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View Full Version : de..windowizing hd...?



ispeakmango
Jul 5, 2004, 02:39 AM
on my windows computer i have 2 hard drives on of them i'm not using, it is 80gb. i was wondering if there is anyway to dewindowize it to so that i could use it as an extra hd for my 12 pb which only has 40gb of space. i just want to be able to put whatever i want on there but since windows won't recognize some mac extensions it won't allow me to. please help.


neoelectronaut
Jul 5, 2004, 02:57 AM
Well, I'm not answering your question, per se....but I'll give you two other options. (I know how to format a HD, obviously but I don't know what File System OS X uses offhand...)

1) Get a firewire drive enclosure, and put your extra HD in that.

2) Network the two computers, and just use the Windows computer as an expensive network drive. You won't be able to run alot of stuff off of it like that, but it'll work for simple storage uses.
Nermal
Jul 5, 2004, 03:56 AM
I don't know what File System OS X uses offhand

HFS+
ispeakmango
Jul 5, 2004, 07:58 AM
i can network the computers as they are, i just need to be able to store suff on that hd, i don't want to run anything off it.
the next reviva
Jul 5, 2004, 10:09 AM
im pretty sure if you run an install o/s on the pc, you'll have the option of formatting the drive to a blank state, then from there u can just cancel the o/s install, and be on your way. hope that helped
slowtreme
Jul 5, 2004, 11:53 AM
wow what a bunch of scary info, starting an install to format? Use drive manager!

If you want to just leave the drive installed in the PC, just right click the drive icon in explorer and click "Sharing and Security", you can enable sharing at the root level of that drive, and then connect to it from the Mac as a server. A little bit of applescript (I'm sure a search on this forum or google will turn one up) and you can have it mount automatically when you log in.

You do not need or want to format this is any other manner than NTFS/FAT32 (you didnt say what version of windows you use). The Windows box has control so it must be readable in Windows (HSF+ is not).

However, liek neoelectronaut suggested. Go to compusa, pickup a FW or USB2 enclosure (USB2 are like $39, FW tend to be more) and put the drive in there. Use disk utility to partition the drive as HSF+ for better performance. It is not writable as NTFS when connected directly as a USB/FW drive.