If you format your FAT32 drive in Windows, the drive partition cannot be larger than 32GB.
If you format it from a Mac running 10.7 Lion, the drive partition can be up to 2TB. Much better, except for that pesky 4GB limit. The exFAT file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of FAT32: the largest partition and file sizes it supports are virtually unlimited by today’s standards. Awesome, it’s perfect! Almost… since exFAT is fairly new, it isn’t compatible with older Macs and PCs.
#How to use seagate backup plus on mac for windows how to
HOW TO FORMAT SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS FOR MAC AND WINDOWS WINDOWS 7Īny Mac running 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) or 10.7 (Lion) supports exFAT, while PCs running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7 are compatible. Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).įormat a drive using Disk Utility on a Mac If you know you’ll be using computers running updated versions of these operating systems, exFAT is the clear best choice.Select your external hard drive or USB flash drive from the list on the left.Select the format – Mac OS Extended (HFS+), MS-DOS (FAT32), or exFAT – then name the drive.
I’ve read too many posts from people having all sorts of problems using exFAT to consider using it. Maybe one day, but for now, “not ready for prime time!”.ġ. Format your hard drive, or every partition on it, using NTSF. – Stable, so your data is relatively safe (priority #1)Ģ. make the NTSF drive both readable and writable in Mac OS X. Mac OS X is actually capable of writing to a NTSF drive, just not by default (don’t ask!). HOW TO FORMAT SEAGATE BACKUP PLUS FOR MAC AND WINDOWS MAC OS X Go to “utilities” and start the “terminal” app. Type: LABEL=TEST none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowseģ.