how to assign a name to each external hard drive for both mac os & windows

[Sossity]

I would like to give my external hard drives names that would be readable in both mac os & windows, so as to prevent me from unmounting the wrong drives when I have more than one plugged into my computer & running.

I notice so far mac os has just given them no name as the name, & windows gives them various letters, I would like to give them my own names, that can be read & written to by both windows & mac.

All my external hard drives are fat 32 so I have already formatted them, I just need a name for them that is less generic.

 

[neko girl]

Do these drives show up on your desktop? If not, go to Finder Preferences > General > Show these items on Desktop > External Drive = checked.

Then you can click on the name of each hard drive and change them.

These name changes will also show up in Windows.

Are they formatted FAT32 so both operating systems can read them?

 

[GGJstudios]

Have you tried right-clicking on the drive, clicking "Get Info" and changing the name there?

You do realize that you can't use any files over 4GB on those drives with FAT32, right?

 

[neko girl]

I guess you can format for exFAT as of 10.6.5. exFAT support in Vista/Win 7 is out of the box, but Windows XP needs a patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...06-ddd1-4ca2-b727-c2dff5e30f61&displaylang=en

 

[GGJstudios]

I guess you can format for exFAT as of 10.6.5. exFAT support in Vista/Win 7 is out of the box, but Windows XP needs a patch:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...06-ddd1-4ca2-b727-c2dff5e30f61&displaylang=en

Here's a bit more info on formats:

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

 

[Sossity]

I have no problems so far with them being seen in mac os or windows, they show up on my desktop & I can browse their contents in mac os, but they just get the description of no name. it is just I would like to give them more unique names that can be seen by both windows & mac. I would like to know the correct procedure for this.

Yes I am aware of the limitations of fat 32, I set them up this way so they would be readable & writable in both mac os & windows without having to use software for either os to read a drive from another os, they are plug & play this way. The one instance of where I would format a drive to either NTFS or HFS is for video projects or files.

The fat 32 drives are for photos & my other is for mp3 music files. Although, now that these limitations are mentioned, I could see a possible problem down the line if my itunes library ever reached over 4gb, of which I keep on an external hard drive along with all my ripped CD's.

if I wanted my mac to be able to read & write NTFS, what would be the best & most reliable software for this?

 

[GGJstudios]

I have no problems so far with them being seen in mac os or windows, they show up on my desktop & I can browse their contents in mac os, but they just get the description of no name. it is just I would like to give them more unique names that can be seen by both windows & mac. I would like to know the correct procedure for this.

Did you read my post on changing the name?

if I wanted my mac to be able to read & write NTFS, what would be the best & most reliable software for this?

Did you read my post on formats, including NTFS?

 

[Sossity]

Yes I read those posts, but I thought that was in the instance in which I could not read or access a drive, but I will do this if it works for a drive that can be read as well.