Yes John, I would take Ronni's input as gospel there. Follow her lead
explicitly.
The file size limitation (4GB) of FAT32 may or may not be an issue
for
you. The resultant file size for an AVI file I think is resolution
dependant (example - I have an episode of Top Gear in AVI format -
it is
50 minutes approx and is a file of 242MB). But some home video
taken on
my HD camcorder, some of the individual segments (20 min approx)
exceed
the 4GB file size so are a problem for the FAT32 drive. So if you're
using HD files, expect large files of short run time.
So it comes down to if you're prepared to accept the compromise in
file
size handling capability to have the cross compatibility. For me this
was a bearable compromise.
Regards
Peter...
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Ronda Brown
Sent: Friday, 30 April 2010 2:09 PM
To: WAMUG Mailing List
Subject: Re: My Passport portable drive
Hi John,
I'm just rushing out to a job, so can only quickly give you this
information.
1. FAT32 is the best free way to format a drive cross platform,
but the
best way is to buy MacDrive
<http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/> and install it on your
Windows computer, then to format the drive as HFS+.
This is the native format for Macs, and with MacDrive it is read very
nicely in Windows.
No more ._ files, and things will just work more smoothly everywhere.
(Also, FAT32 is a very inefficient format for large drives. A 500GB
drive in FAT32 is actually rather nightmarishly inefficient.)
2. If a maximum file size limit of 4Gb doesn't bother you
(remembering
4GB of say AVI would be about 7 minutes of video), then use FAT32.
Use
the Mac to format the FAT32 volume, not the PC.
On your Mac: Use Disk Utility > Erase tab (for a single partition, or
Disk Utility > Partition tab for more than one partition).
Disk Utility calls HFS+ "Mac OS Extended", and it calls FAT32 "MS-DOS
File System".
That's all I have time for a the moment, I have to rush out now.
Cheers,
Ronni
17" MacBook Pro Intel Core i7
2.66GHz / 4GB / 1067 MHz DDR3 / 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200rpm
OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard
Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance)
On 30/04/2010, at 1:51 PM, Jlin wrote:
Peter,
Appreciate the reply. The only options given where
Mac OS standard 465.1 Gb
Mac OS extended 465.1 Gb
DOS 465.1 Gb
That is when connected to mac
John
Sent from my iPod
On 30/04/2010, at 1:36 PM, "Crisp, Peter" <[email protected]>
wrote:
Yes, you can select a number of formats in setting up an external
drive,
the only one in my experience that is cross-compatible between PC
and
Mac is "FAT32". The only downside of FAT32 that I can ascertain so
far
is the file size limitation of 4GB for any one file. Only really an
issue for video files.
Regards
Peter...
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Friday, 30 April 2010 1:19 PM
To: WAMUG Mailing List
Subject: My Passport portable drive
Hi,
Can someone help? I have just obtained a WD My passport Essential
Utra-portable
Hard Drive 500Gb usb 2.0 ( brand new) when I connect it to my Mac
PowerBook it
say that the disc isn't formatted and provides options. The
powerBook
is a
prismo running OS 9.1. The reason I have the new HD is to back the
info
pending
upgrade. I would like to be able to used the HD like I can with A
USB
stick ie I
can use it at home (MAc and PC) and use it at work (PC). When I
attach
to PC at
home I can store files on the HD but the problem comes when I
connect
it
to
PowerBook. Is there away to be able to have it connect to either?
Appreciate any help
John Hatch
