external hard drive between mac and pc

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Level 1

7 points

external hard drive between mac and pc

i got a "my passport" external hard drive to load all my stuff onto it from my mac, to be used on our pc. i have to reformat the hard drive for a mac before i can even copy my items on it. but my stupid question is, will it all open up fine on the pc? and i had to search for how to even reformat the external hard drive and found this answer, http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3865/p/228/session/L3RpbWUvMTMxN jMxNjgwNC9zaWQvUi0zeURtRWs%3D, but it is completely over my head. is it even the right thing?

Posted on Sep 17, 2011 8:51 PM

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Answer 1

ATILANO

Level 2

300 points

Sep 17, 2011 8:54 PM in response to Kelly Siech

Format the drive as FAT32. You will be able read and write on both Mac and PC.

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Answer 2

Kelly Siech Author

Level 1

7 points

Sep 17, 2011 9:20 PM in response to ATILANO

i have no idea what that means. but ill look into it.

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Answer 3

Kelly Siech Author

Level 1

7 points

Sep 17, 2011 9:23 PM in response to Kelly Siech

what if i want to take everything on my mac and only use it on a pc thereafter? do i still need to format it in FAT32?

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Answer 4

ATILANO

Level 2

300 points

Sep 17, 2011 9:26 PM in response to Kelly Siech

Yes. FAT32 is the only way to get it off your Mac and onto your PC.

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Answer 5

Sep 17, 2011 10:13 PM in response to Kelly Siech

With the drive plugged in, open Disk Utility. It's in the Utililities folder in your Applications folder. You should see the new drive in the left hand column along with your other drives. Click on the external drive and select the Erase tab. Set the format value to MS-DOS (FAT) and click on the Erase button. After that has finished select the Partition tab. Type in a Name for your hard drive and select how many partitions you want from the Volume Scheme. The usual settingis one partition. Click on the Options button after you've selected a partition to make sure it's set for Master Boot Record. Then click the Apply button and after the Partitioning is done quit Disk Utility. Your external drive should now appear on your desktop and be readable on a PC.

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