hi I have a external HDD and I want to share files between Mac and Xp these files are over 8 gbs each what file system can OSX write to and what can xp read from?
Doesn't FAT32 have a file size limit, that sort of kills it for use if you are looking at 8+GB files?
Unless you want to ZIP them into several pieces.
There is always http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/ or looking at some of the NTFS RW upgrades for Mac OS X. I think someone was playing with a beta here on the site.
Edit: though if you want from your Mac to any PC, it is a bit different since Mac Drive must be on each PC to read HFS+
FAT32 is cross platform so any OS can use it.unfortunately FAT32 has a file size limit of 4 GB.
you can format your external drive to HFS and then use MacDrive to allow read/write support in Windows or NTFS and then use Mac Fuse + NTFS3g to allow write support in Mac OS X.
simply put:
- FAT32 (MS-DOS) is cross platform but has a 4 GB file size limit.
- NTFS is read/write in Windows and only read in Mac OS X. install Mac Fuse + NTFS3g to add write support in Mac OS X
- HFS (Mac OS Extended) is only read/write in Mac OS X. use MacDrive to add read/write to Windows.
Yep it is pretty smooth, but also provides access to your Mac partitions/drives if you manage to get data destructive malware on the PC side, so extra care is certainly called for.