In this guide we're using exFAT instead of FAT32, another filesystem that both Windows and Mac can read and write to, because FAT32 has a maximum 4GB file size limit whereas exFAT can work with files as large as 16EB (exabytes). ExFAT also performs better than FAT32. You can format the drive from either the Mac or the Windows machine. However, if you want to use part of the drive for OS X's Time Machine backups, you should do this from the Mac, since there's an extra step to make the drive compatible for Time Machine. How to Format an External Drive in OS X 1. Connect the drive to the Mac. Open Disk Utility.
The easiest way to do that is hit CMD and the spacebar at the same time and type in Disk Utility to find the program. Select the drive you want to format. If you don't plan on using the drive for Time Machine, skip steps 5 to 11 below and continue with step 12.
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Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings: OS X Extended format and GUID partition map. These will format the drive in OS X's HFS+ filetype so it will be compatible with Time Machine. Click Erase and OS X will format the drive. With the drive selected in Disk Utility, click Partition.
Enter the amount of space you want to set aside for Time Machine. In this example, we're shrinking the Time Machine partition to 128 GB instead of allowing Time Machine to take up the whole drive. Select the new untitled partition so we can format it as exFAT for use with both Mac and Windows. Give the partition a name and select exFAT for the format. Click Erase to finish. Your exFAT-formatted drive or partition can now be used for both Windows and Mac.
Note that using a drive frequently between Windows and Mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make sure you have backups of the files on the shared drive and be extra careful about safely ejecting the drive before disconnecting it from your computer. How to Format an External Drive in Windows 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. Connect the drive to your Windows PC. Open the Disk Management tool. You can do that by typing 'disk format' or 'disk management' in Windows search or going to Control Panel Administrative Tools Create and format hard disk partitions.
Right-click on the external drive's partition or unallocated space you want to format and choose New Simple Volume 4. Follow the wizard to choose a volume size. Assign a drive letter. Choose exFAT as the file system in the Format Partition screen. Give the volume a new name.
Click Finish. Windows will format the drive as exFAT and you'll be able to use the drive on both Windows and Mac.
I have an Iomega 500GB external hard drive that I purchased about 2 years ago that I used exclusively with an iMac, until that computer crashed beyond affordable repair last month. My new computer is an HP Pavillion PC running Windows 7, and when I connect the drive I see in Devices and Printers that it's recognized that an Iomega drive is connected to a USB port, but in Computer it shows the computer's internal hard drive and the DVD drive with their respective letter designations. However, the external drive does not show up at all.
Quick background about the drive: I did purchase the drive through the Apple online store in early '08, and when I initially unpacked it, I saw no written info stating it was somehow a Mac-only version of that Iomega drive, nor was there anything stating that using it with a Mac would format it for Mac-only use. When I first connected it to the Mac, I was never prompted about formatting or anything else Mac-specific, in fact I was never even prompted regarding drivers. Upon plugging it in, it behaved just like the USB flash drive and the 40GB extrernal drive I have- a small orange icon would appear on the desktop, with the name of the drive and the USB symbol. So for two years I moved files between the drive and the Mac without any problems, until now when I try to use the drive with my current PC. So far it's been suggested to me that indeed the Mac.did. format the drive in a way that makes it Mac only, and I can't reformat because I have data I first need to get to move to the new computer.
Another theory is that since it came from Apple despite it being an Iomega product, it might have been shipped with a Mac-specific tweak- perhaps it was already formatted for Mac use. A third theory suggested to me is that it might be the supplied cable somehow makes the PC not quite fully recognize it.
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Any info would be greatly apprecitated. Worst case scenario, I can find someone with a Mac and we can move files from the Iomega drive to the Mac, then to the 40GB drive that.does. work with both types of OS, and do that several times until everything is safely moved to the new computer, then I can do what I need to with the Iomega so it's useable with the PC. What I do find a bit confusing is that the 40GB never had compatibility problems with any computer I've connected it with.
In graphics courses I was in we have Macs and PCs in the same building and that drive never cared what it was connected to. Hi SimonBoothStudios, I would suggest you to take the backup of all the files present in the external hard drive in the Mac computer and then connect it to windows 7 and format the drive and choose NTFS format and check if the issue is fixed. Note: Formatting a volume will destroy any data on the partition. Be sure to back up any data you want to save before you begin. Open Computer Management by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking Computer Management. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. In the left pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
Right-click the volume, and then click Format. To format the volume with the default settings, in the Format dialog box, click OK, and then click OK again.
Thanks and regards, Fouzan – Microsoft support. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.