Backup Question

[Casey01]

How would you use an external hard drive to backup from a windows laptop and Macintosh laptop?
Would you have to partition it?

 

[GGJstudios]

How would you use an external hard drive to backup from a windows laptop and Macintosh laptop?
Would you have to partition it?

Yes, that would work. Use Disk Utility to partition and format the drive. One partition would be NTFS, for Windows. The other would be HFS+, for Mac backups. Use Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper! or Time Machine for Mac backups.

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: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
  
• Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
• Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, 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 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

 

[Casey01]

Thank you for the quick reply!

Would this also work for a wireless external hard drive?

 

[GGJstudios]

Thank you for the quick reply!

Would this also work for a wireless external hard drive?

It should, assuming both the Windows and Mac systems had access.