How to use an external hard drive?

best external hard drive to buy for mac image

go cubs go

I want to copy music files from multiple PC's, and put them onto an external hard drive. Then I want to buy a mac, and copy the music from the external hard drive onto my mac so I can have all my music in one place. Is that possible?
does a hard drive with a usb connection automatically mean it is compatible with both?

Answer
Yes? lol
You just need to get a USB cable...and a SATA cable(depending on the slot of your EHDD) USB can be used to transfer but SATA is ultimately faster. Connect the drive to your pc...music on there...disconnect...buy the mac...connect to your mac(maybe use USB, i'm not sure how easy it is on a mac with SATA)

What external hard drive do you use with your mac & time machine?

meeso12002

If you have a Mac and use time machine, what external hard drive do you use and how do you like it? Was it already formatted when you bought it? Have you ever had to retrieve anything you lost?

Answer
I have a Seagate Goflex Home external hard drive. I'm sure there are other good ones, but this one is compatible with both Mac and PC, which is what we need. It also plugs into my Airport router and is completely wireless, which is also what we needed with laptops. I can also access the drive through the web from any computer. So far i really like using it and haven't had any problems. But there are other options, too, if you have a different situation to work with. For instance, if you don't need it to be wireless, they also have a Goflex Desk drive that you plug directly into the computer, so it's intended for desktop computers instead of laptops. If I remember correctly, it asked me how I wanted the drive formatted, when I first set it up, based on what kind of computers will connect to it. I haven't had to restore from Time Machine, but as long as the drive stores the data, Time Machine itself does the work, not the drive.

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How to format external hard drive for mac and PC?

best external hard drive to buy for mac image

Jay

I have a western digital 1 Tb external hard drive. I just bought a Macbook pro and my mac recognized the drive and i easily transferred files off the external on to the computer. However when i try to move files from the Macbook on to the external hard drive it wont allow me to do it. Is there anyway to format the hard drive to get it to work on both computers. (I still have my windows desktop and need to be able to move files on and off that one too.)

Answer
Mac OS X can read and copy files from NTFS file system but (in its default installed state) cannot write (copy to, save to, rename files on, or move files to a new directory) to an NTFS drive volumes. To use HFS-Plus drive with Windows, install MacDrive. To use NTFS drive volume with OS 10.2 to 10.6.x, install "NTFS for Mac" or "NTFS-3G for Mac", links below. To use NTFS drive volume with OS 10.6, use either of these same options or use a utility called "NTFSMounter". This last option is not automatic. You have to open NTFSMounter each time you start your computer or connect an NTFS drive and choose the drive (even if it is the only NTFS drive connected) in the NTFSMounter window.

Some people like to suggest formatting the drive FAT-32, but that has several limitations, the most annoying being that it cannot use any file larger than 4GB, and some movie files may be this large. Some PC formatting software, such as the one called upon during installation of Windows XP, cannot format a partition larger than 32GB as FAT-32, but this is not a limit of the FAT-32 format itself.

How can I get an external hard drive to work on my ps3? or which ones are compatible with ps3?

Kyle L

I want an external hard drive i can use on my current computer (windows vista ultimate), but i've heard that mac harddrives work with the ps3, so i would buy a mac if needs be. I will be storing files on my hard drive and then watching them on my ps3. how can i do this?

Answer
I'm not sure about this fat32 business about ps3.

But I've always used my 500GB Western Digital External HD on my buddies PS3, Xbox 360 and they all worked just fine.

I would imagine, as long as it has no encryption on it so the devices can read the external HD.
My HD I use at my buddies place are formatted as NTFS.

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How do you format an external hard drive from Mac to PC?

best external hard drive to buy for mac image

Allie

I bought a Fantom 1TB external hard drive that someone had formatted for a Mac. I have Windows XP and am trying to reformat the drive. The drive does not show up under My Computer. I pull up the disk management window and try to select the drive. All it will let me do is view the properties, but it won't let me select format drive. Any suggestions?

Answer
Connect your Fantom 1TB external hard drive and depending on what version of Windows you are currently using (mine is Windows 7), right click on your Computer icon on your Desktop and click on Manage. Then select Storage then Disk Management. You should be able to see all the drives including the Fantom 1TB external drive. It will probably be labeled as unknown. Right click on it and you should be able to see Delete Volume. Click that and you will get a warning that all data will be erased. Acknowledge OK and the volume will be deleted. Once done, do the same but this time you should see Create Volume and after that, just format.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

How do I change my external hard drive from read only to writable?

The Big Si

Just bought a new MAC to replace my old PC and my external hard drive is being shown as a read only drive when I plug it in. How can I change it back to a writable drive without losing my data? The PC is dead and can't be used as a file storage device so I can completely reformat the drive for MAC only use. If you need additional information just ask. Thanks in advance.

Answer
Your old Windows drive is almost certainly formatted as NTFS which, as you've discovered, OSX can read but not write. You'll have to copy the files off the old drive to another device for safekeeping, use Disk Utility to reformat the old drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and then copy them back to the old drive.

Obviously, this will be easiest if you copy them to the Mac's drive, at least temporarily -- assuming you have enough space.

PS - You *could* format the old drive as simply Mac OS Extended, but the Journaled option is a much better choice. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8835.html for an explanation.

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How to format external hard drive for mac and PC?

best external hard drive to buy for mac image

Jay

I have a western digital 1 Tb external hard drive. I just bought a Macbook pro and my mac recognized the drive and i easily transferred files off the external on to the computer. However when i try to move files from the Macbook on to the external hard drive it wont allow me to do it. Is there anyway to format the hard drive to get it to work on both computers. (I still have my windows desktop and need to be able to move files on and off that one too.)

Answer
Mac OS X can read and copy files from NTFS file system but (in its default installed state) cannot write (copy to, save to, rename files on, or move files to a new directory) to an NTFS drive volumes. To use HFS-Plus drive with Windows, install MacDrive. To use NTFS drive volume with OS 10.2 to 10.6.x, install "NTFS for Mac" or "NTFS-3G for Mac", links below. To use NTFS drive volume with OS 10.6, use either of these same options or use a utility called "NTFSMounter". This last option is not automatic. You have to open NTFSMounter each time you start your computer or connect an NTFS drive and choose the drive (even if it is the only NTFS drive connected) in the NTFSMounter window.

Some people like to suggest formatting the drive FAT-32, but that has several limitations, the most annoying being that it cannot use any file larger than 4GB, and some movie files may be this large. Some PC formatting software, such as the one called upon during installation of Windows XP, cannot format a partition larger than 32GB as FAT-32, but this is not a limit of the FAT-32 format itself.

How can I get an external hard drive to work on my ps3? or which ones are compatible with ps3?

Kyle L

I want an external hard drive i can use on my current computer (windows vista ultimate), but i've heard that mac harddrives work with the ps3, so i would buy a mac if needs be. I will be storing files on my hard drive and then watching them on my ps3. how can i do this?

Answer
I'm not sure about this fat32 business about ps3.

But I've always used my 500GB Western Digital External HD on my buddies PS3, Xbox 360 and they all worked just fine.

I would imagine, as long as it has no encryption on it so the devices can read the external HD.
My HD I use at my buddies place are formatted as NTFS.

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How do you format an external hard drive from Mac to PC?

best external hard drive to buy for mac image

Allie

I bought a Fantom 1TB external hard drive that someone had formatted for a Mac. I have Windows XP and am trying to reformat the drive. The drive does not show up under My Computer. I pull up the disk management window and try to select the drive. All it will let me do is view the properties, but it won't let me select format drive. Any suggestions?

Answer
Connect your Fantom 1TB external hard drive and depending on what version of Windows you are currently using (mine is Windows 7), right click on your Computer icon on your Desktop and click on Manage. Then select Storage then Disk Management. You should be able to see all the drives including the Fantom 1TB external drive. It will probably be labeled as unknown. Right click on it and you should be able to see Delete Volume. Click that and you will get a warning that all data will be erased. Acknowledge OK and the volume will be deleted. Once done, do the same but this time you should see Create Volume and after that, just format.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

How do I change my external hard drive from read only to writable?

The Big Si

Just bought a new MAC to replace my old PC and my external hard drive is being shown as a read only drive when I plug it in. How can I change it back to a writable drive without losing my data? The PC is dead and can't be used as a file storage device so I can completely reformat the drive for MAC only use. If you need additional information just ask. Thanks in advance.

Answer
Your old Windows drive is almost certainly formatted as NTFS which, as you've discovered, OSX can read but not write. You'll have to copy the files off the old drive to another device for safekeeping, use Disk Utility to reformat the old drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and then copy them back to the old drive.

Obviously, this will be easiest if you copy them to the Mac's drive, at least temporarily -- assuming you have enough space.

PS - You *could* format the old drive as simply Mac OS Extended, but the Journaled option is a much better choice. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8835.html for an explanation.

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