#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat how to#
#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat mac os#
#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat software#
#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat plus#
#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat mac#

Before formatting external hard drives, make sure you have created backup for the all important digital data.

#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat mac#

For those who are running Windows computer, they can format hard drive as NTFS and for the Mac users ExFAT will be the best and reliable option. These are the popular file systems for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat plus#

HFS plus offers 8 EiB maximum file size and volume size. However, third party tools like Paragon HFS+ assist the users to write and read to HFS+ drives. For those who are operating Windows on Mac with Boot Camp, they can read HFS plus hard drives but can't write to them.

#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat mac os#

It serves as primary file system of OS X and also known as Mac OS Extended.

HFS Plus (Hierarchical File System): It is developed by Apple Inc.

ExFat formatted drives can be read and written by OS X and Windows. ExFAT can store up to 4GB files which make it perfect for flash drives.

ExFAT (Extended File Allocated Table): It is quite similar to FAT32 and is less commonly used.

FAT32 offers maximum 4GB file size and 2 TB volume size. It can be written and read to by Linux, OS X and Windows. It also helps to reduce each cluster size due to which it will have great storage capacity and effectively support the large disks up to 2 TB. FAT32 has come up with the increased number of bits which is used to address clusters. The older version of FAT was quite simple and robust.

FAT 32 (File Allocated Table): It was designed in year 1977 for floppy disks and three major file systems variants are: FAT12, FAT16 and FAT 32.

It has maximum 16 TB file size and 256 TB volume size. Windows can write and read to NTFS formatted hard drives while OS X and Linux can read only but can't write unless it is supported by third party devices like NTFS-3G. The latest version includes many features like disk usage quotas, link tracking distribution, reparse points, file-level encryption and sparse file support. Microsoft has launched five versions of NTFS: v1.0 released with Windows NT 3.1, v1.2 with Windows 3.51, v3.0 with Windows 2000, v3.1 and v5.0 with Windows XP.

It is also known as Window's default file system. NTFS (New Technology File System): NTFS is developed by Microsoft, started with Windows NT 3.0.The most popular file systems are as discussed below: Various operating systems like Mac, Windows, Linux and OS X have different file systems to organize and store digital information. File systems are the key parts of translation from the physical data recording on a hard drive to the files that are read by operating systems only. Remember once all the data get formatted, it will not be recovered at any cost.īefore proceeding to format external hard drive, you need to know about file systems which are particularly associated with the operating systems. If you have documents, music, photos saved elsewhere on computer then make sure you have copied all stuff before formatting.

#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat software#

Most external hard devices come with backup software that will make process much easier to do. Technically, it is the process of writing a new directory structure which allows the documents and files to be overwritten and create space for the new data.īefore formatting external hard drives, backup all important data that you are going to format. Low level formatting is the first process of wiping out data and existing files in the hard disk devices and at the high level, a new file system is generated.

#Pc mac compatible hard drive exfat how to#

Formatting may take few hours to wipe out the existing data, but the process can be hassle-free if you get to know about stepwise instructions of how to format an external hard drive. Formatting can be performed at two stages: low level and high level process. What is External Hard Drive Formatting Process?įormatting external hard drives is a process of deleting or erasing the memory chunks to avail the space for new data. If you are looking for new operating system or selling your old computers or laptops, then you need to set up an external hard drive for backups by erasing and formatting the existing data in the storage devices. These are attached to systems through FireWire or USB connection or wirelessly to transfer data from the internal drive to hard disk drives. Part 1 Formatting a Hard Drive and File System Process:Įxternal hard drives are the storage devices used to store and retrieve digital information, personal and official data like files, documents and other stuff.