What's the proper file system to use for Windows & OSX

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I'd like to format an external in two partitions, one for Time Machine and the other to drag/drop movies, pictures, etc. What type of partition should I use on the second partition so that a Windows machine can at least read these movies?

Also, is there any way to exclude files from being copied? I have some stuff on my computer that I don't want backed up.
 
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for your first question....use the ms-dos format while making the partition (this is the same as fat 32)
it can be read & written to by both operating systems
if you format as ntfs...windows can both read & write...but your mac will only be able to read...you will need a 3rd party software like paragon ntfs to enable writing on a mac
 
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is there a limitation to FAT as to how large files can be? I seem to remember something about that. It doesn't need to be secure or anything like that...
 

dtravis7


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is there a limitation to FAT as to how large files can be? I seem to remember something about that. It doesn't need to be secure or anything like that...

Yes, the single file size limit in FAT32 is 4GB or less. If you have a file right at 4GB it will error if you try to copy it to a FAT32 Partition. For most average users that is not really an issue but if you are into Video Editing, file size gets quite large. I have had videos I was working on grow to 25GB and more before I saved and converted to the final product.

Few other files are that large though. It really depends on what you do on your computer. You can make it NTFS as long as you get Paragon or MacFuse in OSX. On the Windows side though you can get Mac Drive and both read and write to a Mac formatted partition. So you have a few options.
 
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Avoid FAT32 like the plague. Check out this thread about one guy's problems when using it, and one of my responses there.

I personally wouldn't install any software to let Windows write to HFS+ volumes.. that would allow any malicious malware to affect OS X's files. Instead... format that partition for your media using NTFS. There are now free alternatives that will allow OS X to have write access to NTFS volumes (normally, OS X can only read NTFS volumes), although reportedly they write a bit slower than normal. I don't expect that should be a big deal for how you will use it. You'll need two packages to install: MacFUSE and NTFS-3G. Read the directions carefully.

As for an exclusions list on the Time Machine... yes, it does have one. Just add what you don't want backed up. The backups get VERY large, so I personally excluded my System Folder, Apps folder, and /Library. I keep a backup bootable copy of the OS on another drive, so I can easily recover anything from there for those folders if it's THAT important (highly unlikely).
 
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I personally wouldn't install any software to let Windows write to HFS+ volumes.. that would allow any malicious malware to affect OS X's files

This is EXCELLENT advice, particularly for machines running both OS X and Windows (via Boot Camp, VMWare Fusion or some other). Ignore at your peril!
 
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Has anyone tryed a UDF formatted hard drive?
It is apparently being supported by pretty much all common OS.

I will be getting a MBP next week and want to have a shared data partition for OS X and Vista x64. Was thinking of trying a
HFS+ OS X System Partition
NTFS Vista System Partition
UDF 2.60 Shared Data Partition

anyone knows if this is possible?
 

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