What format for external USB HD in Windows XP

I have installed Win XP Performance on a small partition and boot into it using Boot Camp. It's a great, small install, but my external USB HD isn't recognised by Windows.
It's formatted as Mac Journaled - would this be ok just to read files on it?

I use an app called Macdrive7 http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/
It allows you to read and write to a Mac drive while running Windows. Try the free trial and see if it helps you.

Similar Messages

What formatting for external hard drives for my photo students?

I teach digital photography. Our classroom Macs are a mix of Intel and PPC (iMac 20", G5s). My students typically either come with a Mac laptop, buy one while here, or soon after they leave. Some (few!) have a PC laptop or will leave to go home to a PC laptop.
I've been buying one external harddrive per student (with FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, 250 GB) from macsales.com for students to put their digital photos on while here and when they leave my 12 wk. course. I encourage them if they have a Mac laptop to partition their external drive to have one partition for backing up their boot drive, one for their photos.
In the classroom, they may be hooking up their external drive to a PPC or Intel Mac.
What recommendations can you give for what formatting they should be using for their external drives? Intel, for PPC, or...MS-DOS (if they go to a PC)? (One student told me that her external drive which was formated for PPC last summer now won't show up on her MacBook Pro.)
I realize they can only use the FW800 on a few Macs (including 17" MacBook Pro, Mac Pro), and should not be using USB 2.0 for a drive they hope to boot a Mac with. I've heard formatting and using MS-DOS is very unstable (for PCs at least).
Tips, please?
2x2.66 GHz Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.9) 5 GB RAM

I've been buying one external harddrive per student
(with FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, 250 GB) from
macsales.com for students to put their digital photos
on while here and when they leave my 12 wk. course. I
encourage them if they have a Mac laptop to partition
their external drive to have one partition for
backing up their boot drive, one for their photos.
That's impressive and very user-supportive. At work, our students have space on our server to backup/store their work for the semester but are greatly encouraged to backup their stuff with either Cds or DVDs (and we don't supply those). If they use a personal machine, they are responsible for their own backups of their system.
In the classroom, they may be hooking up their
external drive to a PPC or Intel Mac.
For data, the traditional APM formatted drive work with both.
What recommendations can you give for what formatting
they should be using for their external drives?
Intel, for PPC, or...MS-DOS (if they go to a PC)?
(One student told me that her external drive which
was formated for PPC last summer now won't show up
on her MacBook Pro.)
As I mentioned earlier, an Intel Mac can boot from an APM formatted drive although this may or may not be the best solution. Unfortunately with partitioning via Disk Utility (and perhaps other tools as well - I've not investigated this yet), every partition must be of the same scheme GUID or APM.
The most important reason for backups (IMHO) is to safeguard personal work. The OS can be re-installed anytime and settings reconfigured if need be. Since the APM scheme can be used by both Intels and PPC for data, I would go with APM. Bootable or not, their important data will be backed up.
(I don't know why one student had a problem but it shouldn't be related to the partition scheme.)
For a bootable system/backup, I use Carbon Copy Cloner from Mike Bombich. Ideally, so long as there is space, I create a restorable image of a fresh OS install and put it away for a rainy day. I then clone my entire internal drive to the external (APM). Over the last year, I've been able to boot from it on my original iMac CD as well as have a hard copy of my work.
Once backed up, I would later use the option to only copy changed files instead of re-doing the entire drive. That was a feature in the PPC version of the app (which will run under Intel) although I haven't tried the latest universal version (3.0 beta). There are a number of other applications that can perform backups/cloning as well.

I have Home Movies from iMovie to back-up. What format for external drive?

Hello,
I have Home Movies imported into iMovie 11 on my iMac 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.
I am saving the cpmleted movie projects onto an external hard disc. A Seagate 1TB.
I have had problems with file sizes as I keep getting the message that a movie project is too large for the medium. It seems that I can't store anything in HD.
I've looked at the disc and it's formatted as MS-DOS (FAT32)
Am I right that this imposes a maximum file size that I can save?
If so I have looked at the Disc Utility on my iMac and I can see that I can reformat the external drive.
I have a choice of -
Mac OS Extended (journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, journaled)
MS-DOS(FAT) is this the same as MS-DOS (FAT32) it already is formatted as?
ExFAT
Windows NT Filesystem (Tuxera NTFS)
I'm guessing I should choose the MAC OS Extended (jounaled) or the Mac OS Extended (Case- sensitive, journaled)?
The Seagate Hard Drive is model SRDOSPO
I don't understand the differences between the above formats and would like help on chosing the right one for my Home Movies.
I also have an Apple TV3 which I use to watch the movies on my tv.
Are the home movies stored both in the iTunes file on my iMac, so I can see them via AppleTV, and the external hard drive.
If so can I just use the external hard drive without having these large files filling my iMac disc?
Hope that all makes sense.

The difference between case sensitive and non-case sensitive is self-explanatory. Non-case sensitive iis easier to work with as it can avoid confusion with files names.
The others are weird and wonderful/partly useless Microsoft formats only of interest to Windows users, or those who want to have both Apple OS and Windows on the same computer. Not all of them can be read by a Mac at all, some of them have inconvenient file size limitations.
More info here:
http://formatharddrive.net/types-of-hard-drive-formats.html
Message was edited by: Klaus1

What format does my usb containing windows iso image have to be to install it using bootcamp?

What format does my usb containing windows iso image have to be to install it using bootcamp?

figure this is related to your other post so let's keep it there
https://discussions.apple.com/message/25504783#25504783

When I try to format an external usb drive the progress bar only goes half way then freezes up can anybody help please

When I try to format an external usb drive the progress bar gets to half way then freezes , or stops and what ever time I allow it never gets any futher on , I have to go to the task bar and click quit to get on and the usb drive is not formatted is there a fault with my disk utility program I have updated the system
to lion 10.7.2
Can anybody advise please

Are these new external drives? How are the currently formatted? Have you tried doing this:
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. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
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.) Click on the Security 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 can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

Is it possible to format an external USB drive with XFS or EXT3 ?

Greetings all.
I am running a 2,8Ghz 8x core with 6Gb ram. I have a NAS, (Buffalo Pro Duo Linkstation) which has a built in linux which saves data using XFS (I think). It has a built in backup routine, but the drive it backs up to MUST be in XFS or EXT3 (Fat 32 works but it drops all files over 2GB ;( ... ) So - here's my question:
How can I format the external USB drive (A seagate freeagent) in XFS or EXT3 so that it can run on my Buffalo? My preference is to use a GUI mac program (does one exist?) or to use a command line UNIX command (FSK? - but then, how????). I could also use (GASP!) a windows utility on parallels, or even install a linux distro via parallels. But it should be easy I hope...
Looking forward to any ideas/thoughts, tips, etc.
thanks and best to all from Berlin,
Jason

Download a "Live CD" (one you can boot of into running copy of Linux without having to install anything; for example, [OpenSUSE Live CD|http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.0/iso/cd/openSUSE-11.0-GNOME-Li veCD-x86_64.iso]).
Use OS X' Disk Utility to burn it to a CD.
Insert the CD you just burned (if it ejected afterwards), and then restart your Mac.
Hold down the 'C' key on the keyboard as the Mac boots, and it should switch to booting off the CD. Once the CD starts loading, you can let go. It will take a couple of minutes, but it will eventually boot into Linux.
Attach your USB drive.
Run gparted (you need to search the menus for it, it's under system administration, I think -- or you can open up a terminal window and simply type 'gparted').
Find your disk (/dev/sdb or /dev/sda) and partition and format it using the filesystem you want.
When done, restart the computer. You'll boot back into Mac OS X and have an EXT2/EXT3/XFS formatted external drive (that OS X won't recognize, by the way).

How can i create a Trash for external USB Drives ?

Hello,
how can i create a Trash for external USB Drives or my TimeCapsule ?
Thanks.

You do not need to create trash cans for individual drives. The trash can on the desktop holds deleted files from all mounted drives.
TimeCapsule manages its own space. If it fills up it will delete older backps to make space for newer ones.

HT1335 My ipod classic have no software and I am stuck with it. It was formatted for apple but I use windows 8. Please help. Thanks in advance.

My ipod classic have no software and I am stuck with it. It was formatted for apple but I use windows 8. Please help. Thanks in advance.

Hello there, DrDhillon.
The following Knowledge Base article goes over the steps that will help you resolve your issue:
Restoring iPod to factory settings
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1339
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,
Pedro.

Newbie: What format for I-movie

I had to download and install a program to make my Casio AVI clips compatible with i-movie. What format should I choose, and what format for the whole movie? What will work best on a TV screen?
I tried .mov and .mpeg and .mpeg4 but the clips are unproportional once I get them into i-movie ( they are stretched horizontally).
Where I am going wrong??
Julie

Good question... but it does explain the stretch.
It seems odd that the camcorder does not shoot in a regular format.
They make an iMovie plugin at cf/x, found at http://www.imovieplugins.com that can alter the aspect ratio.
Here is the description:aspect ratio
what is it?
this iMovie plug-in changes the clip's aspect ratio, either enlarging or shrinking the clip. it's primary use is to re-establish the correct aspect ratio after rotating a non-square pixel clip, or after importing footage from a different video format (e.g. 4:3 to HD 16:9, TV, NTSC<-->PAL, 16:9). the plug-in sports pre-sets to convert between the most common video-formats, which can additionally be overriden by hand-tuning +/-50% in both the horizontal and vertical direction.
for parts that have to be enlarged, the plug also provides bi-cubic interpolation.
when should i use it?
use this plug-in whenever you need to adjust/tweak the aspect ratio of a clip (e.g. prior to exporting to another format, after rotating non-square pixel footage, or after importing from another format)
I have used their plug-ins without any difficulty.
This one costs $2.50.
Terri

What format for my external harddrive?

Hello,
I have a 1,5 TB Seagate external harddrive.
What format and partitiontype shall it be to be used on both Mac and Windows?
Because right now it only works on my mac and the rest of my family uses Windows so i would like to share my ext. hdd with them aswell..
Right now it's Mac os Extended Journaled and Apple-partitiontype..
Help Please :-)

Not quite sure I understand but here is what Disk Utility Help says about partitioning a disk:
Partition a Disk
1. If you’re partitioning an external disk, make sure it’s connected to your computer.
2. Open Disk Utility.
3. Select the disk that you want to partition and click Partition.
4. Choose the number of partitions from the Volume Scheme pop-up menu.
If you can’t choose the number of partitions, follow the steps for partitioning a startup disk.
5. Click each partition and type a name for it, choose a format, and type a size.
You can also drag the divider between the partitions to change their sizes. If a partition’s name has an asterisk beside it, it’s shown larger than its actual size in order to display its name clearly.
6. Click Options and choose one of the following:
If you’ll be using the disk on a Windows computer, choose the Master Boot Record partition scheme (also known as “fdisk”).
If you’ll be using the disk only with Mac computers, choose GUID Partition Table.
7. Click Apply.

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.

USB drive: what format for Linux and Mac?

I'm wondering what's the best format for an external USB harddrive to be used both on Macs (Tiger and Leopard) and Linux . I'm familiar with Linux, but not much with Mac.
I'd like to avoid vfat (the MS-DOS format) because symbolic links aren't allowed there.
Regards,
Ryo

Following up my own question, I've formatted the USB drive in hfsplus and it works both on Macs and on my Linux box (Debian testing).
One issue is that I had to turn off the journaling of the hfsplus filesystem, because (it seems) the Linux hfsplus driver doesn't support writing to the journaled hfsplus filesystem. The earliest discussion I found was from 2005 or 2006, and it's strange that the journaling support has still not been incorporated into the mainstream Linux kernels.
Without journaling, I have to be extra careful when I remove the drive. This minor annoyance aside, it works.
But, I'm still open to suggestions. For example, what's the situation of Mac OS X in supporting ext3 or reiserfs?
Cheers,
Ryo

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!

What format for my HD

I just bought a d2 Lacie external hd for my powerbook so that i can fit all those videos... i wanted to know what format i should put the external hd in... i would like to be able to use it with windows computers but if there is a big differance then i can sacrifice it...
Thanks, Phil

Phillip
External drives should be Mac OS Extended with Journaling off.
I'm pretty sure you can make a partition and assign that to IBM windows format.
This may prove helpful:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/partitioningtiger.html
Al

Format for external hard drive attached to Time Capsule

What format should I used for an external hard drive attached to my Time Capsule that will allow both my Mac and PCs to read and write to it?

It should be HFS+.. it may work with fat32 but that is a lousy format.
The actual format of the drive is irrelevant to the PC.. the TC offers SMB connection.. so it is a true file sharing device.. the format used to store the files cannot be directly read by windows but is "interpreted, translated" via the firmware of the TC.
BTW this is true of all network storage.. A NAS can store files in whatever format its OS requires.. freebsd like freenas might use XFS.. or linux use EXT2 or REISFS.. it makes no difference as long as it offers that store to the windows (and apple) network as SMB.. then windows can handle it.

What format for external USB HD in Windows XP

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