Using Mac-Configured WD Elements External Hard Drive on Windows

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Trying91

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Jan 27, 2016
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Hi everyone,

I formatted my WD external hard drive for Mac in order to use it to transfer data to my PC. It worked fine and I copied the data onto it. But now, my PC doesn't read it. It knows it's there--it shows it on Devices and Printers and gives me the option to eject it--but I can't open it to retrieve the data.

Can I do that while it's configured for Mac? If not, can I configure it for both systems so I can keep using it to transfer data?

Thank you!
 
Solution
kenrivers
You can format the drive using the Mac. Depending on the version of OS X you have on the Mac there should be an option to format it using exFAT. Have you looked under Disk Management (on the PC) to see if the drive shows up there? Most likely it would be easiest to use the Mac to format the drive with the exFAT option.
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kenrivers

kenrivers

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Dec 29, 2010
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I'm not sure about question one without using some third-party software that will allow a PC to read the drive. If you format the drive using the exFAT option then the drive will be readable and writeable by both the Mac and the PC. Of course that depends too on what version of Windows you are using on the PC. Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 will read and write to a drive using exFAT. I'm not sure about Windows XP.

What version of OS X are you using?
 
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Trying91

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Jan 27, 2016
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Thank you very much for your response.

I'm on Windows 7.

I'd like to try that solution, but the hard drive only appears on the Devices and Printers window, not on My Computer. Any ideas how to deal with that?
 
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mbarnes86

Splendid
Sep 16, 2010
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Hi

Is usb HDD formatted as HFS+ (Mac default file system format) ?

if so paragon and other companies have file system device drivers

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/
paragon version costs $19.99 (USD)

there may well be free ones

I wasted a long time looking for a working Windows to EXT4 file (UNIX) file system driver before buying one from Paragon (though there is a free one available)

regards
Mike Barnes
 
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Trying91

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Jan 27, 2016
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Thank you, Mike. I'll check that out.
 
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kenrivers

kenrivers

Illustrious
Dec 29, 2010
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You can format the drive using the Mac. Depending on the version of OS X you have on the Mac there should be an option to format it using exFAT. Have you looked under Disk Management (on the PC) to see if the drive shows up there? Most likely it would be easiest to use the Mac to format the drive with the exFAT option.
 
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Solution
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Trying91

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Jan 27, 2016
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I did; it wasn't there.

I'll try formatting it on the Mac.

Thank you very much for your help!
 
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Trying91

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Jan 27, 2016
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Sorry for not getting back to you earlier; I only got the Mac today.

It worked like a charm. Thank you very much. Your tip was quite useful. I really appreciate it.
 
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