PsychoMedic wrote:
I have a 3TB USB 3.0 external hard drive new in the box that is pre-formatted for windows.
What does the format say on the box?
If it's exFAT, then you don't have to do jack squat, will work as a file drive between Windows and Macs.
If it's FAT, then you don't have to do jack squat, will work as a file drive between Windows and Macs., but only up to 4GB sized files.
If it's NTFS, then you do have to reformat it as the Mac can only read, but not natively write to NTFS without paid third party sofware which will require paid upgrades and possibly break during OS X updates and upgrades.
If you plan on making the drive a TimeMachine or bootable clone for your Mac, then it has to be formatted 1 Partiton, Option: GUID and OS X Extended Journaled (JHFS+) in Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
This format (JHFS+) cannot be read by Windows without MacDrive first being installed on the Windows machines.
TimeMachine drives cannot be used with Windows machines as there is no Windows version.
So it depends what you intend to use the drive for, as backup then you have to choose JHFS+, for file drive between Mac's and PC's, then exFAT or FAT formatted on the Windows PC.
I know the temptation with a large drive is to use it as both backup and file drive by partitioning the drive, but I don't advise this as your backup is your lifesaver and file transfer drives tend to get lost, dropped etc.
Read through my many User Tips here and get up to speed
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents