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mszpara

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2010
176
0
So, I recently discovered that I cannot write to an NTFS formatted drive with my Mac (Lion 10.7.4). Not a huge deal, but what is the best solution for this right now?

I saw news of NTFS-3G but I'm hearing it doesn't work in Lion. Is Paragon the only option?
 
So, I recently discovered that I cannot write to an NTFS formatted drive with my Mac (Lion 10.7.4). Not a huge deal, but what is the best solution for this right now?

I saw news of NTFS-3G but I'm hearing it doesn't work in Lion. Is Paragon the only option?
Paragon is the best option.

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)

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, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • 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.

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
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • 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.
 
Is it ok to format a blank drive to ntfs with paragon ntfs for mac on a mac? I was told that it is best to use a native windows box/pc to do this.
 
Is it ok to format a blank drive to ntfs with paragon ntfs for mac on a mac? I was told that it is best to use a native windows box/pc to do this.
Yes, you can use either a Mac or Windows PC for that.
 
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