Ps, i have an external hard drive case that the 160gb is in. A hard drive can be used on any type of computer pc or mac. Although it is possible to format a drive as exfat from disk utility on. Im trying to format my wd red 3tb drives so they can be read on both my win7 and osx machines 10. At the time of the original posting in 2011, there were some problems getting a mac formatted exfat drive working with windows, it had trouble recognizing those drives. And apfs takes the advantages of strong encryption, space sharing, disk snapshots and is compatible with ssd on new mac. I checked the disk utility, and it only will let me format it to a mac format. Not really interested in the pros and cons of normal vs quick format types. To format as a mac disk, choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled. If its an external hard drive, you can format it with exfat, which doesnt have the limits and it compatible with both windows and os x.
Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three ways. Install windows on the external ssdhdd for your mac.
Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. How to format a physical hard drive, or only a single partition. Dec 29, 2018 install windows on the external ssd hdd for your mac. Formating in win7 full format windows 7 help forums. Want to format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Jan 27, 2019 to format the drive to work with both platforms you will need use a windows computer to format the disk as exfat. Detailed tutorial about how to format hard disk windows 7. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Mac computers are capable of formatting any storage device internal or external such as hdd ssd, usb flash drive, and external storage. Windows 7 has its builtin utility disk management that can be used to format hard drive.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Using a thirdparty application, it may be possible for a windows computer to read a macformatted hard drive. As both windows and mac provide native solutions to format hard drive, you should avoid using any unreliable thirdparty tool. Nov 30, 2010 this video will show you how to install windows 7 via bootcamp on you macbook air with out a dvd drive. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. I need to reformated my wd 1tb external hard drive and was wondering what is the best file format to use ms dos fat32, mac os extended journalled etc all i store on it are all my videos, tv shows, and backups of all my work, documents etc, but i dont use it with time machine. This will work in all modern versions of apple mac osx including 10. I recently bought a 250gb hard drive for my apple imac, and i want to take the 160gb hard drive that is in there now, and make it formatted to a pc windows xp how do i do that. Can a windows computer read a macformatted hard drive. If you move a hard drive between the two operating systems, heres what you need to know. Jul 28, 20 this will work in all modern versions of apple mac osx including 10. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. How to format hard drives on windows, mac and linux.
How to format a windows disk drive for a mac i get this question a lot i have an external hard drive that is ntfs formatted windows format, and i want to reformat it for my mac hfs. How to format a mac hdd to win ntfs using win 10 microsoft. Mac os x has had support for reading ntfs formatted disk for a few versions, but still doesnt have write support. We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. I tried alt at chime with the original mac gpu card and i was always able to get into the boot option menu. Fat 32 is the most compatible disk format which is why its the most widely used on usb thumb drives its compatible with both mac and windows. It is recommended to choose the compatible format that the system lists. It is an wired apple keyboard and works fine preboot.
How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. However for external hdd you wont see the fat32 windows dont suggest fat32 for bigger drives however to get other format option you can use thirdparty software. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Disk wont format external drives for mac wd community. Thus, if you want to make a hard drive compatible with windows 7 and mac, you may need to format the drive to exfat or fat32. Following site procedures for reformatting to mac os extended journaled and erasing the disk using mac disk utility, i received the message unmounting disk mediakit reports not enough space on device for requested operation. Jul 15, 2009 format a drive for mac os x and windows. While formatting a pen drive you will see fat32, exfat, and ntfs as the available file system. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. A system repair disc can be created from any working windows 7 computer and can then be used to write zeros to any drive using the included format command, including the primary drive, no matter what windows operating system is on the computer. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac.
That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a. There are a few thirdparty products that allow mac os x to read ntfs formatted drives but as far as im aware the free ones arent as well maintained as the commercial ones. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. In this tutorial, i will show you how to reformat the hard drive in your mac and reinstall os x for that factory fresh finish. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. How to format a drive on a mac heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use. How to format a drive in exfat formatting in windows 73 ways. It can be done so save you money and dont buy a dvd drive for this. By full format, i mean a normal format, as opposed to a quick format. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. When i format the drive using win7, osx wants me to initialize it.
Windows cannot see the mac drive since its in the hfs format, windows uses ntfs, and the only common format. There may be occasions, however, when you want to reformat your mac s hard drive. Format hard drive in windows 10 with easeus management software. Initially external disks may be formatted for windows and after you connect it to your mac it appears in the device list in the finder, but is a read only disk meaning that you cant write to it in its current format. Zero everything first, then do an hdd format proscons of what.
Im in the dark about how many partitions the mac can handle but im assuming osx needs 2 and windows 8 uses 3, so, well. However, to use it on windows you can hfs explorer read only. When i format it with osx, win7 wants me to format it. If the builtin disk is set up with apfs, please do not change it to the mac os extension. Also find out the difference between file system i. Mac computers are capable of formatting any storage device internal or external such as hddssd, usb flash drive, and external storage.
Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and common storage devices, is here to help you recover deleted files from usb flash drive. Connect the hdd to a mac and format the drive as fat32 and then connect the same mac hdd to windows and convert it to ntfs. Even if the mac is unable to mount the storage, following this method will enable you to format the storage. This hard disk formatting software can help you formatwipe your entire hard drive in a single step. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Installing windows 7 with usb flash drive on macbook air. For this reason, a macformatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor readable by a windows computer. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow.
To do this on windows 8 or windows 7, press the windows key once, type. A solid state drive is primarily used on mac machine. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. How to format a hard drive with windows 7 by drew prindle. All hard drives require formatting before you can use them on your computer. Stepbystep instructions to format a hard drive in windows 7, including screenshots for each step to make the process easy to follow. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it.
How to format a laptop hard drive with pictures wikihow. I understand that you are facing issues with windows 10. But in order for the computer and drive to talk to one another, the drive has to be formatted. Jul 26, 2019 if its an external hard drive, you can format it with exfat, which doesnt have the limits and it compatible with both windows and os x. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Operation failed dont understand the space issue and since the disk is unmounted ii am unable to do. Start by connecting your external hdd to macs usb port.
Nov, 2019 a system repair disc can be created from any working windows 7 computer and can then be used to write zeros to any drive using the included format command, including the primary drive, no matter what windows operating system is on the computer. The naming of the drive does not matter and as described in the original post, the format must be windowsrecognizable fat. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. How to format a new sata external hard drive on a windows. Can i share the hdd data drive between windows and osx, or should i split the hdd and let each os have its own data partition. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard driveusb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. Therefore, make sure that the file system is supported by your mac or windows. This tool can help in formatting hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card and other storage media under windows or mac os. Fortunately, there are some mac hard drive format software or smart disk formatting applications can help you securely and easily format, reformat, or erase hard drive under mac os. It can be fully supported by windows systems and readonly supported by mac os. Some external drives such as those that come with backup software preinstalled. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag.
A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. Nov 21, 2015 this video explains, why external hard drive does not work with every operating system and how to solve it. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. Best format for an external hard disk apple community. To format the drive to work with both platforms you will need use a windows computer to format the disk as exfat. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system.
How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. It appears the issue has since been fixed and disks. Unlike windows os, mac os doesnt provide quick format tool. This video will show you how to install windows 7 via bootcamp on you macbook air with out a dvd drive.
This mac propriety file system and is used in ios and mac. How to use external hdd with windowsmaclinuxandroid. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac seagate blog. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. Hierarchical file system plus, also known as mac os extended, is the primary file system format used in mac computers. While formatting, you would be asked to pick a file system for the disk.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Sep 03, 2011 i need to reformated my wd 1tb external hard drive and was wondering what is the best file format to use ms dos fat32, mac os extended journalled etc all i store on it are all my videos, tv shows, and backups of all my work, documents etc, but i dont use it with time machine. Initially external disks may be formatted for windows and after you connect it to your mac it appears in the device list in the finder, but is a read only. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Mac pro 1,1 and switching from win7 to osx macrumors forums. Thats why were using a bootable windows 710 installation dvd or usb drive which allows us to format the hard disk. How to use the format command to write zeros to a hard drive. This is a default file system for linux os including raspberry pi. I will be formatting a whole drive, with two partitions. Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard fat32 file system is unacceptable. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice.
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