Does Seagate Expansion 2 or 3TB work on iMac?

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J2011 Author

Level 1

14 points

Does Seagate Expansion 2 or 3TB work on iMac?

Hi, just wondering if anyone here can help me out...

If I buy a Seagate Expansion External Hard Drive, either 2TB or 4TB, will it work OK on an iMac even though the box doesn't mention Mac?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/data-storage/desktop-external -hard-drives/seagate-expansion-sgr39211-external-hard-drive-2tb-black-16787143-p dt.html

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/data-storage/desktop-external -hard-drives/seagate-expansion-desktop-external-hard-drive-4tb-black-21289361-pd t.html

I understand it would probably need reformatting but I just wanted to check incase the new OSX 10.9.5 affects this?

Any help would be great thanks!

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Nov 6, 2014 2:01 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 6, 2014 2:20 AM in response to J2011

You might want to read this: http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Other-External-products/Se...

You will need to format it though as it was formatted for use with the Windows Operating System. Directions for formatting the drive:http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=1075

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Answer 2

J2011 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 6, 2014 2:49 AM in response to tedfromaurora

Thanks for responding, I rang Seagate's helpline and they said that it should work fine as long as it's reformatted as Mac OS Extended Journaled... the steps over the phone seemed pretty similar to that on the iclarified link you posted above.

Thanks

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Answer 3

Nov 6, 2014 2:52 AM in response to J2011

Hope everything will be alright =) enjoy your new equipment

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Answer 4

J2011 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 6, 2014 8:44 AM in response to tedfromaurora

OK So I bought a Seagate Expansion Portable 2TB drive and plugged it in to reformat it and noticed it works without me reformatting it?

I've dragged a few files over onto it and played them directly from the drive and they work, I've also checked the Drive Info and it's showing that there is 2TB of space available... so do I NEED to reformat or can I just use as is if it's working out of the box?

Thanks

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Answer 5

Nov 6, 2014 9:04 AM in response to J2011

You can just go right ahead and use it. This tells me that the newer Segate models may already be ready out of the box because it recognized you were using a Mac and not a windows machine.

CHEERS

DON

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Answer 6

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,822 points

Nov 6, 2014 9:28 AM in response to J2011

J2011 wrote:

OK So I bought a Seagate Expansion Portable 2TB drive and plugged it in to reformat it and noticed it works without me reformatting it?

I've dragged a few files over onto it and played them directly from the drive and they work, I've also checked the Drive Info and it's showing that there is 2TB of space available... so do I NEED to reformat or can I just use as is if it's working out of the box?

Thanks

It seems to be OK, however I'd double check the format to see that it's set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You can easily do this by highlighting the drive in Finder and then typing Command + I and look for the format. If it's formatted as anything else then re-format using Disk Utility to Mac OS Extended (Jornaled)

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Answer 7

J2011 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 6, 2014 3:13 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Hi, I just checked and its Format: Windows NT Filesystem? How come it works if it's formatted as this?

Thanks

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Answer 8

Old Toad

Level 10

217,030 points

Nov 6, 2014 3:20 PM in response to J2011

The Mac can read and write some files to a Window NT file system. However, since the file system handles file characteristics differently that the Mac format you're likely to run into problems down the road. You can't use it for any iPhoto or Aperture library. Being on that drive will corrupt the library. You definitely want to reformat it OS X Extended (journaled) to use it safely.

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