Looking to share an external hard drive between a Mac and PC? The best way to do it is with a drive formatted as FAT32. Though this format has some limitations, it enjoys nearly universal support from active platforms, including Mac and Windows operating systems, and many gaming and Linux OSs.
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The chief drawbacks of FAT32 involve file and partition size limitations. FAT32 imposes a size limit of 4GB on single files. So if you work with bulky video clips, for example, adopting FAT32 may not be a good idea. When formatting partitions, Windows 7's Disk Management utility won't let you create one that's larger than 32GB, whereas Mac OS X Lion can create partitions as large as 2TB using its Disk Utility application. Finally, Mac OS X's Time Machine backup utility won't work with FAT32.
Windows prefers to use NTFS (which stands for New Technology File System, though it has been around for nearly 20 years now). Macs running Snow Leopard or Lion can read from drives formatted as NTFS, but they can't write to such drives unless you install a third-party driver or muck about in the Terminal. Conversely, Windows 7 can't read and write to drives formatted as HFS+--also known as Mac OS Extended (journaled)--unless you install third-party software such as Paragon's. Formatting From a Mac
To format a drive as FAT32 from a Mac, follow these simple steps.
1. Set up your drive following the manufacturer's instructions. Connect the power supply (if necessary), connect to the Mac via USB or FireWire, and turn on the drive. The drive should automatically mount on your Mac's desktop (if the finder preferences are set to show external drives). If the drive is not formatted, you may get a message saying that the drive is unreadable by Mac OS X and asking you whether you want to format it via Disk Utility. We're going to do this anyway, so open Disk Utility from the prompt or by navigating to /Applications/Utilities.
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2. Mac OS X won't let you create a FAT32 partition larger than 2TB; so if your drive is larger than that, you'll need to divide the available drive capacity into multiple partitions. You can format the remaining space as a second FAT32 partition or as an HFS+ partition, or you can leave it as unallocated space. To create a new partition, click the drive in the list on the left side of the Disk Utility menu. Click the Partition button in Disk Utility's main window. By default, Mac OS X will use the GUID partition table to format the drive. You can use this and still share FAT32 volumes with a PC, but if you'll primarily be using the drive with Windows, and if the full capacity of the drive doesn't exceed 2TB, the wiser course is to wipe the drive and then use Windows' Master Boot Record (MBR) partition scheme.
3. Click the Partition Layout drop-down menu in Disk Utility, and select the number of partitions you want to create. By default, Disk Utility will divide the available space in half. You can resize the partitions by clicking the line between the partitions and dragging it up or down to increase or decrease the capacity of one or the other side. 4. Click on whichever partition segment you want to format as FAT32. Type a name for that partition in the Name field and choose the FAT32 option from the Format drop-down menu. Once everything is arranged as you want it, click apply. A progress bar will appear at the bottom right of the window as Disk Utility creates the requested partitions. Once it finishes creating them, you can move the drive between Macs and Windows PCs, and move files back and forth easily. Formatting From a PC
Here's how to create a FAT32 partition from a Windows 7 PC.
1. Open the Disk Management utility. To do so, select Start, Control Panel, System and Security, Create and format hard disk partitions. Alternatively, press the Start button and start typing partitions.
2. Find the drive you'd like to format; in my case, it was Disk 5. Click the disk number, and select Convert to MBR Disk ('MBR' stands for 'Master Boot Record'). Right-click the unallocated segment in the next field over, select New Simple Volume, and click Next when the wizard launches. Change the value in the Simple Volume size field to 32,768MB or less--it needs to be under 32GB, to satisfy the format's file limit. Assign a drive letter, and click Next.
3. Choose the drive letter to be assigned and click Next. Select FAT32 from the File System drop down menu, label the volume however you like, check the box next to Perform a quick format, and click Next. The resulting window tells you that you have successfully completed creating the volume. Click Finish and you're ready to go.
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Formatting a USB drive is no different than formatting any other driveHow to Format a New Internal Hard Drive or Solid State DriveHow to Format a New Internal Hard Drive or Solid State DriveIf you have a new HDD or SSD, you should format it. Through formatting, you can wipe old data, malware, bloatware, and you can change the file system. Follow our step-by-step process.Read More. But how often have you actually formatted a drive and did you ever wonder what the various options mean?
Most of us go with the default settings without second-guessing their logic. Naturally, optimal settings depend on the type of hardware to be formatted and what you are planning to do with it.
This article will help you make the best choice. It explains what each option does and which one is best suited for your drive and expected use.
How to Format a USB Drive in Windows
Whether you’re running Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10, the steps are essentially the same. You might want to review our Windows 10 flash drive introductionHow to Use a Flash Drive on Windows 10How to Use a Flash Drive on Windows 10Got a new USB flash drive but not sure how to use it? Here's everything you need to know about how to use a flash drive.Read More if you’re new to this.
The formatting options you can customize are File system, Allocation unit size, Volume label, and Format options. You can also Restore device defaults in case your custom settings aren’t working.
To format your drive, you simply make your selection, click Start, followed by OK to confirm that you really want to erase all data and the drive will be formatted.
However, before you proceed with formatting, you will want to understand what each of these options actually means. Best backup tool for windows 10. So let’s go through them one by one.
Which File System to Choose?
In Windows 10, you will see a maximum of four different file systems: NTFS, FAT, FAT32, and exFATFAT32 vs. exFAT: What's the Difference and Which One Is Better?FAT32 vs. exFAT: What's the Difference and Which One Is Better?A file system is the tool that lets an operating system read data on any hard drive. Many systems use FAT32, but is that the right one, and is there a better option?Read More. You will actually not see FAT and FAT32 if your drive is larger than 32 GB. So what is the difference between those file systems and which one should you choose? Let’s look at the benefits of each.
NTFS Compared to FAT & FAT32:
FAT & FAT32 Compared to NTFS:
exFAT Compared to FAT & FAT32:
Due to its nature, FAT or better yet FAT32 are suitable for drives smaller than 32 GB and in an environment where you never need to store files larger than 2 or 4 GB, respectively. In other words, any regular sized hard drive (60 GB +) should be formatted with NTFS.
However, due to the way NTFS works it is not recommended for flash drives, even when they are bigger than 32 GB. This is where exFAT comes in. It unites the essential advantages of FAT (small, fast) and NTFS (large file size supported) in a way that is optimal for flash drives.
Keep in mind though that FAT and FAT32 are the only file systems that are cross-platform compatible. NTFS is supported by Linux, but it requires a hack or third party application to work on the Mac. exFAT, on the other hand, is supported as of OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), but you need drivers to read it on Linux.
If for compatibility or speed reasons you want to go with FAT or FAT32, always go with FAT32, unless you are dealing with a device of 2 GB or smaller.
Which Allocation Unit Size Works Best?
Hard drives are organized in clusters and the allocation unit size describes the size of a single cluster. The file system records the state of each cluster, i.e. free or occupied. Once a file or a portion of a file is written to a cluster, the cluster is occupied, regardless of whether or not there is still space.
Hence, larger clusters can lead to more wasted or slack spaceHow to Recover Lost Space on a USB DriveHow to Recover Lost Space on a USB DriveIf your USB drive ever shrinks in capacity, there's a very simple solution you can use to restore all of that lost space.Read More. With smaller clusters, however, the drive becomes slower as each file is broken up into smaller pieces and it takes much longer to draw them all together when the file is accessed.
Thus the optimal allocation unit size depends on what you want to do with your USB drive. If you want to store large files on that drive, a large cluster size is better as the drive will be faster. If, however, you want to store small files or run programs off your flash drive, a smaller cluster size will help preserve space.
Rule of thumb: large drive and/or large files = large allocation unit size
For a 500 MB USB flash drive, rather select 512 bytes (FAT32) or 32 kilobytes (FAT). On a 1 TB external hard drive select 64 kilobytes (NTFS).
What Is a Volume Label?
The volume label simply is the name of the drive. It’s optional and you can basically name your drive anything you want. However, there are a few rules to follow, depending on the file system you’re going to format with.
NTFS:
FAT:
You can use spaces, regardless of the file system.
The question now is, how are you going to fill that freshly formatted USB drive? You should definitely own a USB repair toolkit! Don’t have enough sticks for all those ideas? These are the fastest USB flash drives5 of the Fastest and Best USB 3.0 Flash Drives5 of the Fastest and Best USB 3.0 Flash DrivesWhich are the fastest USB 3.0 flash drives you can buy? Here are five of the best, ranging from $20 to $200.Read More money can buy.
Format Usb On MacWhich Format Options Do We Recommend?
During a normal format, files are removed from the drive and the drive is scanned for bad sectors. During the Quick Format, only the files are removed and no scan is performed. Hence go with that option if you don’t have time and are dealing with a healthy or new drive.
Format External Hard Drive For Pc And Mac
If you found this article helpful, you might also want to know how to fix write protection errorsHow to Fix the Disk is Write Protected USB ErrorHow to Fix the Disk is Write Protected USB ErrorIs your USB drive throwing up a disk write protection error? In this article, we explain what that is and how you can fix it.Read More, how to reformat an external hard drive without losing data, or how to format a write-protected USB driveHow to Format a Write Protected USB PendriveHow to Format a Write Protected USB PendriveCame across a write protected USB flash drive? Here's how to format your write protected pendrive and start using it again.Read More.
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