Format External HD for Mac & Win music/movie use

mimacmimac
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Just ordered a Lacie d2 250GB external FW/USB2 hard drive which should be arriving in a day or two.

Thing is I would like to use it to save a heap of iTunes music to use on my Mac and a windows PC and save some iMovie projects. So which format should I use?



I believe that by formatting it to FAT32 the drive can be read by both Mac and PC but will songs stored on it be recognised by a windows PC running iTunes or, if formatted to HFS+, can a windows machine running iTunes use the song files?



Also, will there be any adverse effect on the drive (space, read/write speed) on my Mac if it is formatted to FAT32 and will my iMovie projects still work on this format?



Any help at all will be greatly appreciated as time is of the essence (awaiting delivery!)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    indecisive pc userindecisive pc user Posts: 73member
    Hi there MiMac, I have the same Lacie drive - they are very good. If you are using it only to install data on (music, iMovies etc) and not an operating system, then format it as FAT32. This will allow you to do exactly what you want - you will be able to connect it to either a windows or mac machine and view the data including iTunes music etc.



    If you format it as HFS you won't be able to use it with a windows machine unless you buy some third party software. And it's not really worth the hassle as the FAT32 way works just fine. Don't use NTFS though. Even though Panther can read it, it cannot write to it and I've had a lot of hassle with Panther crashing when trying to even read an NTFS drive. Go with the FAT



    One other thing is that FAT has partition size limitations so you might have to divide (partition) the drive. Although saying that, I use 100+Gb FAT32 partitions quite happily on WinXP & Panther.



    The only minor hassle / irritation i have is that you see the other formats system files. That is, when viewing it with the Mac, you will see the windows recylce bin etc. When viewing it with a PC, you will see the mac's system files (.ds files etc). These do not interfere with what you want to do in any way. They are just a bit irritating to see (for me at least). You could keep the mac data in one folder and the pc data in a seperate one if you wanted.



    Using iTunes as you propose shouldn't be a problem.



    Good luck and let us know what happens.



    -indy



    Quote:

    Originally posted by MiMac

    Just ordered a Lacie d2 250GB external FW/USB2 hard drive which should be arriving in a day or two.

    Thing is I would like to use it to save a heap of iTunes music to use on my Mac and a windows PC and save some iMovie projects. So which format should I use?



    I believe that by formatting it to FAT32 the drive can be read by both Mac and PC but will songs stored on it be recognised by a windows PC running iTunes or, if formatted to HFS+, can a windows machine running iTunes use the song files?



    Also, will there be any adverse effect on the drive (space, read/write speed) on my Mac if it is formatted to FAT32 and will my iMovie projects still work on this format?



    Any help at all will be greatly appreciated as time is of the essence (awaiting delivery!)



  • Reply 2 of 3
    mimacmimac Posts: 872member
    Cheers indy!

    Can't wait to get my hands on this drive and compile a massive jukebox of tunes in there (never have to reach for a CD again!)



    Will let you know how I get on.

    Many thanks,



    MiMac.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    indecisive pc userindecisive pc user Posts: 73member
    I know exactly what you mean!

    Oh the joy of having 70+Gb of music in one place 8)

    -indy



    Quote:

    Originally posted by MiMac

    Cheers indy!

    Can't wait to get my hands on this drive and compile a massive jukebox of tunes in there (never have to reach for a CD again!)



    Will let you know how I get on.

    Many thanks,



    MiMac.



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