Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Formatting windows external drive
- Thread starter harddriveowner
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
1. Mount and Install either "MacFUSE Core 10.4-1.1.0.dmg" for OS X 10.4 or "MacFUSE Core 10.5-1.1.0.dmg" for OS X 10.5.
2. Mount and Install NTFS-3G 1.1104-stable-catacombae.dmg.
3. Restart.
Let me know if the catacombae works, i just uploaded it...
2. Mount and Install NTFS-3G 1.1104-stable-catacombae.dmg.
3. Restart.
Let me know if the catacombae works, i just uploaded it...
this is to convert the drive to a mac drive
I have a brand new Western Digital drive that is formatted for Windows. I just want to make it usable for the Mac. Isn't there an easy way?
I have a brand new Western Digital drive that is formatted for Windows. I just want to make it usable for the Mac. Isn't there an easy way?
Open Disk Utility (in Applications->Utilities), choose the HD, go to Erase and choose a Mac format
I did that
I did that and after 13 hours it still was not formatted. I closed Disk Utility even though it warned me not to, but how long does this take to erase an empty harddrive. Then the harddrive was ruined but I returned it to the store for a new one and do not want to mess up a second one.
I did that and after 13 hours it still was not formatted. I closed Disk Utility even though it warned me not to, but how long does this take to erase an empty harddrive. Then the harddrive was ruined but I returned it to the store for a new one and do not want to mess up a second one.
Sorry, i thought you meant that you wanted to use it with Windows and Mac files... Follow psycofreaks, and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This should take less than a minute.
On an empty HD, it is very quick, unless you choose secure erase, in which case, it would take a lonnngg time.
Unfortunately I trusted you and it is doing the exact same thing it did two days ago with the other drive. It is now 13 minutes and counting. When I reach 24 hours I quit.
I had a similar issue recently where I tried to format a WD external as Mac OS (Journaled) and it took forever then didn't work. I don't know why. Then I reformatted as MS-DOS, it was fine, then I tried the Mac one again and it worked. There is somebody out there that has an explanation for this, but not me. So try flipping between them with Disk Utility, and it should be quick.
Chances are that you Western Digital drive supports FAT32 which is supported by OS X so i cant see why you would want to format the disk?????
I am having trouble formatting my Maxtor One Touch 4 external hard drive. I am splitting it into (2) partitions, the 1st one is 150GB Mac Extended Journaled and the 2nd is 350GB MS-DOS (later to format to NTFS in Windows).
For far Disk Utility has been running for 10 minutes and it hasnt moved from the 1/10 mark on the status bar.
Any ideas??
For far Disk Utility has been running for 10 minutes and it hasnt moved from the 1/10 mark on the status bar.
Any ideas??
