Can this drive be reformatted to be compatible with Mac? I am wondering can this drive be formatted via disk utility with one partition HSF+ for time machine and another FAT32 for storage on both PC and Mac?
1326414
Just to throw in my 2 cents here, the Disk Utility reformat mentioned above in Andrew's post is spot-on. The drive so far as been great to use. However, I'm running Mac 10.5.6 and it was immediately recognized when I first plugged it in: it mounted and Time Machine asked if I wanted to use it for backups... I did the reformatting anyway as the apps on board are no use to a Mac owner. BTW, the $99 price was unbelievable! Fingers crossed on reliability, Yikesboy
1565298
Hi, I'm Jewel with Kingston Technical Support and would like to address your question. All of our USB drives are formatted to FAT32 by default and do not require to be reformatted for use with any particular Operating System. FAT32 is an older file system that is compatible with all current operating systems.
1555711
This drive comes formatted to work with a Mac. You would have to reformat it to work with a PC.
1339934
@TonyI believe you could. You'd have to create two partitions on the drive, one formatted in HFS+ (for Mac) and the other in NTFS (for Windows). I have never done any such thing but it might be worth a try. Of course, as these drives have come so far down in price, why not just buy two, one for Mac and the other for Windows?
2136758
Yes, but accessing the data will depend on how the drive is formatted. I think (you'll have to check) the drive comes formatted in NTSF. For use with both PC and Mac, you'll have to re-format the drive in something like FAT 23. Both Mac and PC should recognize the drive, but FAT 23 has file size limitations.
1841457
You didn't say if the drive was formatted with HPFS or NTFS or FAT32. You also didn't say whether Windows prompted to format the drive when you plugged it in. FAT32 is compatible with both Mac and PC so I would recommend converting to that file system. The only caveat is that the largest file size is 4GB in FAT32. Another thing to check is whether enough power is being provided to the drive through the USB port of what I assume to be a laptop PC. You may need to use a powered USB hub.
603307
I'm not sure about FAT32, but I was able to reformat mine to exFAT using Disk Utility on a Mac, and that allowed me to use the drive with both Macs and PCs. I'm fairly certain you could do the same for FAT32, by the same method. Good luck.
439940
It will work with any machine that supports removable USB storage. If you want universal compatibility across the board, I would recommend use of exFAT over FAT32 if you have 4GB+ filesizes on individual files.You think any of those "Formatted for Mac" drives are any different from their Windows counterparts? Absolutely NOT! They're simply overcharged for being formatted as HFS lol. Also by calling Windows "Windhoes," you tend to make others not want to take you seriously ;)
2186785
It comes formatted for PC (NTFS), but like most hard drives, it can be formatted with the Disk Utility on a Mac to HFS+.First link from Bing gives a good walk through of how to format it: http://www.ehow.com/how_2063795_format-hard-drive-mac-os.html Hope that helps!
1719563
I believe it was HFS formatted out of the box, but you can always format it any way you want. I have not used it to back up with TM (capacity is pretty small) but I do not know why you could not. It is visible to TM and you can select it as the TM disk. I really like it because it sits almost flush with the side of the MBP and does not get bumped by things or caught on the sleeve when I put it away. So, I basically just leave it in the machine.
1129995
I am not really a Mac person but the description on Amazon say it is Mac compatible. Here is a direct quote from their page: "Formatted in FAT32 for use on Windows, Mac, and PS3". That would lead me to believe it would be compatible but it might be worth a look at the makers web page just to be sure. Hope that helps some.
1929603
The drive for mac comes already formatted for an apple computer. The regular one would need to be formatted to use in a mac. This can be done by you after it is purchased in disk utility.
1204655
Hi Dianne! This unit s formatted for Mac OS 10.5 or later operating systems and requires reformatting for Windows operating system. Compatibility may vary depending on your hardware configuration and operating system. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to use this unit with my Mac OS 10.8.5 operating system and sent it back after talking with the WD tech people. I ended up buying a G-Technology G-DRIVE for more money. Works really well. Costs twice as much, but is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems. Check out Amazon for the best prices! Hope this helps!!
514987
You should be able to use it on both Windows and Mac to read and write. You just have to reformat the drive for FAT32 rather than NTFS. I did this with my WD my passport ultra, works fine unless Toshiba has documentation that states you cannot format FAT32, but I doubt it.
1913912
@Tony I believe you could. You'd have to create two partitions on the drive, one formatted in HFS+ (for Mac) and the other in NTFS (for Windows). I have never done any such thing but it might be worth a try. Of course, as these drives have come so far down in price, why not just buy two, one for Mac and the other for Windows?
735342
No reformatting necessary as the hard drive ships in FAT32 format, which is instantly compatible with a Mac. If there is /any/ chance that you will be hooking into a Mac and a PC at some point, I'd highly recommend leaving the formatting as is (of course you can wipe the drive and then reformat it in MSDOS format through Disk Utility). You cannot easily write to a Windows (i.e., NTFS) drive but you can read it on a Mac. Have no idea as to whether a Windows machine can read/write something that is Mac formatted, however.
1548110
Yes you can. It would need to be reformatted in order to work with both systems. It's default format is NTFS (Windows friendly, not Mac OS). Using a Windows PC and possibly the Mac you can reformat it to exFAT which will allow read/write on both platforms.