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Create an HFS+/NTFS/FAT32 external drive
Authored by: maciiman on Aug 09, '10 08:07:37PM

With Mac OS X 10.5, you can partition Fat32 and HFS+ all using Disk Utility's Partition function. (Choose your number of partition, select the partition, choose the file format and the file size). BTW, the Fat32 partition can be larger than 32GB.

In order to format a partition as NTFS, you'll need to first install NTFS-3G (http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/) - I believe version 2010.5.22 is still free. After it's installed, Disk Utility will give you the option to partition as "Windows NT Filesystem (NTFS-3G)".

While on topic, I just want to provide some benefits and limitations with each format (as I have discovered):

HFS+ - Works perfectly on a Mac system. Cannot be read on a Windows computer. Can be read but not write on a Unix system (i.e. Ubuntu).

NTFS - Works perfectly on a Windows computer. Mac OS 10.5 and above user can read only. Older OS can't even read. In order to read and write, you'll need the above mentioned NTFS-3G application. BUT the drive read and write much slower than a HFS+ format drive. (I'm using a Powerbook 12" 1Ghz and it's about 2 to 3 times slower - very aggravating when you're transferring large files.)

Fat 32 - Can read and write on a Mac and Windows. However, it has a 4GB file size limit. Most people don't have files that is larger than 4GB, so this could be a win-win for most people transferring files between Mac and Windows. But many Bluray ripped files are often larger than 4GB which prevents you from copying such files onto a Fat 32 drive.

If you often share files between Mac and Windows with file sizes larger than 4GB, then perhaps creating a drive with both HFS+ and NTFS partitions is the best solution. Use the HFS+ partition for regular "Mac use" and the NTFS partition for sharing with your Windows friend.



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