help - format HFS to NTFS?

Discussion in 'Windows, Linux & Others on the Mac' started by monkeymann, May 3, 2010.

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  1. monkeymann, May 3, 2010

    monkeymann macrumors newbie

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    Mar 2, 2009
    #1
    as the title suggests, i'd like to format my old osx hard drive to NTFS..

    when i try it from windows it says that the drive is in use and won't allow it, even though it's a completely seperate drive..

    anybody know of any method or suitable program out there to help with this sort of thing?
     
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  2. j4g3rb0mb3d, May 3, 2010

    j4g3rb0mb3d macrumors newbie

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    May 3, 2010
    #2
    I had the same problem. I ended up using Ubuntu to format the drive to FAT32, and then used my Windows 7 cd to format to NTFS. I think you can just format to NTFS directly using Ubuntu, but for whatever reason it just working for me. Your results may vary if you go this route.

    It's always a nice thing to have Ubuntu on a CD just in case of things like this. The utilities that come with Ubuntu are actually really powerful.
     
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  3. monkeymann, May 3, 2010

    monkeymann thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Mar 2, 2009
    #3
    thanks for the response..

    sounds like a decent idea though i've actually removed my dvd-drive for an SSD :eek: so i'd rather stay away from booting from cd's if i could..

    i was hoping i could just download a program perhaps for either windows 7 or snow leopard to resolve it, looks like it's a little more difficult than i thought :(
     
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  4. telecomm, May 3, 2010

    telecomm macrumors 65816

    telecomm

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    Rome
    #4
    Format to FAT32 (it's listed as MS-DOS (FAT)) in OS X using Disk Utility, then reformat to NTFS from Windows.

    No Linux required. :D
     
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  5. maflynn, May 4, 2010

    maflynn Moderator

    maflynn

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    #5
    I had/have the same problem. Seems like a stupid problem, perhaps its related to the partition type of the drive
     
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  6. balamw, May 4, 2010

    balamw Moderator

    balamw

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    Location:
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    #6
    I'm not clear on this, but are you trying to reformat it from Windows on your Mac? If so it is probably in use because of the read only HFS+ drivers and you need to unmount it before you reformat it.

    I believe you can do this in Disk Management. Otherwise, as folks have suggested here, do so under Mac OS.

    NOTE: You can also install ubuntu or gparted live on a USB flash drive instead of a CD. Very handy.

    B
     
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  7. monkeymann, May 5, 2010

    monkeymann thread starter macrumors newbie

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    Mar 2, 2009
    #7
    this worked like a charm :) don't know how i didn't think of it myself!

    problem solved, thanks guys
     
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