Lacie Drive

Jakee · Jakee #1 (**permalink**)

06-09-2007, 03:43 PM

Hi.. ive just been given a 200 gig Lacie harddrive.. the thing is i cant do anything with it!
im guessing my new macbook cant swap or backup files when its NTFS?
so how can i fix this? i would like to use it to back files from my mac, but also swap files with my friends PC. is this possible?
Thanks..

baggss · baggss #2 (**permalink**)

06-09-2007, 03:51 PM

Macs can read NTFS drives but not write to them. You have a few options:

1) Reformat the Drive to FAT-32 on the Mac to maintain Windows compatibility. This will require you to backup the drive itself.

2) There is a 3rd party App that will allow a Mac to work with an NTFS drive. It may be MacFuse, but I am not sure.

Jakee · Jakee #3 (**permalink**)

06-09-2007, 03:58 PM

thanks for the quick reply. if i format it to fat32 will there be a limit on the file size i can store? like i have some files like dvd backups etc. also can i format the drive using OSX?

spilio · spilio #4 (**permalink**)

06-09-2007, 04:51 PM

FAT32 has a 4GB limit on file sizes. I can't remember the name offhand, but I there's a Linux format that will defeat the 4GB limit, while still being compatible with Windows (and presumably with OSX). It's on my partners' backup Lacie drive.

Edit:
Чёрт... I can't find the exact name. I think it was like EXT2 or some such. It should be available as one of the formatting options when you log into the the drive's web interface (assuming it's an ethernet disk). If it's not, I'd look for a special formatting utility online.

Hopefully somebody else here can chime in and build off my - clearly lacking - advice. Good luck!

JDS

Jakee · Jakee #5 (**permalink**)

06-09-2007, 06:26 PM

so how about if i just wanted to use it with my mac?
whats the best way to go about formatting it? and not having to worry about file sizes.. etc..

digitalscrap · digitalscrap #6 (**permalink**)

06-09-2007, 06:33 PM

If you are just going to use it on your Mac, choose either Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if you are planning on using it as your boot drive (which I don't think you are so just Mac OS Extended).

Just use Disk Utility and "Erase" to format it.

Hope this helps!

spilio #4 (permalink)
Member Since: May 30, 2007 Location: Ivanovo, Russia Posts: 169 Mac Specs: 2.16GHz Macbook Pro, 2GB RAM, OSX v10.5	06-09-2007, 04:51 PM FAT32 has a 4GB limit on file sizes. I can't remember the name offhand, but I there's a Linux format that will defeat the 4GB limit, while still being compatible with Windows (and presumably with OSX). It's on my partners' backup Lacie drive. Edit: Чёрт... I can't find the exact name. I think it was like EXT2 or some such. It should be available as one of the formatting options when you log into the the drive's web interface (assuming it's an ethernet disk). If it's not, I'd look for a special formatting utility online. Hopefully somebody else here can chime in and build off my - clearly lacking - advice. Good luck! JDS Last edited by spilio; 06-09-2007 at 05:40 PM. Reason: Completing my most.
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Jakee #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 11, 2007 Posts: 69 Mac Specs: Mac Specs: MacBook Intel CD 2GHz, 2G, 120G (White)	06-09-2007, 03:43 PM Hi.. ive just been given a 200 gig Lacie harddrive.. the thing is i cant do anything with it! im guessing my new macbook cant swap or backup files when its NTFS? so how can i fix this? i would like to use it to back files from my mac, but also swap files with my friends PC. is this possible? Thanks..
	QUOTE Thanks

baggss #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 10, 2004 Location: Margaritaville Posts: 10,306 Mac Specs: 27" 3.4 Ghz i7 iMac-13" C2D Macbook-OSX 18.8.2-64Gb iPad 2-32 Gb iPhone 5-ATV 2-14Tb of Storage	06-09-2007, 03:51 PM Macs can read NTFS drives but not write to them. You have a few options: 1) Reformat the Drive to FAT-32 on the Mac to maintain Windows compatibility. This will require you to backup the drive itself. 2) There is a 3rd party App that will allow a Mac to work with an NTFS drive. It may be MacFuse, but I am not sure.
	QUOTE Thanks

Jakee #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 11, 2007 Posts: 69 Mac Specs: Mac Specs: MacBook Intel CD 2GHz, 2G, 120G (White)	06-09-2007, 06:26 PM so how about if i just wanted to use it with my mac? whats the best way to go about formatting it? and not having to worry about file sizes.. etc..
	QUOTE Thanks

digitalscrap #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 14, 2007 Posts: 185 Mac Specs: White 2GHz C2D Macbook - 3GB RAM, 80GB HDD	06-09-2007, 06:33 PM If you are just going to use it on your Mac, choose either Mac OS Extended or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if you are planning on using it as your boot drive (which I don't think you are so just Mac OS Extended). Just use Disk Utility and "Erase" to format it. Hope this helps!
	QUOTE Thanks

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