A friend formatted an external hard drive to PC format, but now wants to format it to Apple format. The problem is that the Macbook reads the external hard drive as read-only, so we're trying to format it to Apple on the PC. Any suggestions?
2007-11-30 06:32:59 · 2 answers · asked by Kevin 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
Oops! In response to the first answer, we're not trying to have both formats. We're trying to rid the PC format and just have it be exclusively Apple format. Thanks!
2007-11-30 06:45:42 · update #1
We tried formatting to FAT32 on the PC, but the only option available for formatting the hard drive is NTFS. Maybe there is a way around this?
2007-11-30 07:07:20 · update #2
"A friend formatted an external hard drive to PC format," - if that means "NTFS" that's why.
Reformat it using the PC in FAT32 format and the MAC can see it.
Then, in OS X, re-format it to EXT3 or just leave it as FAT32 so Windows can see it, too.
2007-11-30 06:50:12 · answer #1 · answered by ELfaGeek 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can't work.
Plain and simple. It has to be formatted as either Apple or PC, but despite either of thier' "compatability" claims, you can't get an external hard drive to speak both at the same time.
The hard drive's format becomes too strange for the other to read.
2007-11-30 14:42:14 · answer #2 · answered by Ducky! 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋