Just bought a western digital external drive. I was thinking of formatting it as OS Journaled (mac exclusive) or as exFAT (for the occasional times I want to plug it into a Windows PC). Overall, how reliable is exFAT? In another thread someone mentioned it might be less stable/safe than OS Journaled? Thoughts?
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How reliable is exFAT?
- Thread starter jason2811
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exFAT is not a journaled filesystem. There would be more risk to your data if you don't unmount the drive properly before removing it from your computer. Other than that, it really shouldn't matter.
The choice of filesystem really depends on what the drive is for. If Windows/Mac sharing is absolutely critical, then go for ExFAT. If it's only for Mac, use the Mac native filesystem.
Anther option is to partition the drive if you don't need Windows/Mac sharing and want the drive for both. NTFS for Windows side, HFS+ for Mac side.
The choice of filesystem really depends on what the drive is for. If Windows/Mac sharing is absolutely critical, then go for ExFAT. If it's only for Mac, use the Mac native filesystem.
Anther option is to partition the drive if you don't need Windows/Mac sharing and want the drive for both. NTFS for Windows side, HFS+ for Mac side.