Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

External Hard Drive for my MacBook Pro (Mid 2012)

Elmzeh

Elmzeh

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
135
2
London
Hi Guys;

I'm looking to purchase an External Hard Drive for my MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) which will be compatible with both Mac OSX and Bootcamp;

The idea is that I want to start making videos for YouTube in terms of Music and also maybe some Gaming videos;

I'm keen to record gaming via Fraps on Bootcamp, save them to the external hard drive in an iMovie capable format and then edit and upload the videos via OSX however I'm a bit confused as to what external hard drive I can use which can be used by both OS's;

As well as the Fraps recording, I'm keen to record videos direct from the MBP OSX and edit them in iMovie too so just need an external hard drive that can be used via both systems;

I've found this http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/data-...ternal-hard-drive-2tb-black-09312031-pdt.html which reads like it could be suitable however it states "Requires reformatting for Mac OS X Leopard, Snow Leopard"

Can anyone shed some light on this subject and if what I want to achieve is even possible?
 
You can buy ANY HDD out there and format it to your liking. If the below guide to file systems is confusing, just ask come back and ask any open questions you have.


____________________________________________________________

Overview of the four major file systems (called "Formats" in Mac OS X) used on Windows and Mac OS X, compiled by GGJstudios. You can use Disk Utility to format any HDD to your liking.

Any external hard drive will work with PCs or Macs, as long as the connectors are there (Firewire, USB, etc.) It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re-format any way you like. Formatting can be done with the Mac OS X Disk Utility, found in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Here are your formatting options:

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

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:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • 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
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

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
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
____________________________________________________________
​
 
Is data protection important to you? If so, you may want to purchase a dual-drive bay enclosure for two hard drives and run them in a mirrored setup, so you have protection in case one of the drives fails.
 
errol said:
Is data protection important to you? If so, you may want to purchase a dual-drive bay enclosure for two hard drives and run them in a mirrored setup, so you have protection in case one of the drives fails.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't want to make things too complicated so would probably just stick with a standard setup of 1 external HDD

----------
simsaladimbamba said:
You can buy ANY HDD out there and format it to your liking. If the below guide to file systems is confusing, just ask come back and ask any open questions you have.


____________________________________________________________

Overview of the four major file systems (called "Formats" in Mac OS X) used on Windows and Mac OS X, compiled by GGJstudios. You can use Disk Utility to format any HDD to your liking.

Any external hard drive will work with PCs or Macs, as long as the connectors are there (Firewire, USB, etc.) It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re-format any way you like. Formatting can be done with the Mac OS X Disk Utility, found in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Here are your formatting options:

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

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:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • 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
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

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
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
____________________________________________________________
​
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response - I had a brief look over this earlier before work but found it slightly confusing / complicated although I'm a noob to this sort of stuff so it may be quite easy!

Do you believe that this would be best...

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac OS X system files.
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
Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits
You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)

I wouldn't be using a separate PC, it would be running 1 system (a MBP with OSX) but I'd like to be able to record some videos in Bootcamp and be able to transfer/save the files to the external HDD and edit them in OSX...

Considering this, would the HFS option with MacDrive be the better option? Also how does MacDrive work, is it quite simple?
 
Elmzeh said:
Thanks for your response - I had a brief look over this earlier before work but found it slightly confusing / complicated although I'm a noob to this sort of stuff so it may be quite easy!

Do you believe that this would be best...

HFS+

I wouldn't be using a separate PC, it would be running 1 system (a MBP with OSX) but I'd like to be able to record some videos in Bootcamp and be able to transfer/save the files to the external HDD and edit them in OSX...

Considering this, would the HFS option with MacDrive be the better option? Also how does MacDrive work, is it quite simple?
Click to expand...

HFS+ needs additional software, but if you use it primarily for Mac OS X and want to use Time Machine for it, HFS+ is the best option.

As for MacDrive, it is a driver and a little add on that sits in the taskbar of Windows.
Upon connecting an HFS+ formatted volume to Windows, it is recognised in Windows Explorer and you also have other options available to you like formatting and such.

Give it a trial.

PS: If you have really important data, back it up twice, thus having three copies (one original, two backups) and consider rotating one HDD of the two backup HDDs to another place.
You can also use cloud storage to backup important data, I use it for my mostly text based documents, as I do not want to upload 200 GB of photos just for backup or 1 TB of video for backup, thus I have it stored on three different HDDs.
 
Sorry for the double post! Just to make it clear as I think I may have explained it awkwardly;

All that I'm looking for is 1 external USB 3.0 HDD that I can use under both Mac OSX and Windows to save files to and also edit them...

Primarily this will be recording some videos via bootcamp with the idea of editing them in OSX and other times recording and editing videos purely in OSX but saving the files to the HDD;

Is it possible to achieve this in a simple way?
 
Elmzeh said:
Sorry for the double post! Just to make it clear as I think I may have explained it awkwardly;

All that I'm looking for is 1 external USB 3.0 HDD that I can use under both Mac OSX and Windows to save files to and also edit them...

Primarily this will be recording some videos via bootcamp with the idea of editing them in OSX and other times recording and editing videos purely in OSX but saving the files to the HDD;

Is it possible to achieve this in a simple way?
Click to expand...

That has been clear from the start, thank you, as you have been very precise in your original post compared to other threads, where I or others had to extract bit by bit of information in a very lengthy thread from the original poster to finally get to a solution.
If you want to use HFS+, use it in conjunction with MacDrive. If you do not want to buy MacDrive, use exFAT.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
That has been clear from the start, thank you, as you have been very precise in your original post compared to other threads, where I or others had to extract bit by bit of information in a very lengthy thread from the original poster to finally get to a solution.
If you want to use HFS+, use it in conjunction with MacDrive. If you do not want to buy MacDrive, use exFAT.
Click to expand...

Thanks - sorry I was getting a little mixed up!:) based on what you've said I think exFAT will be the best option to go for..

Do I have to find an external HDD that mentions it can support OSX like the one that I linked in the OP or can I forbat any HDD to exFAT?
 
Elmzeh said:
Thanks - sorry I was getting a little mixed up!:) based on what you've said I think exFAT will be the best option to go for..

Do I have to find an external HDD that mentions it can support OSX like the one that I linked in the OP or can I forbat any HDD to exFAT?
Click to expand...

You can use any HDD and do not need a Mac compatible HDD, as formatting will take care of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back