External Hard Drive for Mac to Windows?

If you used Time Machine to back the photos and videos to the external and you now delete them from the Mac then Time Machine can delete them from the backup.

A backup is not the way to save files to an external disk drive

No the disk with the Time Machine backup should be formatted for a Mac and the PC will not be able to use it

What you really need is to an external disk that you copy the files to for storage

Then another disk for backup

Depending on how your photos and video are stored and managed on your Mac it may be possible for the storage disk drive to be formatted so that it can be accessed by both the Mac and PC. Personally I usually find those solutions to be less then ideal for either comupter so I suggest that you don't do that.

Allan

A disk drive is a disk drive.

I am suggesting that the way you plan to use the disk drive is going to make you unhappy when it starts deleting your photos and videos.

I also saying that if you format the disk drive so that both computers can access it that will also make you unhappy eventually also.

I think that you really need to plan this out better before proceeding any further with this project.

allan

Windows does not acknowledge the existence of ANY other computer systems. It does not read any file Systems but its own.

Using Windows as the arbiter of whether these files were copied corrctly makes no sense.

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If you want to expand the space you use on your MacBook Pro, think of an External drive as an Extension drive, that is sometimes connected and in use, and sometimes not. You can drag and drop files there, and Mac OS X can see them edit them, and even make Backup copies of them using Time Machine. And you can disconnect that drive and leave it off for a week, then re-connect it next week and use it as if it were part of your MacBook.

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But maybe you should have a more modest drive for an extension drive, and use that big 3TB as your Time Machine drive.

huge storage, low cost, high quality, very small and portable.

BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 15mm thick 2TB drive (have several of them, lots of storage in tiny package) $100

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1390020791&sr=8-3&keywords=toshiba+2tb

best options for the price, and high quality HD:

Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or $65 per TB on 2.5"

Perfect 1TB for $68

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba

Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim perfect for use with a notebook

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb

*This one is the BEST portable external HD available that money can buy:
HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive $88

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Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"

Hitachi is the winner in hard drive reliability survey:

Hitachi manufacturers the safest and most reliable hard drives, according to the Storelab study. Of the hundreds of Hitachi hard drives received, not a single one had failed due to manufacturing or design errors. Adding the highest average lifespans and the best relationship between failures and market share, Hitachi can be regarded as the winner.

it was the only option given upon starting the external drive

You made a choice, and it was the wrong choice.

The correct choice is IGNORE.

Then when the system is fully operational, Launch Disk Utility.

Erase the drive.

Make sure it has GUID partition Map. Partition it to one partition, Mac OS Extended (journaled).

When completed, Quit Disk Utility.

A new blank drive should appear on your desktop (unless you have that option turned off in Finder preferences).

Make a new Folder.

Drag whatever you please into it.

aron103 wrote:

Thank you, I didn't want to back up my entire computer with Time Machine

Time machine can share a 2 or 3TB drive with other files, I do it all the time.

TM uses its OWN folder and own files, you can store other stiff on your TM hard drive

of course.

Yes, you can ignore some of the responses here. While we may not agree with what you want to do, here is the solution to your question.

We are going to reformat your new EXT so both Mac and Win machines will be able to use it.

Connect the drive to your Mac, open disk utility

Go to the partiton tab and select '1' ... format should be ExFAT - and in options select MBR

Format the drive

Copy your pictures, videos, etc back onto the drive. Connect it to your Win machine and now you should be able to use this drive there, too.

Report back.

Glad it worked

You should mark it as solved so others can quickly see the solution

Yes, you can delete the TM backups and nothing will happen to your original files on your Mac. But as a public service annc, if you delete your TM backups and something does happen to your Mac, you will have lost all your files since you didn't have a backup anywhere else. This is why others here were telling to you get an external. Just so you know the risks.