I just purchased two 2TB Western Digital MyBook Studio hard drives (from Apple) to store raw video content on. We have one Mac Pro for video editing but the rest of the office uses Windows XP.
How can I format these hard drives so they will be accessible on both OS10.4 and Windows XP? We want the full 2TB of each HD to be in one partition. Should I do the formatting on the Mac or on the PC?
I bought a new Hard Drive today.
It's a 1.5TB Western Digital GreenPower WD15EARS with "Advanced Format" and a huge, 64mb Cache. I wasn't intending to get anything special, just more space.
Apparently "Advanced Format" means the drive sectors are 4kb instead of the usual 512b.
This has apparently been in the works for some time but is just now being phased in.
OSX back to Tiger (10.4) supports Advanced Format drives with no issues.
The big hold up has been Windows 5 (XP) and earlier. Using one of these drives with XP could cause a real slowdown unless special precautions are taken.
The drive installed and formatted normally under Snow Leopard. According to AJA System Test, the 5400rpm GP drive is indeed slower than my WD Blacks (duh!) and a 7200rpm Hitachi. I have yet to compare it to one of my external "regular" GreenPower drives by mounting one internally.
Here's a good description:[URL]
Any thoughts as to how this new formatting will affect Macs in particular?
I just bought a new external hard drive and backed-up my computer onto it. Then today I realized that I didn't format the drive. All I did was follow instruction for hooking it up. Also, I'm a Mac user. Is it customary to do a full and proper format of newly purchased external hard drives? The most I did was verify the disk in disk utility when I first plugged in the HD to my computer. Is that enough?
View 5 Replies View Relatedgot a real basic question to ask and you're gonna think im an idiot for asking...I just bought a 320gb western digital elements hard drive and want to reformat it so that its compatible for both mac and pc's. i intend to format it as NTFS-3G as it would allow me to use it on the 2 platforms without having the 4GB file size restriction that fat32 has, anyway.....
when I go to reformat my external hard drive in disk utility, I see my external hard drive to the left, and there's a "sub" hard drive as a child of the external hd listed uppermost. just wandering which one of the two do i select before going to Erase>Windows NT filesystem (NTFS-3G)>erase? Do I select the uppermost drive and erase that or the lower one? or both
I'm using Macbook Pro(2010, 10.6.6) and a PC with Windows 7. I need to transfer image files from both laptops to an external drive. I formatted the external drive in exFAT and wanted to know if there are any problems that might occur in the future. I already know there is an issue with such programs as Carbon Copy Cloner. I primarily need the drive for backup of the images and not system backups. Do you have any file corruption or other problems formatting in exFAT?
View 6 Replies View RelatedIs there a way to connect my hard drive to my network and access the hard drive files wirelessly with my mac? If so, how?
View 1 Replies View RelatedMy new external harddrive (Buffalo MiniStation) is not showing in finder. I've checked that the correct finder view options are set (i.e. show show external drives). I can see the drive in Disk Utility and it will mount. Also when i try to open a downloaded .dmg file I get the 'no mountable file systems' error.Â
The drive is fine as it works on another MBP.Â
I've reinstalled Lion but still no join.Â
Info:
MacBook Pro 2009, Mac OS X (10.6.2)
I'm running Snow Leopard on my new Macbook Pro. I've got a 1.5TB External hard drive that I'm trying to figure out how to format in HFS+ with Apple Partition Map. I can figure out how to format in HFS using Disk Utility, however it still does it in GUID format and I do not know how to do it in Apple Partition Map.
Googleing this for hours has lead with all kinds of information on how to go to GUID FROM Apple Partition Map but not the other way around. I know GUID is the new hottness.. but this drive will be used exclusively to connect to my XBOX 360 and it supposedly only reads HFS+ when its formatted with Apple Partition Map. (I have tried it with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with GUID, and the XBOX does NOT recognize it) I do not want to use Fat 32, (I know that that is the other major option) beacuse it limits file size.
I'm looking at the specs page for the MacBook Pro and it reads this...
Your MacBook Pro comes standard with a 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive. Choose a hard drive with a faster speed for greater performance. Or you can choose a solid-state drive that offers enhanced durability.
Basically suggesting that the HDD option has a performance advantage over the SSD, but is this the case? I always thought SSDs could read & write quicker because they use solid-state flash memory as opposed to hard disks.
I want to go with the 256GB SSD but I want to know how it ranks in speed.
I have purchased a MBA (love it!), and I am about to sell my Windows desktop. I will be duel-booting OS X and Win 7 on my MBA, and I might add a Mac mini or a self-built Windows box to my network down the road (mostly to serve video and other files). I am getting an Airport Extreme to add to my current wireless G router/DSL modem. The AE will serve as my wireless N access point (N for the MBA, G from the other wifi router for my iPhone), and I will use it to connect my printer and an external 1TB drive. I can't decide whether to built a cheap Windows box to be my file server (and to perform random tasks when the MBA is with me) or to buy some NAS system to serve my files.
My other question is what format do I use for my external drive and a couple of pen drives I use as backup for my documents and pictures. They are currently formatted NTFS, and I realize I cannot modify them from OS X. But Mac formatting isn't visible in Windows without an added program, right? I often have files above the size limit for Fat32. So which format do I chose? One of the pen drives is used for school where I transfer Visual Studio programming files; another is a photo/document backup that I keep in a fireproof safe. Will I just need to keep one pen drive only for my programming classes formatted to NTFS? What do other people do?
I have a Imac 20 with a small 3.5 hard drive and I have bought a bigger 360 gig 3.5 hard drive to replace the old one. I have the new one in an external case with USB 2.0 right now. Is there some way I can transfer the entire contents of the old hard drive on to the new one and then swap out the old drive with the new drive and not miss a beat?
View 6 Replies View RelatedI have to hard drives in my powermac. And I am running out of space with the one that has the OS on it.
I want to make the 2 internal hard drives i have appear as one so i can still install and use things that say "must have mac OS installed on this drive to use" or whatever.
i've heard of people using RAID to join them, but i want details on how i could do this.
I am having a huge dilemma with my new Western Digital 4TB Hard Drive. It came formatted for Mac OS and I need to format it under NTFS. The problem is Windows will not format it, I always get an error message. I have tried two different machines. The major issue is that I cannot format it to FAT32 first before formatting it under NTFS bc the drive is larger than 2TB. My media player will not recognize Apple's format...
View 16 Replies View RelatedI'm hoping someone more knowledgeable than myself can help me out. I have a 2006 Intel-based Mac Pro:
Processor: Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors
Ram: 6GB (two 512MB) of 667MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM
HDD Bay 1: 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s; 7200 rpm; 8MB cache
OSX: Tiger
I need to upgrade to Snow Leopard to be able to use newer Leopard & above only versions of software ie FCP, Aperature, etc.
The issue is that I would like to keep the Tiger OSX as I run Pro Tools LE 7 on it. Upgrading to Snow Leopard would render Pro Tools LE 7 incompatible and I would have to buy it again.
So here's what I'm thinking. I would like to install a secondary HDD in Bay 2 and install Snow Leopard on it.
Is it possible to have OSX Tiger on the HDD in Bay 1 and have OSX Snow Leopard on the HDD Bay 2? Could they each be a different startup to be selected via System Preferences or at bootup? I would only want to run one OS at any given time.
If so what would be a workflow for installing the 2nd HDD and setting it up with OSX Snow Leopard.
Also, compatible hard drives for the 2006 Intel Mac Pros seem to be harder to find now. I called Apple and they no longer sell any compatible internal HDDs.
I'm planning on getting a Mac Pro with multiple hard drives and was thinking about having a main drive for Leopard and documents, one for music, one for video and another for Windows. I was just curious to see how others have theirs set up and any if there is advice to be shared.
View 24 Replies View RelatedI just brought a Western Digital 1TB USB drive for my Mac Pro. Now when I try and format it in Mac OSX journaled it keeps coming up in an error saying it can't be done, It will format as FAT32 but I need it to be Mac OSX formatted. Does anyone know what might be wrong?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI just bought a new WD Elements (1tb) and I am getting an error when I try and format. I wish I could tell you what that error says but I was trying to figure something else out so I chose the disk6s1 and formatted it to os extended but it seems like it is frozen. I am afraid if I force quit it will screw up the drive. This is the 2nd one I have tried, I returned the 1st one thinking the drive was faulty. Now I think I screwed up the drive when I formatted it in disk utility. I have installed 2 western digital internal Hard Drives into my Pro and have used 2 other external HDs both western digitals. If there was any problems with any of my HDs, I would open up Disk Utility and Erase them to be Mac OS Extended (My WD TV won't read Journaled drives).
View 9 Replies View RelatedI'm trying to work out how to format my external hardrive so my MacBook Pro, Windows and PS3 can all have read and view access. If it can't be done can this be done: MacBook Pro: Read and View Access Windows: View Only Access PS3: View Only Access My external hardrive is WD 500gb Passport and i'm running Snow Leopard
View 7 Replies View RelatedIm trying to install a new g-tech external hard drive and i'm following the instructions to format it as MAC OS EXTENDED.In disk utilities it is only giving me the option of Mac OS (Extended journaled), (journaled encrypted), (case sensitive journaled) and (case sensitive, journaled, encrypted).
Info:iMac, 27 3.1ghz. 1TB 4MB
I recently received a Macbook hard drive for my niece. She trashed her Macbook to the point that i is not worth repairing. I usually work with PCs and am a hardware familar with Macs. I have a ineterested party for the hard drive but they want me to erase the drive and reformat it so they can use on a Mac. They will put on the OS. Is it possible for me to erase it and format it for use on a Mac with a PC? I don't own a Mac.
Info:
iPod classic 160GB (Late 2009), Windows
7
Got imac G5 just want to know two things .
1 - how many hard drives can you fit into a imac g5 or one of the new imacs.
2- if i want to put a bigger hard drive in can i just put a normal sata one in that you would buy for a pc
I would have thought, given the pace of innovation, that we might have had hard drives larger than 1 TB by now. Has anyone heard of any potential rumors?
View 24 Replies View RelatedCan the Mac Pro take any type of SATA HD or is it restricted to "special" types?
View 2 Replies View RelatedLooking at Seagate site, even newegg, the hard drives for mac are incredibly more expensive. I doubt the interface is different, so the only other option is how it is formatted.
If the drive is formatted differently, at an extra cost, I am curious if OSX is capable of formatting externals on its own? Can I buy a standard drive and format it natively in OSX?
I only ask, because after coming from Home Premium, several hardware utilities are non-existent.
I have a 320GB hdd, and a 1 TB hdd, what's the "biggest" single hdd you can get? is it 2TB? (internal hdd)
My other question is, can I swap content from the 320 to the 1TB, so the 1TB is the primary hdd?
I have a 15" MBP with 256ssd installed and a 13" MBP with a 250gb 5400 drive. I prefer to use the 13" as my main computer and want to take the 256ssd drive from the 15" and put it in the 13". Then take the 250gb drive from the 13" and put it in the 15" How hard is this to do? I've not done something like this before. Since I'm swapping an ssd with a regular hd is it as easy as following the instructions on this forum, remove the screws and swap the drives? After that's done I'll need to overwrite the 15" software and load the OS and drivers for the 13" on to the ssd drive. Is that as simple as taking the restore disk for the 13" put it in the drive and reinstall the OS? Or, should I just take it to the local authorized Apple Dealer and have them do it? (We don't have an Apple store nearby.
View 4 Replies View RelatedWhen I was on OS Tiger I had all my iTunes content on an external drive to free space on my iMac, content being 224gig on a 300g external HD. I'm now on Snow Leopard and would like to use the Time Machine facility but it says I don't have enough room to carry out.I still have 224g of iTunes on ext and I have 198g available on a 300g Mac HD. Can I split the iTunes content over the two drives i.e music on one and movies on another? If yes, how? Or, to use Time machine effectively should I look at other options?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI am going to be buying an external hard drive soon (Seagate FreeAgent Go 250GB 2.5" External Hard Drive - Black) and I want to double format Or double partition it. I am pretty good with macs, I just don't know much about time machine and external hard drives. What I want to do is either:
A) Make a partition in which I can make backups, and make a separate partition in which I can store files
B) Make a single partition in which I can save back ups (from time machine) and my files (Music, Movies, Applications)
Also, would I be able to run Windows (XP) from my external hard drive somehow? Also, could I run mac applications off my external hard drive, is there a certain procedure?
I have 5 choices and don't know what to choose. I'm formatting a 500 gb internal hard drive. Mac os extended (journaled) is the first choice. Should I choose that?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI am having issues with formatting my main drive in my Macbook Pro (mid 2009) to install Leopard.
I have booted off of several Leopard and Snow Leopard install discs and attempted to use Disk Utility to format my drive. Everytime I try to format the drive I get one of two errors: 1. input/output error OR 2. Unable to allocate memory.
I have tried using several hard drives.
