The horror...

Question

for anyone whose tried to manage data files on an external hard drive using both a mac and pc they know the dismal truth. it can not be done easily... even with third party software the process *****...
i eventually decided to format my 500 gig HD using fat 32. this was based mostly on the horror stories i've read here and advice i was given by reputable geeks elsewhere about the glitchyness of nfts, hfs and attendant software needed to make this crap work together on cross platforms.
most people suggested using fat 32 with the clear caveat being - fat 32 is unstable
BOY HOWDY!
yesterday i mounted my external HD and proceeded to bootup and logon to the net (exactly as i've done for the 3 months i've owned my macbook pro) i clicked on safari and was confronted yet again with a popup update window. i clicked to download the security update (intel) which i recall being approx 26 megabytes.
short story the mongrel update locked up my laptop... i waited a half hour and finally decided to hold down the startup button until the **** thing shut down, then promptly rebooted... fine no problem, however, the exernal drive (still plugged into the firewire 800 port) did not mount.
i restarted the laptop 3 or 4 times until FINALLY the external drive mounted. i loaded my CS2 and bridge and went to do my graphic work... oooopsie... no folders where once there were several dozen?#$@#@$
had a look at the directories only to discover that approx 100gigs of folders were missing...
not good.
i dismounted the drive from the laptop and plugged it into the pc... same story... a couple of dozen folders just GONE!
JUST VANISHED IN AN INSTANT!
had a look at the drive under 'my computer' and where once it reported 465 gigs 260 gigs free it now reported 465 gigs 368 gigs free!@#%^#$%
at present i'm waiting on word from a local computer tech and the possibility of recovering the missing data - three months of graphic work ****** into hardware ****...
oh yeah... i called the apple techs (i have apple care and haven't used it until now) and was told essencially TO BAD. it's not there responsibility... yada yada yada...
beware

Answer 1

oydesseus,
If I am not mistaken, you are a relatively recent "convert."
I have read your post carefully, I have made a couple observations, and I have some feedback for you. First, let me state that I don't intend to water down the seriousness of your data loss. That said...
It seems to me that you are still stuck in "PC thinking." One should never encounter situations where a Mac simply "locks up." That just doesn't happen to any Macs I own, now or in the past. The fact that you encounter things like this indicates that something is wrong with either your Mac, or its installation of OS X. Certainly, the simple act of initiating a download or update should never, ever cause problems.
When I say "PC thinking," I mean the idea that anything other than flawless performance is normal or acceptable. Also inherent in this thinking is the concept of a "mongrel update," or the idea that any file system (NTFS, HFS+, etc.) is "unstable." While it is true that there can sometimes be problems with third-party (mind you) software such as MacDrive, the file systems themselves are quite mature, and usually very robust.
However, all file systems are subject to disk errors, especially when they are improperly unmounted (which has definitely occurred in your case). For this reason, one should never connect external volumes to a machine that is experiencing problems. Further, it is common knowledge, and clearly state all over the place, that updates, etc. should never be run with external devices connected, or with running applications. This is "Mac thinking."
I can't do anything to help you with your current data loss, but perhaps my feedback will help you to avoid similar circumstances in the future. Really, I'm trying to help.
To that end, I suggest that you carefully consider your current habits, and your current ways of thinking. Why and when do you feel it necessary to cross platforms? What could you do to minimize this? Why do you have and use a Mac? Why do you have and use a PC?
I ask these questions because one of the basic tenets held by OS X, and users of OS X, is simplicity (even though the OS, itself, is not simple. It is complex in an effort to create simplicity of use). So, beginning with the fact that you have a Mac:
* Identify those things that you are currently doing on the PC, that could be performed on the Mac. Migrate this work to the Mac.
* Having done the above, you will now be doing on the PC only what is absolutely necessary. Since Macs and PCs both have similar (if not identical) capabilities, this amounts to things that can be done only using Windows-only software. That's not much.
* Format any external drive using some partition scheme. Leave the majority as either HFS+ or NTFS, with a smaller partition formatted as FAT-32. Your Mac can read NTFS, so any files generated by the PC that must be transferred to the Mac can go that route. FAT-32 would only be used to transport files from the Mac to the PC.
* FIX. YOUR. MACHINES. What's wrong with your Mac? Why does it "lock up?" If you need help in making a determination about this, we're here. Do not accept as fact the idea that even occasional problems are normal; fix it, or get it fixed.
Ideally, you should migrate completely to your Mac. I do not claim that Macs or OS X is absolutely perfect (nothing is), but I do claim that those who have migrated completely experience fewer headaches.
Scott