Shared Extern Hard Drive Format?

[DerfBWH]

Hi all,

I recently bought a 1TB external HDD that I'll be using between both OS X and Windows 7 partitions and computers, and I'm a bit stuck on how I should proceed to format it. My first thought was to go with FAT32, as that's natively compatible with both, but FAT32 seems to have some hefty restrictions. The other option I was considering is formatting it NTFS and installing MacFUSE to add write capabilities to OS X, but that just seems a bit "hacky".
What would you guys recommend in this situation? Is there some other option or anything?

Thanks!

 

[ensjesse]

Hi all,

I recently bought a 1TB external HDD that I'll be using between both OS X and Windows 7 partitions and computers, and I'm a bit stuck on how I should proceed to format it. My first thought was to go with FAT32, as that's natively compatible with both, but FAT32 seems to have some hefty restrictions. The other option I was considering is formatting it NTFS and installing MacFUSE to add write capabilities to OS X, but that just seems a bit "hacky".
What would you guys recommend in this situation? Is there some other option or anything?

Thanks!

Macfuse works fine for me. I wouldn't use anything but NTFS with Windows.

 

[GGJstudios]

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 $36).
• Some have had good results with Paragon (approx $20)
• 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

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 or SuperDuper! 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

 

[Quad5Ny]

Another option is to have multiple partitions with a different file system on each.