Read/Write from FAT/NTFS volumes

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Read/Write from FAT/NTFS volumes

I have a Windows/DOS formatted external harddrive adn want to access/write/delete data from it using my MCP with Lion OS. I downloaded

NTFS-3G 2011.1.15 and installed and restarted my Mac but then got this error when OS started

and I cant see my Windows external disk any more. I am not 100% sure if the format of this disk was FAT or NTFS. Any idea what's going wrong and what I can do about this ?

Any other suggestions for a application instead of the one I downloaded ?

MacBook Pro, Brand New!

Posted on May 21, 2012 9:11 PM

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Answer 1

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Barney-15E

Level 10

112,620 points

May 21, 2012 9:17 PM in response to arijitraja

You should have also installed MacFUSE.

You don't need either of those for FAT (or exFAT), only for NTFS.

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Answer 2

arijitraja Author

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May 21, 2012 9:22 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks!

Sorry for my naivity - a bit new to Mac OS. You saying I should be able to write on FAT systems anyways without any application and since I was not able to to start with, suggests its NTFS ?

With MacFUSE, I should be able to access my NTFS drive from Mac and delete/modify files ?

The websites say there is no more support for Lion and other future feline version. Is this a problem ?

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,620 points

May 21, 2012 9:28 PM in response to arijitraja

I don't know about the future of NTFS-3G or MacFUSE. They are both required for writing to NTFS volumes.

There are also commercial products to write to NTFS, Tuxera and another I can't remember the name.

The Mac can natively read/write FAT32 and exFAT.

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Answer 4

arijitraja Author

Level 1

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May 25, 2012 1:54 AM in response to Barney-15E

I have uninstalled NTFS-3G now, and am again able to see my external HDD in Finder. Then I look for MacFuse on Spotlight and click on Macfuse in system preferences. Finally I get this - not sure how to go forward ?

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Answer 5

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,620 points

May 28, 2012 6:23 PM in response to arijitraja

You have to have both installed. NTFS-3G uses MacFUSE to create the file system that you can write to. You may have uninstalled MacFUSE, but left the preference pane still there, thats why the message you see.

The commercial products don't require you to install them separately.

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