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    "Apple" Hard drive

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by zephyrus17, Apr 17, 2009.

  1. zephyrus17

    zephyrus17 Notebook Deity

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    Can I connect an "Apple" hard drive into a laptop of another brand? I've been looking at this old IDE 60Gb harddrive but it says it's for Apple. It's basically the same, right?
     
    zephyrus17, Apr 17, 2009
    #1
  2. Underpantman

    Underpantman Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yes.
    Only the file system will be different. So if its a PC/windows machine your plugging into, you won't be able to read the drive without some 3rd party software.
    Alternatively you could re-format in FAT32 for cross platform usage.
    a
    :)
     
    Underpantman, Apr 17, 2009
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  3. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

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    Correct, for Windows and Mac to recognize it, it has to be NTFS or FAT32. For Mac to be able to write, it has to be FAT32 or NTFS with software installed to allow it to write. ;)

    EDIT: Thanks Chris27, corrected. :)
     
    Colton, Apr 17, 2009
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  4. Chris27

    Chris27 Notebook Deity

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    Wrong, OSX can read NTFS just fine. If you want to write to it, you will need to install additional software like NTFS3G.

    to the OP, Apple doesn't make hardrives. There is no such thing as "Mac compatible" and "Windows compatible" hard drives.
     
    Chris27, Apr 17, 2009
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  5. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    If you format it to fat32 though, you will be able to read/write on both mac os x and windows.
     
    Luke1708, Apr 17, 2009
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  6. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    fat32 has file size limitations.... like it cant handle a single file thats over 4gb in size...
     
    doh123, Apr 17, 2009
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  7. zephyrus17

    zephyrus17 Notebook Deity

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    As long as the hardware fits, I'm cool. I'll format it with gparted.
     
    zephyrus17, Apr 18, 2009
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  8. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

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    Good choice zephyrus17! I've heard good things about GParted, and it's ease of use. I've also heard horror stories about how some people absolutely messed it up, so make sure you follow the process very carefully. ;)
     
    Colton, Apr 18, 2009
    #8