External HD partitioning/Formatting (Different ??)

[wayland1985]

Hey All,

I just unwrapped a WD MyBook 1TB drive. I want to set it up for my computer, but I have windows vista in the mail right now.

I want 3 partitions: 1 (The Largest) for Media files, 2-for Time Machine, 3-For Windows related files...


So, how should I format the partitions? I realize the Mac Formats aren't compatible with windows, but I'd like a little extra storage just in case....

 

[kasakka]

You can access the Mac partitions if you get MacDrive for Windows. In my experience it works great. If you only need to move files from Mac to Windows then the free HFS+ Explorer will do that. Likewise you can get NTFS read/write support for OSX with the free MacFuse+NTFS 3G or for better performance Paragon NTFS (not free). Depending on which operating system is going to be using the media files the most, you could format the media partition with NTFS instead of OSX's HFS+. It would be a bit slower in OSX but work straight from the box in Windows.

As for partitioning, for Windows you need to take into account what the OS will need. Vista requires about 20-30 gigs of free space (I have a 40GB partition just for Vista+temp files so it can be easily wiped if I need to reinstall or something), Win7 will most likely fit into a smaller space as does XP. Think how you'll be using the Windows partition space - if it's for games, those require big amounts of space these days (anything from 4-15 GB per game).

 

[wayland1985]

You can access the Mac partitions if you get MacDrive for Windows. In my experience it works great. If you only need to move files from Mac to Windows then the free HFS+ Explorer will do that. Likewise you can get NTFS read/write support for OSX with the free MacFuse+NTFS 3G or for better performance Paragon NTFS (not free). Depending on which operating system is going to be using the media files the most, you could format the media partition with NTFS instead of OSX's HFS+. It would be a bit slower in OSX but work straight from the box in Windows.

As for partitioning, for Windows you need to take into account what the OS will need. Vista requires about 20-30 gigs of free space (I have a 40GB partition just for Vista+temp files so it can be easily wiped if I need to reinstall or something), Win7 will most likely fit into a smaller space as does XP. Think how you'll be using the Windows partition space - if it's for games, those require big amounts of space these days (anything from 4-15 GB per game).

Vista will mainly be used for my mobile phone. Also, I may use it for odds and ends. For the most part, Mac will handle all my media (That's what it does best, right??). So I guess I'll go with the HFS+... but the question becomes journaled or not... hehehe

 

[UltraNEO*]

Hey All,

I just unwrapped a WD MyBook 1TB drive. I want to set it up for my computer, but I have windows vista in the mail right now.

I want 3 partitions: 1 (The Largest) for Media files, 2-for Time Machine, 3-For Windows related files...


So, how should I format the partitions? I realize the Mac Formats aren't compatible with windows, but I'd like a little extra storage just in case....

Partition the drive using Disk Utilities, you can do it all on the fly... and set the Windows one to FAT32. You can format it to NTFS using windows later! Doing so shouldn't affect the Mac partitions provided you don't reset the partition tables.

FYI: MacOSX can read from the NTFS partition but can't write to it.

 

[UltraNEO*]

Vista will mainly be used for my mobile phone. Also, I may use it for odds and ends. For the most part, Mac will handle all my media (That's what it does best, right??). So I guess I'll go with the HFS+... but the question becomes journaled or not... hehehe

Simply put, using a journalled parition helps the Mac to keep track of all your files and content. You can use a non-journalled partition if you like but searching for thing will take much longer!