External Hard Drive File Formats

[Dr McKay]

I have a 500GB external USB hard drive, and I want Windows 7 and Snow Leopard/Lion to be able to read AND write on it,

Is there a file format that isn't FAT32 that I can format it in?

 

[alust2013]

You could use exFAT, which removes the small file limitation, or you could format in HFS+ and get MacDrive for windows, or use one of the tricks to get a Mac to write NTFS. Easiest way is probably exFAT

 

[Dr McKay]

You could use exFAT, which removes the small file limitation, or you could format in HFS+ and get MacDrive for windows, or use one of the tricks to get a Mac to write NTFS. Easiest way is probably exFAT

Snow Leopard and 7 can Read + Write to exFAT? And theres no file limitation?
Do you know of any 'Cons' of this file format?

 

[alust2013]

Snow Leopard and 7 can Read + Write to exFAT? And theres no file limitation?
Do you know of any 'Cons' of this file format?

It will work with both, for pros and cons, check this out

 

[GGJstudios]

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: 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

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• exFAT partitions created with OS X 10.6.5 are inaccessible from Windows 7
• 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

 

[MisterMe]

I have a 500GB external USB hard drive, and I want Windows 7 and Snow Leopard/Lion to be able to read AND write on it,

Is there a file format that isn't FAT32 that I can format it in?

I would recommend that you install the freeware NTFS-3G driver which will allow your Mac to read, write, and format NTFS. I would recommend against exFAT because currently only one release version of MacOS X can read it--MacOS X 10.6.6. Installations of older versions of Windows may not have the required update to support exFAT.

 

[GGJstudios]

I would recommend that you install the freeware NTFS-3G driver which will allow your Mac to read, write, and format NTFS. I would recommend against exFAT because currently only one release version of MacOS X can read it--MacOS X 10.6.6. Installations of older versions of Windows may not have the required update to support exFAT.

I agree with your recommendation, due to incompatibility with many OS versions. One very minor correction:

Mac OS X Snow Leopard added exFAT support in version 10.6.5 on November 10, 2010. Mac OS X 10.6.5 and later can read, write, and create exFAT partitions.

 

[Dr McKay]

I would recommend that you install the freeware NTFS-3G driver which will allow your Mac to read, write, and format NTFS. I would recommend against exFAT because currently only one release version of MacOS X can read it--MacOS X 10.6.6. Installations of older versions of Windows may not have the required update to support exFAT.

The only cross platform sharing I want is between My laptop running Windows 7, and my friends MBP running Lion/Snow Leopard.