Hi mac sifus and pros.

You see, I was using a NTFS formatted drive on Snow Leopard but it can only read and not write so I've installed NTFS-3G and NTFS file format is readable and writable in Snow Leopard.
The problem is, My External HDD tends to die(corrupt or what so ever) with no reasons(not any reasons that I know of). A 320GB Samsung Portable S2 and a 500GB Seagate Replica was killed just like that. Maybe it is the cause of the 3rd party software(NTFS-3G) that I use.

I DID NOT remove the HDD WITHOUT ejecting it first on MAC and safely remove it from Windows.

So now I wanna know if there are any format for my external HDD to be used and compatible in both Mac and Windows(if possible, no 3rd party software needed). As far as I know, FAT32 is readable and writable on both Mac and Windows but it cannot hold any files larger than 4GB(Im storing lots of HD movies which are more than 10GB per file).

Pls share your experience if possible.

Very heartache and angry now . Tons and Tons of HD Anime and Movies, Songs and nice Pictures which took years and a huge amount of bandwidth to download are just wiped out like that.

and sorry if there are any posts about the same topic before this. I just lost all my mood to search for it anymore.

More information:

I am using bootcamp windows 7 on my macbook. It reads and writes HFS file system maybe because of the bootcamp utility installed into my windows 7. The question is, can other windows 7 or other series read and write HFS file system? If yes then I have found my answer.

*Edit*

After some thinking and an idea from someone, I figured out that I could use Parallel desktop and install a copy of windows into my Mac OS to enable it to read NTFS file system without having to reboot into bootcamp. This way I don't have to use any 3rd party software for my Mac OS to read NTFS file system too but by using this method, the process doubled, dint it? Because when I plug in my external HDD as a device for my Parallel desktop and then from my parallel desktop I access my shared folder from my Mac OS and copy the files into the External HDD again.

Short to say: Parallel Desktop(access files)>Mac OS(grant permission to write)>Parallel Desktop(read and write files from Mac HDD)>External HDD
rather than Mac OS(By using 3rd Party Software/Read and Write Files)>External HDD

Is this method a good one or a bad one?

This post has been edited by Vince1991: Dec 16 2010, 06:40 PM

ur parallel desktop idea is good as long as u're willing to go thru the hassle

that being said, i nvr had problems using ntfs-3g other than the speed. maybe u shud try tuxera ntfs or paragon ntfs, both are paid software n third party

btw u are correct, only fat32 can be used on both OS natively but there's that 4gb limit. there is a windows program called macdrive that lets a windows OS to read/write HFS but i have not personally tried it yet so i cant say much. proceed on ur own risk

sry dude, tough luck.

Latest Update.. The Seagate Replica is dead for good. Its only 15days old.

I've only used it to store and watch movies using Mac OS.

I have no choice but to use NTFS because I have to transfer files vice versa from mac and windows.

If I were to use HFS, then I would need to use a 3rd party software in Windows which could end up just like my case here.

Btw, Using NTFS-3G I often get 25-27mb/s copy rate.

Sigh, I have 2 dead hard disk and over 800GBs of data lost in not more than 30 days time. All this happened suddenly with no warning. Damn~

Thanks for the replies though

First of all, no warranty on the harddrives?

Secondly, harddrives were always hit-or-miss. One bad sector at the top will ruin a harddrive for most people. What I'd suggest is investing in Spinrite (Disclaimer: I don't have any ties with Gibson Research or its affiliates). If you haven't tossed your harddrives out the window, you could try running Spinrite and it'll tell if you it can be saved. If it's just a single bad sector, it'll fix it and the rest of your harddrive is salvageable.

As for file format, you don't need any janky software to read HFS+ on Windows. If you already have an OSX install disc, install Bootcamp's drivers into Windows. This will allow Windows to read and write on HFS+. Best of all, the Bootcamp software doesn't need to running in order to do this; simply take it off your Startup items! Of course, this assumes that you don't expect to share your harddrive with other Windows users frequently.

Just sent my Replica for warranty at Summit USJ.. Hopefully they'll send me a replacement soon and trust me, its not the warranty is the problem, its the data lost inside.

I think I'll use HFS file system. Rather than stressing my hardware over the parallel desktop method. Im gonna get another HDD for sharing files with other Windows user. As for the Replica, I'll use it as a stationary Ext HDD only for MAC OS. Lol.. dont want any trouble with my HDD dying on me anymore.

I have a similar problem thinking the two my USB HDD went kaput when the Mac cannot recognize it... No icon of HDD.

Thus, I tried "Disk Utility"...
First, I used "Repaid Disk Permission" but not successful.
Second, I used "Disk Repair"...and voila! The HDDs can be detected back! Phew!

Lucky you dude~!

In my case, Disk Utility in Mac OS wont do anything so I went and reformat it in a Windows PC to NTFS again. For some reasons, Windows was unable to complete the task. Used SeaTools to run diagnosis and result show that my drive was bad.

I have no idea about how and what happened. All I can say is it might be the cause of the 3rd party software I used in Mac OS to enable NTFS file write. In less than 30 days interval, 2 of my external HDD died.

Several month ago I also had the same problem like you.
Using any 3rd party software to read NTFS hardisk on my Mac always corrupt certain file & even wipe out all data.

I try to use Parallel so that I can transfer file into NTFS hardisk, but no luck. It always say 'Destination folder access denied'.

I want to keep my external hardisk in NTFS format since majority of people using Windows, and I want Windows user can write & read the disk.
My friend also always come to my house to copy files, movies, etc into their NTFS hardisk.
I can't use the 3rd party software on my Mac also since it always corrupt the file & the hardisk.

What I did was using an old Windows CPU and connected it with my Mac using LAN cable.
Then use the network to transfer files to NTFS hardisk. (My workstation is Mac & PC side by side)
If you don't own a PC, you can buy a cheaper 2nd hand Windows netbook. Not very economical if you just use it to transfer file and don't use Windows software.
But it just my suggestion. I use Windows software sometimes & the solution works with me.

This post has been edited by generalkam: Dec 18 2010, 08:32 AM

Network transfer I've tried before. Quite safe but slow as snail lol..
Thanks for the heads up though..

I've decided to use 2 ext HDD. 1 as a stationary storage only for my mac. One as NTFS for transferring files from a Windows PC.

Is it possible to use wireless network harddrive to share files between Window pc and MBA? The files will still corrupt? Any specific brand or file format to read and write in both Mac and window?

well.. as long as you have your file sharing enabled and are connected under the same network it should be fine..

Wireless network harddrive i dont know.. never had one of those.

---

Added on December 22, 2010, 12:46 pmJust got my Seagate HDD back from Seagate Singapore today~!

Warranty service is extremely fast and is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all~

Cheers

This post has been edited by Vince1991: Dec 22 2010, 12:46 PM

An alternative to NTFS, since the Mac can't write to it without additonal software, is ExFat. Snow Leopard, XP SP3 min requirements.

so it is not way to have a HDD reach by both Windows and MAC ?

my solution to go around on my mac is follow:

1) Have your HDD in NTFS which is r/w in Win but only r/ in Mac
2) Download and install MacFuse. Download link
3) Download and install NTFS-3G (ver: 2010.10.2). Download link
4) Restart your machine.

Good Luck.

I think you should try Paragon NTFS for MAC. Alot of ppl Ive met have experienced such problems with NTFS-3G and was fixed after using Paragon. But you have to make sure that all traces of NTFS-3G is gone prior to the installation.

me using paragon NFTS so far so good.

NTFS. u wont go wrong.

Nobody use ExFat? Can read/write on both Mac/Win. No need to install additional drivers. No FAT32 size limits.

i did some read up on exfat format. it says the file size limit is raised to 16gb, and of course supported by both windows and mac (certain service pack required for XP but windows7 is good to go)

could be a good idea for TS. what do you think?

I uses Paragon NTFS for years. No problem at all accessing my 2 external 1TB each NFTS formatted HD.