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General discussion

External hard drive has Mac PC Exchange (MS-DOS) format

Nov 1, 2010 1:26PM PDT

WHen I look at info for a external hard drive I've been using with both a PC and Mac, it says "Format: Macintosh PC Exchange (MS-DOS)". I don't recognize this format; I was expecting it to say FAT32. I don't remember what I did when I formatted this drive, or if it came formatted this way.

I just want to make sure that some quicktime video files I am putting on the drive for archival purposes will have no problems down the road as far as access by Final Cut Pro on a Mac, etc.

The other question: it gives me the option to index the drive. What exactly will this do and how would it help or hurt me? Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Where's the backup copy?
Nov 1, 2010 2:12PM PDT

The reason I ask is that FAT32 volumes can go missing if the power is lost at the wrong moment or the USB plug is pulled at the wrong time.

Without a backup copy, FAT32 is not safe.
Bob

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thanks for reply
Nov 1, 2010 3:12PM PDT

You make good points. Thanks for reply. So does Macintosh PC Exchange (MS-DOS) Format = FAT32 ?

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Sorry.
Nov 2, 2010 12:23AM PDT
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thanks
Nov 2, 2010 3:17AM PDT

thanks again for the information. You mentioned how external hard drives can lose data if they lose power at the wrong moment. When I reboot my Mac OS X machine, should I unplug the USB cord for the external drive first? Should I turn off the power switch on the back of the external hard drive before rebooting? Or simply drag the external drive icon to the trash to unmount the drive, and then reboot? Thanks

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Reboot, drag to trash should be fine.
Nov 2, 2010 3:23AM PDT

It's those unexpected events that has folk reporting FAT32 volume losses.

-> If you want to use this on an Apple why not use the Apple formatting to avoid the problem?
Bob