How to Format USB on Mac. Most external hard drives and USB drives are compatible for use on Mac computers as long as you format the devices for use with. How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on a Mac. The main reason for formatting a USB drive as Fat32 on a Mac is that you want to be able to use the drive on a Windows PC, as well as a Mac — perhaps to transfer files between the two machines.

Same problem here - formatting FAT USB drives (a memory stick and 3 microSD cards) results in a FAT drive that only works on Macs (I tried Windows 7, Vista, camera, etc). Tried to reformat a 4GB microSD in Vista (as recommended above) and Vista only offered to create a 200MB partition (it seems that it found this much unused space on the drive). On the Mac both partitions were visible. Wd my passport for mac on windows.

Tried formatting the microSD on the Mac as HFS+ in the hope that Vista would offer to reformat the whole drive - unfortunately Vista just said it couldn't format the disk. I've had this problem on two 10.6.2 machines and am surprised that it isn't more widely reported. Personally I'd been confused and blamed the other devices and the microSDs themselves until I finally deduced that 10.6.2 was to blame. Apple Footer • This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of any proposed solutions on the community forums. Apple disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of the site. All postings and use of the content on this site are subject to the.

Photo by Sharon Vaknin/CNET If you need to expand your storage space with an external hard drive and you use both Mac and PC, you'll likely run into a few obstacles. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with Windows and Mac OS may have misled you into thinking you could actually use one hard drive for both computers. You can, but not out of the box. Most external hard drives (HD) are sold in a format called NTFS, which is designed to work with Windows. Macs read and write to a different format, called HFS+.

Another format, called FAT32 is compatible with both OS platforms. Here's a look at how the different HD format types function: FAT32 (File Allocation Table) - Natively read/write FAT32 on Windows and Mac OS X. - Maximum file size: 4GB - Maximum volume size: 2TB NTFS (Windows NT File System) - Natively read/write NTFS on Windows. - Read-only NTFS on Mac OS X - Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and above but has proven instable. - Maximum file size: 16 TB - Maximum volume size: 256TB HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, aka Mac OS Extended) - Natively read/write HFS+ on Mac OS X - Required for Time Machine - Maximum file size: 8 - Maximum volume size: 8EiB Isn't FAT32 the obvious solution? According to the list above, formatting your hard drive to FAT32 so that you can read and write on either OS seems like the obvious solution.

The video and directions below will guide you through the process, but before you format your HD to FAT32, beware of these drawbacks. • FAT32 offers no security, unlike NTFS, which allows you to set permissions. If your HD gets into the wrong hands, that person will be able to access your data.

• The max size for any given file stored on a FAT32-formatted HD is 4GB. So, for example, if you want to store a 9GB movie, it will be impossible. • In general, FAT32 drives are more susceptible to disk errors. • It's not a huge issue, but FAT32 is less efficient at storing files. Its large cluster sizes waste disk space, unlike the other HD storage formats.

2:55 If you've considered these issues and would still like to use FAT32, this video will guide you through the process of formatting your HD to FAT32 using a Windows or Mac PC: OK, what are my alternatives to using FAT32? The good news is, it's not FAT32 or nothing. The alternative solutions do require more tinkering, but if you do not want to risk FAT32's lack of security, choose from one of the following alternatives. Option 1: Format to NTFS, and use NTFS-3G to read/write on Mac. If you keep your hard drive's out-of-the-box NTFS format for all the reasons FAT32 displeases, there's a workaround that will allow your Mac to read and write files to the drive. Is an open-source program that, when coupled with, will let you use your NTFS drive on your Mac.

However, it is an open-source program, so use it at your own risk. Many have vouched for its success, but others complain about bugs. The commercial solution, which will give you access to support and software updates, is. It's $20, offers Lion support, and you get a five-day trial to try before you buy. Option 2: Format to HFS+, and use HFS Explorer to read/write on PC. Conversely, you can format the HD to HFS+ and use HFSExplorer for Windows to read and write to the Mac-formatted hard drive. To get started, you'll first have to format the hard drive from NTFS to HFS+.