Will LaCie work on both PC & Mac?

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I bought a LaCie 500GB little hard drive so I can deal with virtual environments for class (I bought VMware Fusion). When I plug my HDD into a PC - Dell, It is recognized (PC installs the drivers), but when I go to "My Computer" the drive does not show up?

Now, my guess is, since i pretty much set this hard drive up on my mac, Something isn't allowing Windows to see the hard drive (even know it KNOWS the hard drive IS! plugged in)

Is this fixable? or is there some kind of solution?
 

cwa107


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You likely formatted it as a "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)" partition in Disk Utility.

Windows doesn't read that partition type.

You have a few different options...

1. Get a driver for Windows that can read/write HFS+ (like MacDrive for Windows)
2. Format the drive using FAT32 (referred to as MS-DOS Format in Disk Utility), but do keep in mind that FAT32 is relatively low performance and can't handle single files larger than 4GB - but it is universally compatible, just don't try to format it that way on Windows since Microsoft imposes an artificial 32GB cap on FAT32 partition sizes.
3. Format the drive using NTFS on the Windows machine and get a driver for the Mac that can read/write NTFS (like Paragon NTFS for Mac).
 
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I think option 2 seems the easiest way to go. And yes it is OS X Extended (journaled)

I'll Format - FAT32 and let you know how it goes.

Thanks in advance.
 

vansmith

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If you're using it for VMs, my guess is that some of them are over 4GB, the file size limit for FAT32. For example, two of my five are over 4GB and one is likely to get there soon enough. Perhaps you should reconsider your options. How large are your VMs?
 
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The format went fine but ... I don't think Time machine will work on FAT32 ??
 
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If you're using it for VMs, my guess is that some of them are over 4GB, the file size limit for FAT32. For example, two of my five are over 4GB and one is likely to get there soon enough. Perhaps you should reconsider your options. How large are your VMs?

Well I haven't quite installed the OS's yet (couldn't load the .iso's on to my hard drive) But I do know the openSUSE is a little over 4 Gigs. I'm also working with Solaris.
 

vansmith

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The format went fine but ... I don't think Time machine will work on FAT32 ??
Correct. TM will only backup to an HFS+ formatted drive.

Well I haven't quite installed the OS's yet (couldn't load the .iso's on to my hard drive) But I do know the openSUSE is a little over 4 Gigs. I'm also working with Solaris.
This should be something to consider if you're external is going to be housing your VMs. I would recommend though that you keep your VMs on your Mac for two reasons: no concerns over file size limit and they will probably be faster.
 
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Correct. TM will only backup to an HFS+ formatted drive.

This should be something to consider if you're external is going to be housing your VMs. I would recommend though that you keep your VMs on your Mac for two reasons: no concerns over file size limit and they will probably be faster.


I always assumed VM's had to run from a hard drive (which is the whole reason why I bought this hard drive) and by that I mean obviously, using VMware, and running the .iso's from an external. Sorry for the newb questions.

I went on Lacie.com and downloaded the 1-click back up software. So I guess thats my new way to back up, which really isn't a big deal to me. I care about my files most.
 

cwa107


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Just keep in mind that you can't put your virtual machine's HD file on that drive (I don't think you intended to do that, but just in case...), since it will need to be at least 4GB, if not larger and FAT32 can't handle a file of that size.
 
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guys im still having problems. I formated the hard drive to FAT32 and Windows (XP) still wont see the hard drive (it appears to be found because removable symbol on taskbar appears, but it doesn't appear in my computer to access. I also formated to NTFS (installed paragon) and still no luck. Any ideas? should i maybe return this hard drive and get a different one that works?
 

cwa107


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What happens when you look at the drive through Disk Management in Windows?
 
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It shows as Device is working properly, drivers are up-to-date. Its recognized by Windows, the remove device icon comes up on taskbar. There is no icon in Explorer for me to access the harddrive.

Also, I formated the hard drive and changed it to "FAT32" and when I plugged it into XP & Vista, same thing, the hard drive is seen but still no icon in explorer. SO THEN, I downloaded "Paragon" formated the hard drive to "Windows NT File System" (NTFS if im correct? lol). plugged into XP today @school (an IT school might I add, which means obviously, the drivers are uptodate - we use XP home - Dell). Lol just trying to show the precautions I made. I plugged the hard drive in there today and still .. nothing.

I'm thinking of returning the LaCie and maybe giving Seagate a try? I'v seen around in the forums its a trusted brand for hard drives. But I would rather keep this one. OH and I forgot to add, when I plugged in my LaCie I went to System Preferences>NTFS for Mac OS X, I selected my hard drive and checked Access Permissions. I haven't tried plugging into A windows *Since* i selected that option. The other two options are: Compress Files & Folders and Disable Last Access Time. All 3 were unchecked, some i'm thinkingg, ..That may work if i tried it. Any ideas guys?
 

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