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dos FAT or mac os extended ??

G

guido.coza

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 12, 2011
154
7
South Africa
Hi
I have a 2012 MBA with 125GB HD.
I have now 2 WD 1TB external HD with all my pictures on it. (450GB)
The first One is MS dos FAT format the new one mac os extended (Journeled)
I organise my pics with Lightroom.
For all purpous and intend, does the format make any difference when I work with it or is it only of relevance if a dos machine wants to access it.
The question is relevant because i have to "show" Lightroom the file location!!
Thanks for your help
Guido
 
McGiord

McGiord

macrumors 601
Oct 5, 2003
4,558
290
Dark Castle
FAT32 limits the files size to 4GB, but is compatible with other OS.
If you are only using a Mac go for the Mac formatting.
 
M

mrichmon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 17, 2003
873
3
If you are only accessing the external drive from a Mac then use a GPT partition table and Mac OS extended format (journaled).
 
G

guido.coza

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 12, 2011
154
7
South Africa
McGiord said:
FAT32 limits the files size to 4GB, but is compatible with other OS.
If you are only using a Mac go for the Mac formatting.
Click to expand...

Hi McGiord
The 4GB limit is the main reason for the OS.
So the one I cary with me should be OS the backup can be Dos except I have files above 4GB?!
 
hallux

hallux

macrumors 68040
Apr 25, 2012
3,437
1,005
guido.coza said:
Hi McGiord
The 4GB limit is the main reason for the OS.
So the one I cary with me should be OS the backup can be Dos except I have files above 4GB?!
Click to expand...

If you're using Time Machine for your backups you HAVE to use the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format for your drive.
 
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