is more of an apple operating system combined with windows operating system question, but being that my OS will upgrade an fluctuate there is not option to choose in the operating system section.
Anyways to the question(s)
This whole prbolem came about when my computer started having issues, I want to back it up and whether I can continue to use my laptop or not I will still be owning an apple in the future. I went to buy a hard for back up and got told that it is not as easy as one would think to transfer files from mac OS to windows OS and vice versa. I have a mac, my boyfriend has a windows computer; we share files. Mostly I just copy his files, but once in a while I give him files too. I have read up and talked to people and only found one solution so far to format the external drive to fat 32 or exfat. I think only mac has the exfat option, but works well between both OSs, correct me if I am wrong.
What is the difference between fat 32 and exfat?
A user posted some good info about formatting. More specifically .Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3044
If I do not want to use fat32 or exfat is there a format type that works great for mac saving that I can still at least save files to that were originally on a windows computer? Such as I copy his files from his external drive to my computer and then save them to my external drive.
Is there a better format for file sharing between mac and windows that does not set a 4GB limit?
And a silly question, Can you dual format a hard drive?
Note: This format is for an external hard drive.

I still do not know which format would be the best. That is so that I can use it easily between mac OSX and windows. Is FAT32 the only true option? How limited is it? I heard it is limited to 4GB file size for windows and 32 GB for Mac. Are there other sources I have not found with more concrete information on the limitations of this format?
I really do still need this information and I need to back up my drive before I can take the computer in for service.

1 hd with 2 file formats for use between mac and windows?

Think this is the right forum...
I want to instal a program onto an external hard drive for use on both mac and windows. The program supports both mac and windows.
My plan is to get an external hd and partition it in half. One half i will format mac os extended and the other i will format ntfs. I'll instal the mac version on the mac partition and the windows version on the ntfs partition.
This should work i'm thinking, yes? I.e. when i plug it into windows it'll run the windows installation no problem and when i plug it into the mac it'll run the mac installation no problem?
Thanks.

An easier solution might be to just connect the drive to a Windows PC and format it as FAT32. Both Windows (98 and higher) as well as Mac allow full read/write access to FAT32 formatted drives. No need to download any drivers, etc. It just works.
Yes, this solution is not perfect, but none are. The free NTFS drivers for Mac are not most efficient drivers for speed/performance, the HFS+ drivers for Windows are not cheap, and have their own performance issues, and FAT32 has the limit of file sizes over 2GB (or is it 4GB now?) not supported. No one solution is perfect, but for the many one is better than the others, but it all depends upon their circumstances which is "better".

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 for mac and windows

Is it possible to have mi iPod formatted for both mac and windows? If so, how can I do it?
Thanks

Now you can be 100% sure, StarDeb!
As another of the old windows guys, I had the same question when I made the change. Windows format works just swimmingly with Macintosh computers. Can't say the same for the other way around.
In fact, the iPod I had at the time, a 15 GB 3G (the one with the red buttons, and still the best looking of the lot), is still formatted for windows even though I have not had a Windows computer for several years now.
So enjoy the Powerbook (just bought a new to me G4 iBook, myself) without fear that the iPod will be a stumbling iBlock.

What type of hard disk should I use if I want to use it on mac and windows?

Hey Forum,
I am using windows xp on my macbook (snow leopard). I came across some dealers who say that there are hard disks for mac only and for both mac and windows. So, I wanted to buy a hard disk so that I can use it both on mac and windows xp, so what type of hard disk should I use? Must I partition into 2?
or are there any harddisk in the market which is compatible for both mac and windows xp without screwing up the format(NTFS/Mac OS X Journaled)? Pls look into this matter and help me with it.
All of your replies and suggestions is much appreciated.
Thank you.
Ala.

Run, don't walk, from that dealer! and never look back
Once in a very long while Apple will have customized firmware on drives, and it is possible to find SCSI/SAS or drives that are destined to be used with high end storage controllers.
But that is the exception that makes the rule.
SATA is SATA. Though.... there are now SATA III drives that don't work in XP, or that need a jumper, and Seagate and some drives have managed to deliver firmware that has caused trouble... and Apple has had to issue firmware updates to help compatibility....

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.

External hard drive use with both Mac and Windows

I know that you can't use an iPod (through iTunes) with both Mac and Windows, but can you still use it as an external hard drive with both operating systems?

Yes, if the iPod is in Windows format. Mac OS X can read and write Windows formatted iPods, but Windows can't access Mac formatted disks unless special software is installed.
(9844)

External Hard Drive Compatible with Mac and Windows?

So my old laptop is a Dell Latitude and I bought a Western Digital external hard drive and put all my files/pics/music on it. The information the WD came with said its compatible with Mac and Windows, but when I plug it into my brand spankin new Macbook, it doesn't register with the computer and won't show up. What's going on?
Message was edited by: philliesphan

I recently ran into that problem. In order to have the hard drive compatible for both PC and Mac it must be in a FAT32 format. In order to do this though all your files will be deleted (in order to reformat). You can do this by plugging in the hard drive into you mac and going under disk utility and there you will find your hard drive and under erase change the format to FAT32 and then you press erase (all will be deleted off the external drive though)

HT1452 I want to reset the permissions on a western digital external hard drive to work between mac and windows... How can I do this easily?

I have a MacBook Pro and have recently bought a Western Digital external hard drive. I used it on my windows laptop first and unfortunately now on the Mac it is read only. How can I set it so that I can use it successfully between the both the Mac and windows laptop?
Thanks

MacQuack wrote:
You will need to pull all the information off first. The formatting will erase it all.
Use Disk Utility (in Applications >> Utilities or use Spotlight to find it). On the left select your WD drive and then select the Erase tab. Where it says Format, select exFat in the drop-down menu. Next, click Erase and done. It will take approx. 5-15mins to re-format.
Cons: You will be unable to store files 4GB or larger in this format (usually only dmg/iso files or large Outlook files). Also, you will be unable to use Time Machine or other auto-backup programs.
That is not entirely correct, there is no 4G limit using exFat, FAT32 is the one with the limit.

5g with Mac and Windows?

Can I use my 5g ipod with both a Mac and Windows PC? I've been syncing with my Mac but I also have a PC. I downloaded the Ipod updater for Windows XP and installed it. When I connect my Ipod I receive a message that the Ipod cannnot be read and needs to be formatted. Will this formatting erase all data and not allow syncing with the Mac? Thank You,
Charles

Hi Charles, welcome to Discussions. You will need to reformat the iPod with Windows, then it work with the Mac. A Mac formatted iPod will not work with Windows. When it is formatted via the PC, you can resynch with the Mac, to upload your data. After this, set synch to manual, so you can use both computers.

Previously windows used external drive to be used in mac (and windows)

i´ve just bought a macbook and planned to use a couple of external drives i previously used on my pc with time machine and whatnot. only it seems they are write-protected in mac os, so they can´t be used as back-up drives. do i have to format them again using mac, or do it in windows, or is there a way around this? and can it be done so both mac and windows recognizes it as writable?
thanks

Dave Sawyer wrote:
They're probably formatted NTFS, which Mac OS X can read but not write. There are third-party NTFS drivers, one open-source and one commercial, but you can just reformat the drive as FAT32 (MS-DOS format in Disk Utility) and it will work just fine with both your Mac and Windows systems.
If the OPs intent is to use it with Time Machine, the external drive needs to be formatted HFS+ (Mac OS Extended (Journaled) via Disk Utility. I believe there is a Windows app that permits viewing of HFS+ drives. Since you have a 'couple' of external HDDs, it's probably best to use a dedicated HDD just for TM backups.

Mac and Windows R/W format?

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