Hello,
I have a WD My Passport external hard drive. The drive is currently formatted to work on my Macbook, but that now that I want to format my wifes Macbook to use it, it's looking like I need to erase the contents of the volume to do so.
Obviously I dont want to do that, is there anyway around this?
Thanks
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8), My wifes computer is 10.5.8
What makes you think you need to reformat anything in order to use the drive on two different Macs? What did you use the drive for on your computer? What will your wife use it for on her computer?
Thanks for the quick reply.
I am not sure if I need to or not, but when I plugged the hard drive into my wifes computer, I get the ""Disk Insertion: The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" error. I assumed I would have to format the drive for her computer as I had to with mine. It gave me the option to "Initialize, Cancel, or eject." Initialize brings me to the disk utility screen, where I had to be to format the hard drive initially on my Macbook.
We will be using it for saving files primarily.
Ok. So how is the disk drive actually formatted?
OK. It's likely the WD drive is not properly formatted. Here's what you do:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.
ExFAT. I was able to find a guide to format the drive online, and ExFAT is the format it seemed to recommend. It works fine on my computer. But, not readable on my wifes. She is running an older Macbook with 10.5.8, while mine is old as well but running 10.6.8. Could this be an issue?
Should I be able to use the drive on any Macbook, as I have formatted it once already to be read by the OS?
I followed the steps you provided, and while it does get me where I need to be to format the drive, it is still warning that the previous volume will be erased, and the new volume will be created. This is what I am trying to avoid, as I already have many files from my computer already present on the drive.
Thinking along those lines, should I restore the files I've save back to my computer, so that I can properly partition the drive and not lose my files? To run this drive on two different computers, should I create 2 partitions? Didn't even think about this, but I am attempting to grab files from my wifes OLD computer, and then I will be using her new Macbook Pro as the primary computer for the drive. Can I have all 3 use this external hard drive?
You cannot reformat the drive without erasing everything. The drive's current format is not recognized by your wife's older model or because she is still running Leopard. Try upgrading her to Snow Leopard, what you are using, and see if that solves your problem.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mavericks if your computer meets the requirements.
Snow Leopard General Requirements
1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
2. 1GB of memory
3. 5GB of available disk space
4. DVD drive for installation
5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
fees may apply.
6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and
terms apply.
You should partition the drive if it's necessary to keep each of your computer's backup separated. However, it would be far better to have a second external drive for her backups so that if one drive fails it will not affect both backup sets. The same caution applies to three computers. All backups need to be kept separate for best backup security and protection.
You only should use ExFAT if you need to exchange files between a Mac and a PC. Otherwise, you should reformat for OS X because the performance of the drive will be better.
To reformat or repartition the drive you will need to transfer all your files on the drive to another location.
Cool, thanks. I have an older WD MyBook that does work with my wifes older Macbook. I am copying files I need from that computer on to that drive, then I plan to copy THOSE files, using my Macbook, to my new WD Passport. I tested this with a few files first, and it does work.
I also transfered my contents from the new drive to my wifes new computer, then formatted the drive in the format you mentioned, so that is all set now and the files are back on the drive. The drive is accessible via my wifes new Macbook pro, so there will be no issues there. No need to upgrade the OS on the old macbook yet, so I can just work around the Passport not working there by using the old My Book.
Thanks for the help guys!
Formatting external hard drive for 2 computers
