Mac external HD on windows

[ulun47]

Does anyone knows if there is any way to make my WD-MyBook Studio to work on both mac and windows, while the drive is still boot-able for my mac?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Mac Drive

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.
• 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

 

[balamw]

TL;DR. Your drive is probably formatted HFS+ if it is bootable on the Mac.

This means you need to use third party software like MacDrive to make it read/write under Windows. Link in the previous post.

B

 

[ulun47]

I tried, but it wont even show me my drive on the windows. it just shows me the WD SmartWare drive.

 

[balamw]

Do you have the Boot Camp drivers installed? Can you view the conned of your Macintosh HD partition?

B

 

[ulun47]

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Yes