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iMac won't open exFat external hard drive

M

meche

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 31, 2008
7
0
I just mad the move from my old Windows laptop to my first iMac.

My external drive was NTFS formatted and I could only read from it on my iMac but not write to it.

So after backing up all my files I reformatted the hard drive to exFat.

My computer will ask if I want to open the hard drive in OSX or Windows virtualization.

No matter what I pick nothing happens. The hard drive icon does not show up. I'm unable to find any way into the hard drive.

Any suggestions on what to do next?

Thanks in advance!
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Here's what you need to know about formats:


FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
  • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)
  • Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
  • Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
    [*]To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
    [*]To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
  • Maximum file size: 8EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 8EiB
exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
 
Last edited:
M

meche

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 31, 2008
7
0
I reformatted the hard drive back to NTFS after installing NTFS-3G for Mac OS X, now this is showing up when I plug the hard drive back into my iMac:

ScreenShot2011-08-26at50027PM.png


What now?
 
M

meche

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 31, 2008
7
0
I installed Paragon, and now I can read and write!!

Thanks all!!
 
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