I have a windows 10, and just purchased an Imac. I want to know what file system to format my external HD so windows and Mac can share completely. read write and execute. thanks
If you format exFat then both can read and write and share
If you format exFat then both can read and write and share
There are many many articles that explain this, I'd suggest using Google to read some. My recommendation is to simply get 2 drives, one for each platform. High quality EHD's are not expensive, in addition get a second one for the Mac so you also have a Time Machine backup External Hard Disk. If you are not backing up your computers regularly that is irresponsible and you will lose data. Please refer to Back up your Mac with Time Machine. For high quality External Hard Disks most experienced users here use the OWC Mercury Elite Pro. They do not use cheap drives like the Walmart WD enclosure, Seagate enclosures etc.
As you have an iMac desktop and don't need mobility, I recommend you get a "desktop" class drive (or drives) that will hold 3.5-inch desktop computer drives. Why?
1) The larger drives are more robust than the cheap compact "mobile" external drives with 2.5-inch drives inside, giving longer service.
2) Most desktop drives have independent power supplies that avoid low-power conditions that can occur with cheap "bus-powered" drives.
I also feel an SSD is overkill for a Time Machine backup drive. As long as you get an external enclosure with a quality mech HD inside, it will be fast enough. That can mean "do it yourself."
For our "mission-critical" Macs I buy this bare enclosure:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3NH7T00/
and install Western Digital Black series 7200rpm, 6gb/sec mech hard drives,. Takes only minutes, and the OWC/WD combos have been absolutely reliable workhorses for us. We have an OWC drive that has to be 15 years old and still works without issue. The only reason it is retired is that it has a FireWire interface for older Macs.
My main iMac has two of those OWC drives. One does Time Machine backups and the other does bootable clone backups via CarbonCopyCloner ( belt and braces, ya' know!). Once the first backup by either system is made, supplemental back ups are quiet and unobtrusive to my workflow.
Do not install any proprietary software that comes with an external drive. It only gets in the way.
Forgot to add:
When I had to share files between Mac and Win, I found it much easier to use Dropbox than to try sharing external drives.
However, many Mac uses don't play well on ExFat, like Photos' Library.
is there a file system that's compatible with PC?
