Adding Reply Topic external hardrive for mac and pc Membername   Not a member? Sign Up Free (takes 20 seconds) Password   Forgotten your password? Post Font: Verdana Arial Black Georgia Comic Sans Impact   Size: Tiny Normal Big Huge   Color: Default Dark Red Red Orange Brown Green Olive Cyan Blue Dark Blue Indigo Black [ Check Spelling ] [ Post Preview ] [ LiveTags ] FAQ Keyword Search: Post Options Favorites Manager Notify me of new replies to this topic by email Notify me of new replies to this topic by private message Original Post EyelashWishes Posted at 6:55 am on July 10, 2009 wel yeah basically i need an external hardrive which is compatible with my macbook and my windows xp pc my old seagate is only compatible to one or the other if i format it accordingly but i wanted to use it for both my mac and pc to transfer files between them. does anyone have any ideas what makes i should look for? i was wanting it at least 500gb, perhaps a terabyte in size thanks

Replies espresso8097 Posted at 9:17 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Stormblazer at 10:09 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from wind at 8:00 pm on July 10, 2009 yeah technically wouldn't you just either have to make osx be able to read NTFS or just format in FAT 32 where both windows and OSX can read it?? Well, I know that Linux has drivers for NTFS, so it wouldn't surprise me if OSX does as well. FAT32 works on everything sure, but its got downsides. For example, no file can be larger than 4GB, and fragmentation is a real issue if you plan to use the drive much. I was meaning to put a link to the NTFS-3g (*nix drivers for NTFS) for OS X in my post. http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/ Stormblazer Posted at 8:09 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from wind at 8:00 pm on July 10, 2009 yeah technically wouldn't you just either have to make osx be able to read NTFS or just format in FAT 32 where both windows and OSX can read it?? Well, I know that Linux has drivers for NTFS, so it wouldn't surprise me if OSX does as well. FAT32 works on everything sure, but its got downsides. For example, no file can be larger than 4GB, and fragmentation is a real issue if you plan to use the drive much. wind Posted at 7:00 pm on July 10, 2009 yeah technically wouldn't you just either have to make osx be able to read NTFS or just format in FAT 32 where both windows and OSX can read it?? espresso8097 Posted at 5:15 pm on July 10, 2009 To the best of my knowledge FAT formats are readable/writable in OS X, as well as Windows. And it is possible to write (and reading is done by default) to NTFS partitions by downloading and installing NTFS-3g. Here is the stuff to try to get OS X to read/write to NTFS (if that is what your current one if formatted as).   Stormblazer Posted at 4:43 pm on July 10, 2009 I recommend you buy an internal drive off newegg that has good reviews from users, then buy a separate external enclosure (one with eSATA support is nice too if your computer has it). If you just buy some external drive, you never know what piece of junk they actually stuck inside the thing usually. Western Digital has been pretty reliable in my experience, but as with any new harddrive just back stuff up initially before using it for real storage - when harddrives fail, they usually fail either quickly, or after a very long time, so musicfan3 Posted at 7:07 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 9:04 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from musicfan3 at 3:03 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 9:01 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from musicfan3 at 3:00 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 8:58 am on July 10, 2009 i have one that is really good. Its called a Freecom    www.freecom.com    the samsung one is great =)       Samsung stuff is always really good. And you do know that Shakesphere is one word right? (your sig).   Phhhsss =) Quiet don't tell anyone =) Thanks XD    Haha your welcome. Even I mess up my words but thats cause I get lazy sometimes.. O god you should see me on msn... nothing is spelt right... Its a puzzle to understand me ^-^ Well msn doesn't count cause your talking to your friends and those are the ones who know you best so they're not gonna nazi you over grammar like some of these jerks on here. Milky Way kid Posted at 7:04 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from musicfan3 at 3:03 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 9:01 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from musicfan3 at 3:00 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 8:58 am on July 10, 2009 i have one that is really good. Its called a Freecom       www.freecom.com       the samsung one is great =)   Samsung stuff is always really good. And you do know that Shakesphere is one word right? (your sig).    Phhhsss =) Quiet don't tell anyone =) Thanks XD Haha your welcome. Even I mess up my words but thats cause I get lazy sometimes.. O god you should see me on msn... nothing is spelt right... Its a puzzle to understand me ^-^ musicfan3 Posted at 7:03 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 9:01 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from musicfan3 at 3:00 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 8:58 am on July 10, 2009 i have one that is really good. Its called a Freecom   www.freecom.com   the samsung one is great =)    Samsung stuff is always really good. And you do know that Shakesphere is one word right? (your sig). Phhhsss =) Quiet don't tell anyone =) Thanks XD Haha your welcome. Even I mess up my words but thats cause I get lazy sometimes.. Milky Way kid Posted at 7:01 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from musicfan3 at 3:00 pm on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 8:58 am on July 10, 2009 i have one that is really good. Its called a Freecom    www.freecom.com    the samsung one is great =) Samsung stuff is always really good. And you do know that Shakesphere is one word right? (your sig). Phhhsss =) Quiet don't tell anyone =) Thanks XD musicfan3 Posted at 7:00 am on July 10, 2009 Quote: from Reece Dodsworth at 8:58 am on July 10, 2009 i have one that is really good. Its called a Freecom www.freecom.com the samsung one is great =) Samsung stuff is always really good. And you do know that Shakesphere is one word right? (your sig). Maxie Posted at 7:00 am on July 10, 2009 I suggest Western Digital, they're pretty reliable. Also I'd suggest you pay a little extra for external SATA, the speed increase is very nice. rileyy Posted at 6:59 am on July 10, 2009 I have a 500GB time capsule and I love it, it's wireless Milky Way kid Posted at 6:58 am on July 10, 2009 i have one that is really good. Its called a Freecom www.freecom.com the samsung one is great =) All 13 previous replies displayed.