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External Hard Drive (Mac and PC Compatible)
Posted on 8/11/14 at 11:40 am
Posted on 8/11/14 at 11:40 am
Hi tech boardians.
I am in the market for a new external hard drive. I currently have two external hard drives-one for my Mac and the other for my PC. I am looking to buy a new hard drive that both computers will recognize. I know it has to do with formatting, but I never bothered looking into it when I first got the hard drives years ago.
Can I buy any hard drive, format it for both, and then back up everything onto it? Or does it have to be a special kind of hard drive?
Either way, I am going to buy a new one. Any suggestions?
ETA Some more info: I don't use time machine on my Mac. Never have. I also hardly ever use my Mac anymore. This hard drive will primarily act as a one-time backup of my Mac files and a routine backup for my PC files. I would like to back up my Mac files and be able to read/write if need be on my PC.
I am in the market for a new external hard drive. I currently have two external hard drives-one for my Mac and the other for my PC. I am looking to buy a new hard drive that both computers will recognize. I know it has to do with formatting, but I never bothered looking into it when I first got the hard drives years ago.
Can I buy any hard drive, format it for both, and then back up everything onto it? Or does it have to be a special kind of hard drive?
Either way, I am going to buy a new one. Any suggestions?
ETA Some more info: I don't use time machine on my Mac. Never have. I also hardly ever use my Mac anymore. This hard drive will primarily act as a one-time backup of my Mac files and a routine backup for my PC files. I would like to back up my Mac files and be able to read/write if need be on my PC.
This post was edited on 8/11/14 at 12:40 pm
2
Posted on 8/11/14 at 12:03 pm to When in Rome
quote:
I know it has to do with formatting, but I never bothered looking into it when I first got the hard drives years ago.
Can I buy any hard drive, format it for both, and then back up everything onto it? Or does it have to be a special kind of hard drive?
I actually researched this for someone else recently. As far as whether you can just buy any hard drive, the answer is yes, but with caveats.
Your formatting choices are below, with their notes/caveats:
NTFS:
- Windows will read and write to it perfectly with no limitations
- OS X will only be able to read from it unless you install a third-party program such as Tuxera or Paragon (both are $20-ish I think) to enable write support. There may be other ways to enable write functions that I'm not aware of, though, since I don't use OS X regularly.
FAT32
- Windows will not be able to make partitions on the drive larger than 32GB, but OS X can create larger partitions if desired
- You will not be able to use it to hold any single file that exceeds 4GB
- OS X will read/write to it, but Time Capsule backup utility doesn't work on any format but HFS+
exFAT
- all good as long as you have OS X 10.6.5 or later.
- Time Capsule utility won't work
HFS+
- Time capsule backup will work, OS X will play nicely with it of course
- To read/write HFS+ on Windows, you have to buy software (e.g., Paragon HFS+ for Windows or MacDrive)
Of all these, the simplest way to go seems to be FAT32, as long as you know you won't be adding single 4+GB files.
This post was edited on 8/11/14 at 12:05 pm
Posted on 8/11/14 at 12:08 pm to When in Rome
quote:Any drive will work, but like you said, the issue is going to be formatting.
Can I buy any hard drive, format it for both, and then back up everything onto it? Or does it have to be a special kind of hard drive?
The external is going to be pre-formatted with either FAT or NTFS. If it's FAT, both Mac and PC can read and write to it. If it's NTFS, the PC can read and write, but the Mac will only be able to read it (unless you want to jump through hoops to make it write NTFS).
Basically, you will need to format the drive FAT (if it isn't already) for maximum compatibility. The downsides are FAT doesn't support single files bigger than 4GB, and Mac Time Machine won't work on FAT (even though the OS itself can read and write to it just fine). If you have the option, you could probably use a newer version of FAT called exFAT to get around the 4GB filesize limit, though I think Time Machine will still require HFS+ (standard Mac filesystem, which Windows can't use).
d'oh, too late
This post was edited on 8/11/14 at 12:11 pm
Posted on 8/11/14 at 12:39 pm to ILikeLSUToo
Thanks. 
Some more info: I don't use time machine on my Mac. Never have. I also hardly ever use my Mac anymore. This hard drive will primarily act as a one-time backup of my Mac files and a routine backup for my PC files. I would like to back up my Mac files and be able to read/write if need be on my PC.
Some more info: I don't use time machine on my Mac. Never have. I also hardly ever use my Mac anymore. This hard drive will primarily act as a one-time backup of my Mac files and a routine backup for my PC files. I would like to back up my Mac files and be able to read/write if need be on my PC.
Posted on 8/11/14 at 12:41 pm to Korkstand
quote:
ILikeLSUToo
quote:Thanks. Looks like FAT is what I'm looking for.
Korkstand
Any specific external hard drive recommendations?
Posted on 8/11/14 at 1:11 pm to When in Rome
quote:If the drive is pre-formatted NTFS, you can still buy it. You will just need to format it FAT before you start using it.
Thanks. Looks like FAT is what I'm looking for.
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