joshpreston
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Ext hard drive no longer visible in Windows XP via Airport Extreme

Hey everyone,

 

I am running a Windows XP Pro machine in my network. I have a LaCie 500gb ext USB drive plugged into my Airport Extreme. It is formatted in Mac OS Extended. It has always shown up with my other drives on my PC under the "My Computer" window. Now it has disappeared out of nowhere. Nothing was installed/changed. I host files on that drive that I access from my Windows machine and I cannot for the life of me get it to show up again. I understrand that Windows doesn't read Mac OS Extended... If I plug the drive into my PC directly it does not show up. But for some reason it has always worked through the Airport until now... Was it just dumb luck until this point?

 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Thanks!

Posted on Jul 3, 2012 10:57 PM

by Tesserax,Solvedanswer
Tesserax Tesserax
Level 9 (54,874 points)
Wireless
A:

HDDs, formatted in Mac OS Extended, are shared out using the SMB/CIFS file sharing protocol to Windows or Linux-based network clients. As you know this format is not readable when connected directly to a Windows PC.

 

SMB/CIFS is the common sharing format used by Windows to access any network drive so that shouldn't be the issue. Have you tried mounting/mapping the drive on the PC? Please check out the following Apple Support article for details.

Posted on Jul 4, 2012 11:21 AM

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joshpreston

Q: Ext hard drive no longer visible in Windows XP via Airport Extreme

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  • by Tesserax,Solvedanswer

    Tesserax Tesserax Jul 4, 2012 11:21 AM in response to joshpreston
    Level 9 (54,874 points)
    Wireless
    Jul 4, 2012 11:21 AM in response to joshpreston

    HDDs, formatted in Mac OS Extended, are shared out using the SMB/CIFS file sharing protocol to Windows or Linux-based network clients. As you know this format is not readable when connected directly to a Windows PC.

     

    SMB/CIFS is the common sharing format used by Windows to access any network drive so that shouldn't be the issue. Have you tried mounting/mapping the drive on the PC? Please check out the following Apple Support article for details.

  • by joshpreston,

    joshpreston joshpreston Jul 7, 2012 11:42 AM in response to Tesserax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2012 11:42 AM in response to Tesserax

    I had tried that multiple times before posting, and I tried again after my post and it worked. So your answer is the way to go if someone else has the same problem, thanks! Have no idea why it didn't work at first though...