Not picked up on PC but works fine on mac? Is there any reason why my PC wouldn't pick this hard drive up?
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When you formatted it on your Mac, did you choose HFS+ (Mac format) or FAT32 (Windows format)? Macs can read and write to FAT32 formatted disks, but Windows cannot even see an HFS+ formatted disk without a third-party program like MacDrive. The solution is simple. Re-format the disk under the Mac's Disk Utility and choose FAT32. Be sure your data is not on the drive as it will obviously be over-written during the formatting process.
1507037
Drive won't mount. A new WD Caviar 1TB HD goes into a Mac G5 just fine, and accepts the SATA power cable, but has some trouble adjusting to the Mac's right-angle data cable. But even if I prop the drive up enough to accept the data cable, the drive doesn't show up on the desktop. Nor in System Profiler or Disk Utilities. haifischHaifischRH308887haifisch
972986
I am using this external drive on a PC; sorry I can't say if it will work with a Mac. KAY
2136758
Yes, but accessing the data will depend on how the drive is formatted. I think (you'll have to check) the drive comes formatted in NTSF. For use with both PC and Mac, you'll have to re-format the drive in something like FAT 23. Both Mac and PC should recognize the drive, but FAT 23 has file size limitations.
2026104
I use PC not MAC. You could use this hard drive, however, WD support for MAC is not the best. I would suggest Seagate, Hitachi, or Samsung as they provide better support. You may also need to download additional drivers no matter which Hard drive you choose. I also suggest you check our ZDNET's recent article on the Best Hard Drives.
1841457
You didn't say if the drive was formatted with HPFS or NTFS or FAT32. You also didn't say whether Windows prompted to format the drive when you plugged it in. FAT32 is compatible with both Mac and PC so I would recommend converting to that file system. The only caveat is that the largest file size is 4GB in FAT32. Another thing to check is whether enough power is being provided to the drive through the USB port of what I assume to be a laptop PC. You may need to use a powered USB hub.
489054
macs can read and write to pc hards drives but need to be formated in fat32 i think. i have a pc hard drive that is split for time machine and as a backup. my pc hard drives i can read them but cant write since they are in wrong format. but those hard drives if i wanted could be reformatted so i can write to them.
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I think the question is does the drive come preformated for Mac or PC or do you have to format it for either OS and setup two partitions if you want to use it across platforms.
937193
You should probably find out if you have a USB 3.0 port on your machine or plan on getting a docking station in case your Macbook doesn't recognize this external drive. Personally, I have it working on a Toshiba laptop using W8.1 without any problems (read/write DVD single and dual layers + read/write Blu Rays) however it needs at least two USB ports to get enough power to function (I'm using 1 usb 3.0 port and 1 usb 2.0 port) so make sure you have enough available ports to power this.
1929581
There is no reason why this drive would not work on any Mac running OSX 10.4 or higher. There are some OSX applications on the drive but I've never used them (I just deleted them) so I don't know if they'll run on 10.10. You don't need them to use the drive on your Mac.
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Tabitha. I am not certain because I do not normally use MACs. However....note the tech specs on Amazon.com. It says "Preformatted for PCs, easily reformatted for Macs" What this PROBABLY means is the drive is NTFS formatted (Microsoft proprietary formatted) so will work plug and play with PCs running Microsoft operating systems. Which is why I can just plug it into a USB port and begin using it. For a MAC user you will probably have to format it (to HFS) for your specific MAC operating system. It should be fairly straight-forward. The manufacturer gives directions for this here: http://www.hgst.com/support/faqs/how-format-my-drive-mac-only-hfsHope this helps.Tim Tabitha. I am not certain because I do not normally use MACs. However....note the tech specs on Amazon.com. It says "Preformatted for PCs, easily reformatted for Macs" What this PROBABLY means is the drive is NTFS formatted (Microsoft proprietary formatted) so will work plug and play with PCs running Microsoft operating systems. Which is why I can just plug it into a USB port and begin using it. For a MAC user you will probably have to format it (to HFS) for your specific MAC operating system. It should be fairly straight-forward. The manufacturer gives directions for this here:... » Read More Tabitha. I am not certain because I do not normally use MACs. However....note the tech specs on Amazon.com. It says "Preformatted for PCs, easily reformatted for Macs" What this PROBABLY means is the drive is NTFS formatted (Microsoft proprietary formatted) so will work plug and play with PCs running Microsoft operating systems. Which is why I can just plug it into a USB port and begin using it. For a MAC user you will probably have to format it (to HFS) for your specific MAC operating system. It should be fairly straight-forward. The manufacturer gives directions for this here: http://www.hgst.com/support/faqs/how-format-my-drive-mac-only-hfsHope this helps.Tim « Show Less
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If you format the drive for the Mac, it will NOT be recognized by the PC. This is a limitation of the Windows operating system. It does not recognize Mac formatting. If you format the drive for the PC, though, you will be able to use it on BOTH platforms. Mac OSX will recognize PC formatted drives. You will be able to read and write to the drive from either your Mac OR your PC and transfer files between them. [Note: You will NOT, however, be able to run the PC software that's included with this drive on your Mac, unless you are using a program like Bootcamp or Virtual PC. While OSX will read and write Windows-formatted files, it will NOT run Windows programs on its own without one or another third-party helper programs. Hope this helps - RJLaue
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I would say no since the latest drives I could find were for Power PC. It looks to be pretty dated drivers for the Mac.
515166
I use this strictly to do OSX backups using TimeMachine. This drive is formatted for use with Apple computers and is not formatted to be accessed by PCs. I have no idea what you are trying to accomplish, whether it is backing up data using backup tools or just trying to copy files to an external drive that either system can read. Regardless, this is not a good, cost effective, starting point for you. You would need to totally reformat the drive and consider if your PC supports USB 3 because this drive is built to support that higher transfer rate.
735341
so if i were to put a mess of files from a pc on this drive, i will be able to access them with my mac?
1462653
Because of the file formats on the Mac, I believe there was a different versionof the Zip drive for the Mac. Please accept this as a biurred recollection. Most PC data from programs on PC's are inherently different than what is used on a Mac for anything other than pure text. Look at the following for some good information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Exchange
602595
No, this is for mainstream PC's only. The website for Seagate has several external hard drives for Macs though.