Re: Formatting a hard disk

In article <CEwqg.2935$PE1.2913@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
rsina <rsina.no-ssppaamm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi all, the hard disks we buy off the shelf usually have FAT32 default
format. In what cases (if any) is it advisable to format them to
extended (journaled format)?

You should always format to HFS Extended if youu do not plan to use the
disk on a Windows computer.

The Mac can read Windows disks. However, the FAT32 format is a much more
primitive filesystem than HFS, and offers many significant drawbacks on
a disk that will only be used on a Mac.

For starters, it can not be journaled, meaning it is more prone to
directory corruption in the event of a crash or power failure or
whatever.

Also, because the Fat32 format can not accomodate Mac filesystem data,
such as Mac resource forks and Finder metadata, the Mac has to do some
sneaky behind-the-scenes work in order to put a Mac file on the disk.
The file is actually broken up into two separate parts, and each is
recorded on the disk separately. If for whatever reason the association
between these two files is lost, the file may become unusable.

For this and other technical reasons, the Mac stores files on a Fat32
disk less efficiently than on an HFS Extended disk, resulting in wasted
disk space.

Some mac applications, and the Mac operating system itself, will not
work if placed on a Fat32 disk.

How does one actually format a disk under
OS X 10.4.7?

You run Disk Utility. It is on your hard drive, in the Utilities folder
inside the Applications folder.

--
Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink:
all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
Nanohazard, Geek shirts, and more: http://www.villaintees.com
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Reading mac files in windows
    ... PC & Mac 1.44Mb FDDs are mechanically compatible and can read both the Mac ... the PC's disk drive *can* read a 1.44Mb Mac disk. ... they have a variable-speed motor able to read the old Mac format. ... a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are ...
    (microsoft.public.mac.office.word)
  • Re: Reading mac files in windows
    ... PC & Mac 1.44Mb FDDs are mechanically compatible and can read both the Mac ... the PC's disk drive *can* read a 1.44Mb Mac disk. ... they have a variable-speed motor able to read the old Mac format. ... a pc running XP and can't get past an error message that the diskx are ...
    (microsoft.public.mac.office.word)
  • Re: OT (again) - data exchange with Mac
    ... currently stored on an internal SATA drive on the PC formatted as NTFS. ... mac will have internal small drive and i've already got a 250GB sata drive spare. ... drive in it, mount it on the Mac and format it HFS+, then network copy ... If you haven't got enough disks to do that, ...
    (uk.comp.homebuilt)
  • Reformat Mac firewire disk to Windows disk
    ... of my Powermac G4 and iBook G4, both running Tiger. ... doesn't respond to reformating requests (clicking Format in the menu ... where I right click on the disk in My Computer window). ... I can use Mac Tiger tools, ...
    (comp.sys.mac.system)
  • Re: Conversion Filemaker docs from Mac to PC
    ... or if there are .zip utilities for the Mac ... Mac format to PC format. ... Even if the files will fit uncompressed on a Zip disk, ... FileMaker Pro 2 and earlier --> .fm ...
    (comp.databases.filemaker)