Hi, I have a windows 8 partition and mac os Mountain Lion partition on my macbook pro. Is it possible to backup both of these on to one external hard drive ?
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.
how to backup windows and mac partitions on one external hard drive ?
- Thread starter anonymous4a
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes, just create 2 partitions on the external drive, then backup OS X to one, then backup Windows to the other.
What file system should the partitions be ? Is it possible to have the two partitions compatible with mac os, and windows? I mean, is there a way to access the backups from any operating system ?
If you only want to back up some user files, you have more flexibility, but if you want to back up system files also, such as cloning a drive, for OS X the partition must be HFS+. It's better to use the same format as the drive your cloning, so HFS+ for backing up OS X, and NTFS for backing up Windows.
If you just want to access user files, you can use ExFAT on the external drive, and both operating systems can read and write to it.
I advise against exFAT for backups since it can be a little more unstable of a file system because it only has one allocation table, so any error to that can corrupt the entire drive. Split the drive into two partitions and use their respective OS's native file systems for each side (NTFS and HFS+)
HFS+ is Mac os Extended.. but than which one? There's 4 types of mac os extended ( Journaled, Journaled Encrypted, Case - Sensitive Journaled, Case - sensitive Journaled Encrypted )
are any of the mac formats readable in windows ?
are any of the mac formats readable in windows ?
Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)
Choose the appropriate format:
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive) - Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
- Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac OS X system files. [*]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
- Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits
- You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
- Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
- Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
- For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion and later)
- For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
- For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
- Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
- Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, 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
- You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
- Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
- 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
- You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.
- Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X. [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
- Maximum volume size: 2TB
- You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
Hi, I don't see an option for NTFS from the Format drop down list. just MS-DOS ( FAT ) , ExFat, free space, Mac OS extended- journaled, Mac OS extended, journaled case sensitive. How would I choose NTFS for the other partition ? And in the partition tab, what scheme should I choose ?
You cannot. Disk Utility does not create NTFS partitions.
Use Mac OS extended journaled, not case-sensitive.
edit
----------
ok, so I guess I can format the windows partition to NTFS in windows 8 os ? or use one of the applications suggested ?
How about the partition scheme in the partitions tab for disk utility, what should I choose ? there's GUID partition table, apple partition map, master boot record .
Also, my partition mac os extended journaled just says HFS , not HFS+, is there a difference ?
----------
ok, so I guess I can format the windows partition to NTFS in windows 8 os ? or use one of the applications suggested ?
How about the partition scheme in the partitions tab for disk utility, what should I choose ? there's GUID partition table, apple partition map, master boot record .
Also, my partition mac os extended journaled just says HFS , not HFS+, is there a difference ?
Last edited:
Either one of the OSs will read their Partition Scheme, except Apple Partition Map which Windows will probably struggle with. GUID or MBR should be fine.
You will need to leave the space free on the drive that you are going to format NTFS, and format that from a Windows installation.
You need to install something like Paragon (see my last post). Then you will have NTFS as an option in Disk Utility.