I have an external hard drive that I would like to share across my network plugged into an airport extreme router. I will be using both MAC and Windows computers. Do I have to reformat the drive before using it and if so do I use Mac or Windows for reformatting.
Thanks
You can use either Mac OS Exended (Journaled).....recommended....or FAT16 or FAT 32 to format the hard drive prior to connecting it to the AirPort Extreme.
See this Apple support document for details:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2426
Keep in mind that the USB port on the AirPort Extreme is under powered, so it may be necessary to use a powered USB hub with the hard drive.....even if he hard drive has its own power supply.
reformatting an external drive for sharing over airport
