But you can open hfsexplorer, read a mac formatted drive, and copy the files to your windows pc without paying a dime. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. The macintosh could only support one external drive, limiting the number of floppy disks mounted at once to two, but both apple and third party manufacturers developed external hard drives that connected to the mac s floppy disk port, which had passthrough ports to accommodate daisychaining the external disk drive. Because mac os x mountain lion does not natively support writing to an external ntfs drive, you must erase your hard disk and format it. Dont worry, we have listed the top 10 best external dvd burner for mac as well as for. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Desktop external hard drives usually run at 7200 rpm to offer all the speed they can. First plug in the external drive to a usb port that you know works with other devices now insert a dvd movie that you know w. Windows 10 typically lists an external drive as disk 2 along with the next successive alphabetic. If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your movies and music to itunes, or just access the content on your discs. Open a finder window on your mac, then select applications.
Depending on how the drive is currently formatted, and whether or not you want to. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Using the create tab, you can create, delete or format partitions on a mac disk. Partitioning your hard disk, you reduce the chances of your vital data being corrupted, thus separate data from operating system. Learn how to use boot camp on an external drive and what you need for an external windows drive, such as disk utility, terminal, boot camp assistant. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. The description says that it is compatible with mac. How to erase a disk from command line in mac os x aug 30, 2016 47 comments some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up.
Right now, our top pick for best external hard drive is the western digital my passport 4tb, which is a mechanical hard drive. How to make any external hard drive mac compatible duration. It is formatted as mac extended journaled, and i had been using it to back up pictures, and also as a time machine backup. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it plug the bootable installer into a compatible mac use startup manager or startup disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. I just got a new mac and i cant see my external hard drive on my desktop like im used to seeing. Why cant i see my external hard drive icon on my desktop. Choose the best external hard drive for your mac or. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. How to fix external drive not showing up on macbook pro air. Jun 25, 2012 the drive doesnt do much of anything unless you have a disk in the drive.
Usb drives and external hard drives on macos catalina are used for storing and backing up important data such as photos, videos, audios, images, notes, messages, music. I bought another external drive, and have now started using that for my laptop time machine backups, with the. They say while they are trying to connect external usb hard disk with macbook pro, mac book air, imac or macmini then disk utility doesnt show up external drive icon on the desktop. Instead, i used a mac recovery software to get my data in my external hard drive by saving data on my computer and format it. Im attempting to partition a 500gb external hdd to run bootcamp, but whenever i go into disk utility, the option to partition the drive is greyed out. Dec 11, 2019 it should just work, i have been doing exactly that for many years and external dvds have always worked on my macs. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. External disk drive not ejecting i have a macbook air which doesnt have a disk drive built in so i bought an external one. Good product and recommendi have a mac book pro without dvd, this dvd drive with usb c connection give me a easy connect dvd drive without any tr. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Later, apple would unify their external drives to work crossplatform between the macintosh and apple ii product lines, dropping the name macintosh from the drives. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods.
On the mac that has an optical drive, choose system preferences from the apple menu. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users in. This applications readonly nature isnt necessarily a bad thing. Tips to fix mac doesnt recognize external hard drive on.
To make a mac act as an external hard disk, you can put it in target disk mode and connect it to another mac with a firewire or thunderbolt cable, as follows note. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc image credit. Cant partition option greyed out e apple community. Disk utility provides basic information about your. If you think youll need an external drive mostly for bluray discs, most of them will also play dvds and cds but are not readablewritable. Connect the external hard drive to your mac and copy the important data to the mac pc. Product title kootion 60gb portable external ssd drive usb 3. So for your easy convenience, i offer you potential clues to fix external hard disk missing on mac desktop. Installing windows on external drive with mac partition on. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac. I put a dvd in it, it all worked perfectly normal, once finishing the dvd i shut down the computer like i would normal but i forgot to eject the disk. It does show up under system profiler under the connection type.
Aimed at multimedia professionals, the caldigit av pro 2 is a welldesigned, macformatted external drive that comes in ssd and spinning disk versions, and includes both a. How to partition an external hard drive on mac and windows. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. So, which is the best dvd burner that you should buy. Use external storage devices with mac apple support. Mac not formatted to display external drives on the desktop. Heres how to format a dr ive if you are planning to use it with a mac. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Now you would be able to use the external hard disk on both the computers. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. How to fix external drive not showing up on macbook pro.
How can i regain access to files on external mac hard drive. For example, if you install macos on an internal or external drive, your mac can recognise that drive as a startup disk. External hard drives, thumb drives, usb drives, flash memory cards and devices like ipod are examples of storage devices you can connect to your mac using. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac.
Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. How to get my mac to recognize an external dvd drive quora. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. Jul 18, 2018 they say while they are trying to connect external usb hard disk with macbook pro, mac book air, imac or macmini then disk utility doesnt show up external drive icon on the desktop. How to format an external drive in os x make tech easier. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. Transferring data from a mac to pc via an external hard drive. How to set up an external hard drive for use with mac os x. Still with the external disk selected in disk utility go to the erase tab, select mac os extended journaled from the format dropdown, choose to name the disk and then click erase. It should just work, i have been doing exactly that for many years and external dvds have always worked on my macs. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Here are some reliable external cd dvd rw drives for windows 10 on amazon that we have carefully analyzed and listed updated. Without this driver the ntfs partition is read only. Apr 07, 2012 can i use an external mac dvdcd drive on a toshiba laptop.
Now connect the external hard drive to windows 8 computer and format it in fat32 file system. How to write to an external hard drive on mac os x. Backup your mac with a portable or desktop hard drive. This is a great tool if you are a pc technician and someone brings you a mac formatted hard drive that is corrupt or unreadable by os x. If your mac doesnt have a builtin optical drive and you need to use a cd or dvd, you can connect an external drive such as the apple usb. If you read my previous post about how to format an external drive for mac, you know that i bought a 2tb seagate expansion external hard drive and managed to create two partitions on the disk one for mac backup purposes, and the other for personal use in this article, im going to show you how to back up your mac data to an external drive. Format external hard disk drive for mac os and windows. Install windows 10 to external drive from mac youtube. With your new mac devices, you are not able to run cds or dvds.
The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. I created this video for people who are looking for a stepbystep guide to installing windows 10 on an external drive from your mac. Make sure youve entered a name that you can easily recognize in the computer name field. When your external drive plugged in to your macbook, click on the apple menu, and choose about this mac, and then click on the more info button.
How to do external hard drive partition on windows yes, you can partition your hard drive into a couple of logical units you desire. We think it offers creatives the perfect balance of speed, reliability, portability and price for both mac and pc users. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Right now, our pick for best external hard drive for mac and pc is the western digital my passport 4tb. How do you type for hard drive path macrumors forums. How to convert an external hard drive from apple to pc. However, after attaching it to the server, i cannot see it in disk utility. Click the sharing icon in the system preferences window. How to backup mac to an external hard drive 5 steps. I would like to buy an external hard drive that ill use on mac os x and on windows, but i dont know the best file system for it reading and writing on the both system.
So, to solve this problem, the best alternative is to buy an external dvd burner for your mac or windows pc. Apple has begun to stop installing cd dvd drives since the introduction of macbook air in january 2008. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. Low noise high speed data transfer super drive for laptop, desktop, mac, ios. Online shopping from a great selection at electronics store. Gtechnology 12tb graid with thunderbolt 3 hard drive storage system next gallery image. You can also see it in the finder in the left column under. Macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac late 2012 and later, mac. How to create a bootable installer for macos apple support. For most reasons to erase, you should erase the disk, which also erases all volumes on that disk. How to check a macs free hard drive space macworld.
Optical drives went the way of the dodo bird a few years ago on mac computers due to most software, movies, and music all moving online, but sometimes you still need a good old fashioned cd drive. Sometimes drive not appear on the desktop, then you should check for a disk in the left frame of finder windows and under the. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. For more information, go to the same menu option, then select system report. Jun 30, 2018 format external hard disk drive for mac os and windows using windows duration. The macintosh external disk drive is the original of a series of external 3 1. Mar 12, 2015 since apple doesnt even sell a mac with that much disk space, you could back up five or more computers to that drive without running out of room. External cd drive not working, advice please applevis. This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc. The process of transferring files from your mac to an external drive is simple, but if you are not sure how to do it, then following these steps will get you through it. It could be that your mac already recognizes the device, but just isnt showing its icon on the desktop screen. Cd dvd external computer components featured mac os windows 10. And there you have it one read and writable disk ready for osx.
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Normally when you plug in an external hard drive to your macs usb port you will see it appear on the desktop aka mount on the desktop. If you decide to reformat your drive to fat32 keep in mind that there are some limitations. But there are many options out there scroll down to see our full list of recommendations, and the best external hard drive prices. Recently i tried backing up more pictures but ran out of space. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Use the cd or dvd drive from another computer with your mac. This tool allows you to manage the partitions on drives connected to your computer internal ones or external ones connected via usb. You can use mac drive to try and repair it and access the data right on your pc. How to transfer files from a mac desktop to an external. Ensure the external drive is a nonejectable type and formatted as apfs. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac.
Dec 10, 20 how to set up an external hard drive for use with mac os x by shujaa imran posted on dec 10, 20 dec 9, 20 in mac when you first attach a hard drive to your mac, it should automatically mount and be ready to use. The apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. Nov 17, 20 guess youve tried a lot to get access to your external hard drive. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Meco usb external dvd cd drive rw disc disk writer player rewriter burner laptop pc.
However when you find that your mac doesnt recognize external hard drive then different thoughts come in mind like the drive is corrupted or crashed. Learn how to erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac. If you are able to fix the hard drive or ssd in your mac or an external drive using disk utility you will hopefully be able to recover your files. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Mar 31, 2020 how to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. It offers the perfect balance of speed, reliability, portability and price. Deleting files from the external drive to free space. Starcat external cd drive usb dvd drive cd burner usb superdrive for mac apple imac. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these fields. It helps to verify and repair a range of issues related to startup hd and external drive problems. Safekeep all of your music, photographs, movies and more. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system.
This mac external cd drive is designed for the owners of macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac starting from 2012, mac mini starting from 2009, mac pro starting from 20. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. And just bought a external cd drive from victech on amazon. I have an external hd that i removed from a users mac workstation it was fully functional and i want to attach it to the osx server. Since apple doesnt offer a builtin cd dvd drive in its imac or macbook anymore, you need to buy an external cd or dvd drives of 2019. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk.
You can tuck it away anywhere that makes the most sense for you. Windows 10 typically lists an external drive as disk 2 along with the next successive alphabetic label if you dont have any other. Apr 12, 2017 to share discs from a mac that has a builtin or external optical drive, use these steps. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. With no eject button on the device and powered by usb the visiontech external cddvd drive is very slim and compact. Preprogrammed for both mac and windows, you shouldnt need to do any formatting to get the drive. External hd not showing in disk utility mac support. By default, your mac starts up from its builtin hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your mac. External hard drives as primary drive macrumors forums. How to select a different startup disk apple support. In general, windows builtin tools disk management and diskpart can format drive to exfat easily. With the apple usb superdrive md564lla you will be able to watch movies on dvd, install software, create backup copies, and perform many other tasks. How to connect the apple usb superdrive apple support. How to view mac files on a windows pc online tech tips.
For this purpose, you need to rely on external cd dvd drives. If you have bought something like a baseline macbook pro and saved a little cash, but then soon hit with the storage issue when trying to install windows using bootcampwe all know that 128 gb. Another feature to take into account is usb version. How do i use my mac as an external hard disk for another. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy. So, even in 2019, there are still situations when you need an external optical drive. You can do this quickly by pressing cmd and the spacebar at the same time. Lacie 2tb mobile drive external hard drive usbc usb 3. How to format usb drive external hard drive on macos catalina. But if you try to use an external hard drive thats been formatted for mac os, youll find that it will not work on your pc.
Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. Later apple discontinued manufacturing macbook and imac with optical drives in 2016 and mid2011 respectively. Jan 23, 2012 external hard drives as primary drive. Its always better to choose an external dvd or cd drive which supports usb 3. Mac os x and windows can both read and write to disks in the fat or exfat format. Even though mac computers are capable of reading hard drives that are formatted for windows, if you intend on using your external hdd as a bootable disk or want to use it to backup files with your mac s time machine, you must format it to be entirely mac compatible. Writing to an external hard drive using max os x can sometimes be more complicated than one would assume. Ive previously erased and formatted to mac os x journaled, so theres nothing on it, but still the partition option isnt available see screenshot. Connect your external drive to your mac and wait for the icon of the pluggedin drive. Heres how to fix external hard drive not detectedrecognized error on a mac follow these easy steps to connect any disk drive to your macos. Transfer the files from your mac to an external drive.
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