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Question

Dual Format External Harddrive

Jun 20, 2011 8:02PM PDT

I have a macbook pro and have a 1TB WD external Harddrive. I have large files that I want to use on windows based laptops.

I can read and pull files off of external harddrives of windows laptops, but I can't write to or even read my macbook external on the windows laptops. Is there a way that I can have a Windows partion and a Mac partition on my 1TB external?

Will Windows and Mac laptops be able to read/write from it?

I do not have the option to install anything to the windows laptops, so writing to 1 external HD via my macbook and taking it around to the windows laptops would be the ideal solution.

Thanks in advance!!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Yes, you can do this
Jun 20, 2011 9:54PM PDT

It will probably destroy whatever data is currently on the WD but if you back it up first, you should be good to go.

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Thanks for the tips!
Jun 21, 2011 1:33PM PDT

Thanks mrmac and jimmy! I only have 100g on the external now and none of the files go over 2g. Ill partition the drive on the mac and give that a go.

If I were to make the windows partition NTFS, I won't be able to write to it on my mac without a 3rd party NTFS App, correct?

Thanks again guys, you rock!

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I'm not positive
Jun 21, 2011 11:35PM PDT

I'm not positive, but I think Boot Camp includes some kind of Apple produced, or sanctioned at least, NTFS support module for full read/write support.

Are the Mac and Windows systems networked perchance? Like a corporate LAN or something along those lines? Something other than just the Internet which won't really work. If they are, it might just be easier to set up a network share or FTP server on the Mac, and just abstract out all the filesystem concerns. You could always hit the portableapps.com site to find a simple FTP client that can run off a USB flash drive (no install necessary) would let you upload files you've worked on with one of the Windows systems back to the Mac, or you could try and get a SMB network share recognized by the Windows machines. This way you could just leave your external drive as-is. Of course it only works if there's some kind of high speed LAN to take advantage of.

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External dual partition worked!
Jun 23, 2011 1:22PM PDT

I would have gone the LAN route if I had been home, but we are overseas at the moment and we don't have access to any private networks.

The good news is, that I was able to get the external drive partitioned with part Mac and XFAT as the windows side. (I'm still used to XP/7 and this is my first mac). It works great so far, all windows laptops can read the one half of the drive and read/write to it. Thanks again for all your help!! You guys are lifesavers!

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Answer
Two options
Jun 20, 2011 11:23PM PDT

Two options as I see it.

Probably the best solution is to just install some kind of NTFS write support on your Mac, though in my experience these programs are flaky at best. It's been a few years since I've used them however, so maybe it's improved.

There's also the option of ExFAT (sometimes called FAT64) but this is only supported on Vista SP1 and later, so it's not an option for XP systems unless they have a specific optional update installed. FAT32 is a possibility, but it will not allow you to have files over 4GB in size. So, depending on how large the files are, that may or may not be viable.

And personally, I'd format the drive on a Windows system if you're going the NTFS route. A Mac should be able to do it, but Microsoft has a tendency to diverge from it's own published specifications, and just forget to tell anyone. I'll let the people with nothing better to do debate whether this is just a corporate bureaucracy thing or a deliberate conspiratorial effort. The fact still remains that odds of success are a lot higher with Windows if you format the drive on Windows. Your Mac should be able to read it just fine either way, but Windows likes to pick the worst possible times to pitch a fit about these kinds of things. At least in my experience.

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Wasn't that what I said?
Jun 21, 2011 6:17AM PDT

"And personally, I'd format the drive on a Windows system if you're going
the NTFS route"

As in

"Now take the drive to a Windows machine and format the DOS partition as
NTFS."

P

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Sort of
Jun 21, 2011 11:05AM PDT

Sort of. I was saying do the partitioning on Windows too, you suggested doing that on the Mac. Granted it's a rather minor distinction, but given that Windows can be like a spoiled toddler throwing a fit sometimes, a somewhat important one.

Both ways will PROBABLY work, but in my experience, the more non-MS tools in the chain, the more the odds of problems later on go up.

Plus it was early, I hadn't had my coffee yet.