How do I reformat an NTFS-formatted 200GB external hard drive for Mac OS X?

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How do I reformat an NTFS-formatted 200GB external hard drive for Mac OS X?

A brand-spankin' new PC-to-Mac convert, I bought a 24" iMac with Leopard 10.5.1 yesterday and am in the process of transferring all of my files. I have a 200GB external hard drive where I keep all of my media files (mp3s for iTunes, avi movies, etc.), but it is in Windows NTFS format so the files show up as Read-only.

Is there a legitimate way to make my external HD compatible with Mac OS X without losing my lifetime supply of music and movies? I've read briefly that Disk Utility may be able to reformat -- is this true? If so, how do I this? If not, are there any other methods or options for reformatting?

Thanks in advance!

(One last tidbit -- if I drag a file or folder from the external HD to my Mac HD, it suddenly changes to Read & Write. Is it possible to temporarily move my 200GB of media to my Mac, reformat the HD, then transfer it all back? Just a thought...)

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Feb 2, 2008 2:25 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 2, 2008 4:44 PM in response to Clay520

*"I've read briefly that Disk Utility may be able to reformat -- is this true? "*

Yes

*"If so, how do I this? "*

Select the drive in Disk Utility and click the Erase tab

*"are there any other methods or options for reformatting?"*

No

*"Is there a legitimate way to make my external HD compatible with Mac OS X without losing my lifetime supply of music and movies?"*

No. Reformatting destroys all data

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Answer 2

Niel

Level 10

726,701 points

Feb 2, 2008 5:52 PM in response to Clay520

Is there a legitimate way to make my external HD compatible with Mac OS X without losing my lifetime supply of music and movies?

Use Paragon NTFS or MacFUSE.

(One last tidbit -- if I drag a file or folder from the external HD to my Mac HD, it suddenly changes to Read & Write. Is it possible to temporarily move my 200GB of media to my Mac, reformat the HD, then transfer it all back? Just a thought...)

If you have enough space on the Mac and no file is 4GB or larger if you want to access the drive from a PC, yes. If any file is 4GB or larger, and you still want to use the drive on PCs, reformatting it will not work by itself, and you will either need to split or compress the files or use third-party software to create a working setup.

(28811)

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Answer 3

Clay520 Author

Level 1

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Feb 3, 2008 11:54 AM in response to Niel

Thanks, Paragon NTFS looks like the ideal solution. However, I downloaded the 10-day trial version just to try it out, and upon restarting the computer, my external HD doesn't even show up.

Any familiarity with this problem?

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Answer 4

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Feb 3, 2008 2:06 PM in response to Clay520

I found Paragon to be slow and sluggish and affect over all system and Finder performance and stability. Now, I only use the 3G MacFuse set of packages (which are free and work better).

If you have a Mac Pro, you could install the drive internally to rule out the external drive case bridge or interface, if it is SATA drive.

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

60,980 points

Feb 4, 2008 5:14 AM in response to The hatter

I was finally able to format some drives to NTFS with the latest 3G drive along with MacFUSE. As I said, even yesterday, it failed, but a new 3G driver (1/28) seemed to work.

Set the partition scheme to MBR in Disk Utility Options first, you should see NTFS-3G in the list of partition types. I was able to make one 299GB partition, then decided to go with three (Vista PC Clone, etc).

http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/

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