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External HD - PC to Mac? How to keep interchangible
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External HD - PC to Mac? How to keep interchangible

djdalite 6:43 PM - 9 April, 2010
Ok, from past readings ive come to understand that if you want to use an external HD with a PC and Mac you must format the drive to FAT32?

well i use windows 7 now on my desktop and you only have the option for NFTS format and exFAT format? I had already formatted the drive to exFAT thinking it would work on a Mac but it wouldn't read the drive last night when i tried it on a buddys MB pro

even if i could format it to FAT32 its limited to 32gigs and i have a 1TB harddrive which doesn't do a whole lot of good.

Is there a way around this? How can i get my External to work on both a PC and Mac using either NFTS or exFAT?
djdalite 4:46 PM - 10 April, 2010
anyone have any suggestions?
bakasan 9:03 PM - 10 April, 2010
Fat32 supports up to 2TB actually, not 32GB.

exFAT is the newest iteration of FAT and supports much larger sized drives, but best I recall, native support is only in Linux and Windows.

Your best bet is to simply use FAT32 for your external, as it supports the size you need and has native support on both Windows and Mac. Should you get larger drives down the road, use NTFS. There are free 3rd party apps you can install on your Mac that will allow it to read and write to NTFS volumes (search for MacFuse / NTFS-3G).
peds 9:37 PM - 10 April, 2010
i use paragon download to both mac and pc then ex hd works on both
djdalite 3:17 AM - 11 April, 2010
Quote:
Fat32 supports up to 2TB actually, not 32GB.

exFAT is the newest iteration of FAT and supports much larger sized drives, but best I recall, native support is only in Linux and Windows.

Your best bet is to simply use FAT32 for your external, as it supports the size you need and has native support on both Windows and Mac. Should you get larger drives down the road, use NTFS. There are free 3rd party apps you can install on your Mac that will allow it to read and write to NTFS volumes (search for MacFuse / NTFS-3G).

I would use FAT32 but windows 7 doesnt offer that as an option - i only have NFTS and exFAT - im thinking of wiping it clean again and putting it back to NFTS - even though ive had no luck running that on a Mac
D Jay Cee 7:27 AM - 28 October, 2015
i know this is old...but i just saw this. Fat32 is the windows default so i have no idea how it is not showing up for you.
Dj_Nix 8:00 AM - 28 October, 2015
Format external drive to NTFS. Install tuxtera or paragon on the Mac. Now the Mac can read/write to the drive, windows already does NTFS so your good
DJ Guayo 1:04 AM - 29 October, 2015
ExFAT should work on both windows and Mac.
Dj Ultamate 4:40 AM - 30 October, 2015
Hello,

I use a Toshiba External HD which is PC and Mac compatible. No Reformatting needed or extra downloads.

Here is the name of the current model and some of the specs.

Toshiba Canvio® Connect II

Product Specifications
Capacities1: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB6
Interface: USB 3.0

System Requirements7
Formatted NTFS for Microsoft® Windows® 8.1, 8, 7
Mac OS® X v10.9/ v10.8 / v10.7 / v10.6.6~v10.6.8 with included NTFS driver for Mac®
Available USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 Port