External HD question/problem

BEEEsH · BEEEsH #1 (**permalink**)

09-13-2005, 11:05 PM

I have an external hard drive that I purchased today. Its a 250gb Comstar. I formated it on my PC to NTFS and it works great with my PC. I'm able to copy and transfer my files with ease (and its fast too).

I have connectivity with my mac, but when I attempt to put files onto the HD it says that the drive cannot be modified. How can I change this?

rs2sensen · rs2sensen #2 (**permalink**)

09-13-2005, 11:09 PM

I always get these mixed up, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe macs can only read NTFS, they can't write to them. I do believe that they can both read and write to Fat32 though.

BEEEsH · BEEEsH #3 (**permalink**)

09-13-2005, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rs2sensen

I always get these mixed up, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe macs can only read NTFS, they can't write to them. I do believe that they can both read and write to Fat32 though.

I had it as FAT32 before, but I noticed that for some reason it was really slow. Is it just me or is there a difference in speed between NTFS and FAT32?

trpnmonkey41 · trpnmonkey41 #4 (**permalink**)

09-13-2005, 11:20 PM

You need to have it at FAT32 if you want to be able to read/write on both windows and and os x

JGruber · JGruber #5 (**permalink**)

09-14-2005, 12:16 AM

I had the same problem with my External HDD, I eventully got fustrated and formated it to NFS+ (Mac native file system) and left it at that. I would recommend using it on one system, not both. FAT32 had a problem with files over 4gb in size as well. So keep that in mind.

BEEEsH · BEEEsH #6 (**permalink**)

09-14-2005, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trpnmonkey41

You need to have it at FAT32 if you want to be able to read/write on both windows and and os x

How is it that when its networked with my PC, I have read & write privileges?
I'm happy with accessing it through the PC, the only problem is that the computer uses USB1 and transfer rates are really slow.

dtravis7 · dtravis7 #7 (**permalink**)

09-14-2005, 12:25 AM

Because, Your PC has Windows XP or 2k and IT'S doing the reading and writing with the drive. The Mac is using TCP/IP and talking to the PC via the network. The Mac with OSX nor Linux can at the present time not write to an NTFS drive plugged into the Mac or linux system. The PC is doing the work. FAT32 is not that much slower if at all than NTFS. There is a 4GB file size limitation though as already has been pointed out. If you want the drive to work properly with both Windows and OSX, format it Fat32. It will work fine on both systems. Get a USB 2 card for your PC. USB 1.1 is way to slow for any large file transfers!!

trpnmonkey41 · trpnmonkey41 #8 (**permalink**)

09-14-2005, 12:25 AM

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...50521110452194

BEEEsH · BEEEsH #9 (**permalink**)

09-14-2005, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trpnmonkey41

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...50521110452194

Thanks for the help guys. I ended using my laptop(which has USB2.0) and had to reorganize my work area to make more space. That last link was very helpful. I just prefer my storage setups NTFS. Thanks.

trpnmonkey41 #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 22, 2003 Location: Hamilton College Posts: 7,003 Mac Specs: 20" iMac C2D 2.16ghz, 13" MacBook 2.0ghz, 60gb iPod vid, 1gb nano	09-13-2005, 11:20 PM You need to have it at FAT32 if you want to be able to read/write on both windows and and os x Don't forget to use the new User Reputation System
	QUOTE Thanks

dtravis7 #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 04, 2005 Location: Modesto, Ca. Posts: 25,772 Mac Specs: iMac C2D Late 2007 20" with 10.8.3, Macbook Santa Rosa 4GB Ram OSX 10.8.3	09-14-2005, 12:25 AM Because, Your PC has Windows XP or 2k and IT'S doing the reading and writing with the drive. The Mac is using TCP/IP and talking to the PC via the network. The Mac with OSX nor Linux can at the present time not write to an NTFS drive plugged into the Mac or linux system. The PC is doing the work. FAT32 is not that much slower if at all than NTFS. There is a 4GB file size limitation though as already has been pointed out. If you want the drive to work properly with both Windows and OSX, format it Fat32. It will work fine on both systems. Get a USB 2 card for your PC. USB 1.1 is way to slow for any large file transfers!! ...Dennis Mac-Forums Community Guidelines
	QUOTE Thanks

trpnmonkey41 #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 22, 2003 Location: Hamilton College Posts: 7,003 Mac Specs: 20" iMac C2D 2.16ghz, 13" MacBook 2.0ghz, 60gb iPod vid, 1gb nano	09-14-2005, 12:25 AM http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...50521110452194 Don't forget to use the new User Reputation System
	QUOTE Thanks

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BEEEsH #1 (permalink)
Guest Posts: n/a	09-13-2005, 11:05 PM I have an external hard drive that I purchased today. Its a 250gb Comstar. I formated it on my PC to NTFS and it works great with my PC. I'm able to copy and transfer my files with ease (and its fast too). I have connectivity with my mac, but when I attempt to put files onto the HD it says that the drive cannot be modified. How can I change this?
	QUOTE Thanks

rs2sensen #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 20, 2005 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 1,416 Mac Specs: 1.67 Ghz 17" PB w/1 GB Ram; 400 MHz PM G4, 366Mhz iBook Firewire, Nano 4GB Black	09-13-2005, 11:09 PM I always get these mixed up, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe macs can only read NTFS, they can't write to them. I do believe that they can both read and write to Fat32 though.
	QUOTE Thanks

JGruber #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 20, 2005 Location: Redlands, CA Posts: 739 Mac Specs: Macbook Pro 15" 2ghz/2GB/250gb/SD - White Macbook 2.16ghz/2.5GB/250GB/SD	09-14-2005, 12:16 AM I had the same problem with my External HDD, I eventully got fustrated and formated it to NFS+ (Mac native file system) and left it at that. I would recommend using it on one system, not both. FAT32 had a problem with files over 4gb in size as well. So keep that in mind.
	QUOTE Thanks

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