Computer (sort of) not recognizing external hard drive -resolved-

[Lilani]

I have an external hard drive that I formatted on a Mac, but I'm pretty sure have been able to successfully move files onto in the past. I formatted it to work just like a flash drive--you plug it in, drop files on, and eject. However I do not remember the name of the formatting type I used.

But now, I've got a new Windows, and it's recognizing the external hard drive, but in a weird way. It will appear in my control panel under "devices and printers" as My Passport Ultra (the correct name of the hard drive) and it tells me all the drivers are up to date. But it will not appear under My Computer as a drive I can put files onto. It can detect regular flash drives just fine, but I can't even find how to tell what format it is. It tells me it's a "USB Mass Storage Device," but I don't even see any options for reformatting it (which I do NOT want to do anyway, everything on my old computer is on this hard drive).

So...what's going on here? Why does my computer know it's a USB mass storage device but gives me NO options that normally come up for USB mass storage devices?

While investigating this problem I discovered I may have to add a letter to it with the "Change drive letter and paths" option from the disk management menu, but that option does not appear for this device. All it gives me as far as options is "Convert to Dynamic Disk" "offline" "properties" and "help"

 

[Bellvedere]

Sounds like your HDD might be HFS+ format.
HDDs can have a few different formats like NTFS, FAT32 and HFS+. FAT32 has the maximum level of compatibility between Windows and Mac OSs - as in both can read/write to the drive. NTFS is native to Windows and is read-only on Mac. HFS+ in native to Mac and incompatible with Windows. There are some apps that will allow you to use HFS+ on Windows though like MacDrive [http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive](paid) or there's [url"http://catacombae.org.preview.binero.se/hfsx.html"]HFSExplorer[/url] which is free.

 

[OneCatch]

Not sure that converting to a dynamic disk will help you.
A 'dynamic disk' in this context is a misnomer for type of logical partition, and your drive will already be correctly partitioned - MyPassports tend to have a single partition which fills the entire disk.

If you aren't up to speed with the distinctions between drives and partitions and volumes let me know and I can post a more detailed explainer.

Anyway, that's what it means when your windows pc picks up the USB device but not on My Computer - it's recognising that the physical hard drive is connected by USB, but it doesn't know what to make of the contents because it's in a mac-only format. It thinks that the partition is corrupted or unformatted, so the 'conversion' will put the whole partition into a format which Windows can read - and possibly wipe your data.

I would not[/i] format or convert it in any way if you don't have the stuff backed up. Try what Belvedere said - some kind of reading software that you can use with windows to let it read the drive as it is rather than messing with the data on the drive itself.

 

[Lilani]

Sounds like your HDD might be HFS+ format.
HDDs can have a few different formats like NTFS, FAT32 and HFS+. FAT32 has the maximum level of compatibility between Windows and Mac OSs - as in both can read/write to the drive. NTFS is native to Windows and is read-only on Mac. HFS+ in native to Mac and incompatible with Windows. There are some apps that will allow you to use HFS+ on Windows though like MacDrive [http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive](paid) or there's [url"http://catacombae.org.preview.binero.se/hfsx.html"]HFSExplorer[/url] which is free.

Not sure that converting to a dynamic disk will help you.
A 'dynamic disk' in this context is a misnomer for type of logical partition, and your drive will already be correctly partitioned - MyPassports tend to have a single partition which fills the entire disk.

If you aren't up to speed with the distinctions between drives and partitions and volumes let me know and I can post a more detailed explainer.

Anyway, that's what it means when your windows pc picks up the USB device but not on My Computer - it's recognising that the physical hard drive is connected by USB, but it doesn't know what to make of the contents because it's in a mac-only format. It thinks that the partition is corrupted or unformatted, so the 'conversion' will put the whole partition into a format which Windows can read - and possibly wipe your data.

I would not[/i] format or convert it in any way if you don't have the stuff backed up. Try what Belvedere said - some kind of reading software that you can use with windows to let it read the drive as it is rather than messing with the data on the drive itself.

I still have access to the old files, so I just went ahead and reformatted it. But now I can't find a format that works on both. Even when I format it as exfat on the Mac it formats it, then can't recognize it. The windows sees it, but not the Mac. And I am moving way too large of files to do fat32. What are my other format options?

And it's OSX 10.6.8 and Windows 7 64 bit.

EDIT: Also, I've been doing quick formats up til now, but now I'm doing a hard format. It should be done by morning so I'll try again then and see what happens. The reason I'm so desperate now is because my resume and portfolio is on that computer and I'm applying for a job whose application window closes Friday, lol. So I kinda need something to work, here.

 

[Bellvedere]

I still have access to the old files, so I just went ahead and reformatted it. But now I can't find a format that works on both. Even when I format it as exfat on the Mac it formats it, then can't recognize it. The windows sees it, but not the Mac. And I am moving way too large of files to do fat32. What are my other format options?

And it's OSX 10.6.8 and Windows 7 64 bit.

Huh. So you formatted the drive as exFAT on Mac and then the Mac couldn't recognize it but Windows could? That's weird.

exFAT is a Windows proprietary format and I know there was some issues with earlier versions of OSX when the format was first adopted with block sizes and such that still left some compatibility issues, mainly when formatted on Mac (though the issues I heard about were with it then not working on Windows). Maybe you could try reformatting using the Windows computer (I believe the Unit Allocation Size should be 1024 or smaller)?

As for alternatives:
There are the Windows apps for using HFS+ drives Windows suggested previously as well as some Mac apps that will add write functionality to use NTFS drives on Mac.

If you're in a big hurry to get some files across, are you able to transfer the files over a network or by directly connecting the computers with a network cable (like here [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2636421])?

 

[Albino Boo]

I still have access to the old files, so I just went ahead and reformatted it. But now I can't find a format that works on both. Even when I format it as exfat on the Mac it formats it, then can't recognize it. The windows sees it, but not the Mac. And I am moving way too large of files to do fat32. What are my other format options?

And it's OSX 10.6.8 and Windows 7 64 bit.

EDIT: Also, I've been doing quick formats up til now, but now I'm doing a hard format. It should be done by morning so I'll try again then and see what happens. The reason I'm so desperate now is because my resume and portfolio is on that computer and I'm applying for a job whose application window closes Friday, lol. So I kinda need something to work, here.

Mac OSX can't read anything formated with exfat with greater than 1024 clusters. Either format the drive on the Mac or under windows select the cluster size of 1024.

 

[Lilani]

Huh. So you formatted the drive as exFAT on Mac and then the Mac couldn't recognize it but Windows could? That's weird.

exFAT is a Windows proprietary format and I know there was some issues with earlier versions of OSX when the format was first adopted with block sizes and such that still left some compatibility issues, mainly when formatted on Mac (though the issues I heard about were with it then not working on Windows). Maybe you could try reformatting using the Windows computer (I believe the Unit Allocation Size should be 1024 or smaller)?

As for alternatives:
There are the Windows apps for using HFS+ drives Windows suggested previously as well as some Mac apps that will add write functionality to use NTFS drives on Mac.

If you're in a big hurry to get some files across, are you able to transfer the files over a network or by directly connecting the computers with a network cable (like here [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2636421])?

I think I might do the network cable, it seems to be the fastest way to solve my current problem, and right now speed is exactly what I need. I've got a resume to redesign and a portfolio to organize by Friday, lol.

Mac OSX can't read anything formated with exfat with greater than 1024 clusters. Either format the drive on the Mac or under windows select the cluster size of 1024.

Yeah, I did a hard reformat that took like 8 hours to complete as exfat with a cluster size of 1024 and that didn't work either. The ONLY thing my mac will read, even when I do the formatting on the mac, is the mac OSX format. Frustrating.

 

[Lilani]

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Okay! It's resolved. Took it to a Simply Mac store, and it turns out it wasn't just the graphics card that was freaking out. The hard drive was formatted just fine, but for some reason it just wasn't reading it. It would appear in disk utility and we could do everything with the disk BUT mount it. So the guy took the whole hard drive out of the case, put it in a static bag, and told me to go to Best Buy to buy a thing to mount the hard drive into and plug directly into another computer (a Mac of course, as nothing else would be able to read it). So I did all that, luckily the hard drive was still intact, and now I've got my most important files copying over now.

Funny bonus story: I did this all after 9PM, and the only Mac I had the easiest access to belongs to the church I go to. It always sits up in the balcony, and it runs our projection display system. I asked one of the guys who runs the church for the security code to enter, as nobody was going to be around at that hour (and he'd given me the code in the past, I just forgot it). I got in just fine, did my thing, but as I was leaving I set off a motion sensor before I opened the door. I put in the code, but didn't know what button to press next and set off the alarm. So I called the guy and he helped me through the steps of shutting off the alarm and rearming it. I stuck around for a few minutes after we hung up to make sure the police wouldn't come. They didn't, so I left, but it was an adventure lol.

Oh and it was blazing hot up there, the balcony is near the ceiling and the air conditioning is shut off during the week, so the HDD was hot to the touch when I unmounted it. I had to let it cool off a few minutes before putting it back in the static bag for fear of it melting the bag.

 

[OneCatch]

snip

Oh wow, that's quite a series of events. Must have been some important stuff on that drive!
Glad to hear that it's sorted though, even if it was rather more complicated that one would hope!

 

[Frezzato]

I still have access to the old files, so I just went ahead and reformatted it. But now I can't find a format that works on both. Even when I format it as exfat on the Mac it formats it, then can't recognize it. The windows sees it, but not the Mac. And I am moving way too large of files to do fat32. What are my other format options?

And it's OSX 10.6.8 and Windows 7 64 bit.

EDIT: Also, I've been doing quick formats up til now, but now I'm doing a hard format. It should be done by morning so I'll try again then and see what happens. The reason I'm so desperate now is because my resume and portfolio is on that computer and I'm applying for a job whose application window closes Friday, lol. So I kinda need something to work, here.

Damn, wish I had read this part a few days ago.

The FAT32 format works well with both Windows and Mac. In my case it's my Windows 7 tower and my white, polycarbonate MacBook from 2009 running Mavericks OS. There are limitations to formatting things as FAT32, like a max individual file size of 4GB (I think), but other than that, I haven't noticed any problems.

The reason I have almost all of my external drives formatted to FAT32 was because I wanted to be able to pick any and use it with my PS3, which requires FAT32. The side effect was compatibility between Windows and Mac.

*EDIT*
Just saw the part about FAT32. Sorry.
If you're formatting a drive larger than 32GB, use this program [http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/index.html] because you won't be able to do it in Windows without it. It's the exact same one I used and it works.

 

[Lilani]

I still have access to the old files, so I just went ahead and reformatted it. But now I can't find a format that works on both. Even when I format it as exfat on the Mac it formats it, then can't recognize it. The windows sees it, but not the Mac. And I am moving way too large of files to do fat32. What are my other format options?

And it's OSX 10.6.8 and Windows 7 64 bit.

EDIT: Also, I've been doing quick formats up til now, but now I'm doing a hard format. It should be done by morning so I'll try again then and see what happens. The reason I'm so desperate now is because my resume and portfolio is on that computer and I'm applying for a job whose application window closes Friday, lol. So I kinda need something to work, here.

Damn, wish I had read this part a few days ago.

The FAT32 format works well with both Windows and Mac. In my case it's my Windows 7 tower and my white, polycarbonate MacBook from 2009 running Mavericks OS. There are limitations to formatting things as FAT32, like a max individual file size of 4GB (I think), but other than that, I haven't noticed any problems.

The reason I have almost all of my external drives formatted to FAT32 was because I wanted to be able to pick any and use it with my PS3, which requires FAT32. The side effect was compatibility between Windows and Mac.

*EDIT*
Just saw the part about FAT32. Sorry.
If you're formatting a drive larger than 32GB, use this program [http://tokiwa.qee.jp/EN/Fat32Formatter/index.html] because you won't be able to do it in Windows without it. It's the exact same one I used and it works.

Well actually just formatting it as ExFat on Mac worked, lol. And the hard drive is 1 TB but Windows is handling it just fine. FAT32 was never going to work for me, computer animation is my thing so my project files with assets and final renders run like 10 gigs apiece. Then I have like 120 gigs of music, and then just a lot of other miscellaneous things I've gathered over the years I don't want to give up just yet.

It turns out my original problem had to do with my Mac not being able to properly mount a hard-drive, even a properly formatted one. So they popped the hard drive out of the case and I mounted that straight to another mac and pulled the files off of it that I needed. So now I've just got a raw hard drive chilling in a static bag, not sure what to do with it yet...

 

[Albino Boo]

It turns out my original problem had to do with my Mac not being able to properly mount a hard-drive, even a properly formatted one. So they popped the hard drive out of the case and I mounted that straight to another mac and pulled the files off of it that I needed. So now I've just got a raw hard drive chilling in a static bag, not sure what to do with it yet...

You can buy a usb drive enclosure pretty cheaply, so you can use it as an external drive. The other option, if you have desktop windows machine, is to add the drive to the windows machine.

 

[Twinrehz]

I'd just like to add to the discussion that I've tried using an exFAT-formatted drive, and windows 7 has some serious problems with the format. Mostly, it just won't let me eject the disk, it keeps saying that it's still in use, even if I've shut down everything that could possibly be using it. Once I even think it wouldn't eject when all I'd done was move some files around.

I THINK I formatted the drive with a Mac as well, but it seemed to work out just fine in 10.8 and Win7, except for the fact that windows blatantly refused to dismount the drive. On several occasions I just resorted to unplugging without bothering to wait for the dismount procedure, because I knew it wasn't in use anyway, so it wouldn't be corrupted. Doing this bothers me though, because I don't like the idea that something COULD go wrong if windows suddenly decided to do SOMETHING with the drive as I unplug it. Therefore this dismount problem sorta bothers me.

I formatted it to NTFS at some point, because I usually only use that particular drive to watch movies anyway, which I keep on my windows computer. Having the option of being allowed to use read and write in both OS X and windows without having to resort to 3rd party programs is tantalising though, since moving files in the past has been ranging from hassle to a total pain in the ass. The best option has usually been to connect them with ethernet cable, since that's the ONE thing these operating systems can agree upon. Probably because they have to... Shared folders can be a bit confusing though.

 

[Lilani]

I'd just like to add to the discussion that I've tried using an exFAT-formatted drive, and windows 7 has some serious problems with the format. Mostly, it just won't let me eject the disk, it keeps saying that it's still in use, even if I've shut down everything that could possibly be using it. Once I even think it wouldn't eject when all I'd done was move some files around.

Are you just trying to right click it and select eject, or are you going to the device manager and ejecting it that way? I've noticed that for some reason with some drive if you right click it eject isn't an option, but if you go to your device manager you'll see the eject drive option.

 

[Twinrehz]

I'd just like to add to the discussion that I've tried using an exFAT-formatted drive, and windows 7 has some serious problems with the format. Mostly, it just won't let me eject the disk, it keeps saying that it's still in use, even if I've shut down everything that could possibly be using it. Once I even think it wouldn't eject when all I'd done was move some files around.

Are you just trying to right click it and select eject, or are you going to the device manager and ejecting it that way? I've noticed that for some reason with some drive if you right click it eject isn't an option, but if you go to your device manager you'll see the eject drive option.

I haven't used the device manager, no. Ejection of the disk has always been available, sometimes windows just doesn't want to let it go.