How do you unlock External Hard Drive that you use for Time Machine?

[tigerhood2005]

I am a new Mac User. I got a 1 TB external Hard Drive and I synced it with my Time Machine backup. However when I try to use the external Hard Dive on my other W7 OS running computers it says that I cannot access these file. How do I unlock this so I can use my 1TB hard drive on my W7 OS.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Time Machine needs HDDs formatted with HFS+ as file system (format), Windows can't read that file system natively.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB

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: Install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free)
• Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx 33USD).
• Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard, 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

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner backups of Mac internal hard drive.
• 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

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• exFAT partitions created with OS X 10.6.5 are inaccessible from Windows 7
• 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

 

[tigerhood2005]

what is the difference between read and writing HFSF?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

what is the difference between read and writing HFSF?

Have you read the FAQ I quoted?
You need MacDrive to read and write to HFS+ formatted HDDs in Windows, but you can use HFSExplorer to read HFS+ formatted HDDs.

The difference between read and write with HDDs is the same as is with a pen and paper and your eyes collecting the written information via the procedure called reading.
To write to an HDD you need readability first.

I don't really understand your question though.

 

[tigerhood2005]

Sorry I didn't read it thoroughly. I was reading this during class so I was just skimming it.