I was using a Mac 10.4 to create some folders on on FAT32 external hardrive. But for some reason, after a while, when i tried to acces these folders from Windows XP, they become files with no extension, and much smaller size, does anyone know why and how to fix, thx
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folders become files
- Thread starter longmanzz
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Did you include extensions when you added the files to your external drive? What sort of files are they? Did they work properly on your Mac, from your external? 
The mac os doesnt really use extensions to ID a file type, make very very sure to add the extension (or at least check if the app removes it) each time you save a file.
How do these "folders" look when you bring them back to OSX, have you tried it yet? Also have you tried creating a folder in windows and bringing it to your mac just to see if it reads right...this is how i figure out stuff so try it out.
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even if i plug the external drive back to a mac, it still display as a file, not a folder. I don't have the problem with regular file, they are what they suppose to be.
One reason that might cause the problem that I can recall is, the external was formatted as NTFS, then in order to use under a mac system, i changed it to FAT32, by partition magic. Then i created those folders and keep switching using it between a mac and a PC.
One reason that might cause the problem that I can recall is, the external was formatted as NTFS, then in order to use under a mac system, i changed it to FAT32, by partition magic. Then i created those folders and keep switching using it between a mac and a PC.
Perhaps there was a problem with the original formatting. Is it the sort of drive that you can easily erase and reformat?