Formatting an external Hard drive without loosing data

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Level 1

5 points

Formatting an external Hard drive without loosing data

Hi,

I have a 1tb external HDD full of data which i used it on a windows pc to save all the work. I cant use the same HDD on the mac for it being NTFS format. I would like to convert it to FAT32 so that i can use it both on the MAC and PC without loosing data. Yes transferring the data to another comp seems a lot easier but finding one with so much free space has been a hindrance. Please advice. FYI I am using OSX 10.9.2

Thanks 🙂

MacBook Pro

Posted on Apr 2, 2014 11:41 PM

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Answer 1

Dogcow-Moof

Level 8

36,239 points

Apr 2, 2014 11:53 PM in response to djsin667

You can't change the format of a hard drive without losing the data on it.

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Answer 2

Apr 3, 2014 12:14 AM in response to djsin667

Hard drives are cheap as dust.

Buy another HD and format it in Exfat for use on both PC and Mac.

Forget about messing with the other drive

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Answer 3

djsin667 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 3, 2014 12:34 AM in response to PlotinusVeritas

Right!!!!!! please do order a few HDD's for me , will forward the address when you are ready

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Answer 4

djsin667 Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 3, 2014 12:36 AM in response to Dogcow-Moof

Thanks William, I was under the same impression but apparently there seems to be a way

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Answer 5

Apr 3, 2014 12:47 AM in response to djsin667

The only way is to purchase Paragon for NTFS drives.

You still need another HD formatted in Mac OSX for data backups. But if you're not worried about data loss, don't buy one.

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Answer 6

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Apr 3, 2014 2:25 AM in response to djsin667

There is NO WAY to Format a Hard drive and not erase, remove, delete all the data on it. Not sure what you Heard, Read and from where but I would stop listening to whomever and wherever you are reading, listening to, that information.

djsin667 wrote:

Thanks William, I was under the same impression but apparently there seems to be a way

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Answer 7

Apr 3, 2014 2:29 AM in response to djsin667

As PlotinusVeritas notes, for $20 USD you can purchase Paragon's NTFS for Mac which will allow you to both read and write to the drive using a Mac and a PC.

Cheaper than buying another drive.

Clinton

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Apr 3, 2014 9:35 AM in response to djsin667

How to convert NTFS external hard drive to FAT32 without loosing data?

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