Hi. I have a WD passport. I had saved many pictures and videos from my Windows PC. A few years ago I bought a Mac. I plugged the Passport into my Mac and it would not let me add or change anything on the Passport, but I could see the files. Now, a couple years later, I plugged it in to try to find a picture and there are no files in the Passport. All it does is open WD SmartWare and has files to set up the external hard drive, as if it were new. Also, when I click on get info it says the WD SmartWare only has 237.5MB capacity? I have no idea what is going on.
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Most of time, when our WD hard drive is NTFS formatted, it turns to read-only on macOS. All the time, macOS can only read from Windows-formatted NTFS drives, but can't write to them out of the box. Store, carry, and protect all your sensitive and important data with the black My Passport Ultra USB 3.0 Secure Portable Hard Drive from WD.With a capacity of 2TB, use it for extra storage or for backing up your videos, photos, and files.
For example, there is software on the WD My Passport drive, NTFS version that is designed for and works on a Windows PC. If you plan on using those files, copy off onto a Windows PC first before you format the drive. For the most desirable results when reformatting on Windows systems, use Western Digital's Formatting Utility. Due to a system limitation, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista can only create 32GB FAT32 partitions, regardless of the drive's capacity. I have a WD My Passport External drive. It would not give me permission to back up files on it, so I formatted it using Windows 7 format tool. Now it shows that the whole disk is full (blue) and the file system has changed to UDF. Connect your Western Digital My Passport drive to Mac computer, and let the OS detect and mount the drive for use. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop. On macOS Dock, select Finder.
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- 1 Make a Western Digital HD Work for Mac & Windows
- 2 Completely Reset the Hard Drive
- 3 Add XP to a MacBook
- 4 Format a Removable Hard Disk
As of 2018, Western Digital offers no shortage of external drives for Mac computers – from the My Book Essential to the My Book Pro and the My Book Studio, nearly 30 WD drives play nicely with Apple’s macOS operating system, as does the My Passport Studio model.
Free Ntfs Driver For Mac
But with more than 262.5 million PCs shipped in 2017, according to data from Statista, there’s a good chance your Passport Studio will need to play nicely with a Windows computer, too. When it comes to cross-platform flexibility, you’ve got a few options for crossing the Mac and PC streams.
About eFAT and FAT32
Here’s something your My Passport for Mac Quick Install Guide might not tell you: Hard drives usually come formatted in two different ways, one catering to Windows and one catering to Mac. NTFS-formatted drives work with Windows computers, and HFS+ drives work with Mac.
However, by formatting your My Passport differently, you can ensure compatibility in a variety of different ways. Hard drives formatted to exFAT or FAT32 can read and write data on both Mac and PC operating systems, though FAT32 is limited to a 4-gigabyte-per-file size limit. Formatting your drive will erase all its data, so be sure to back it up before making the change.
External Drive for Mac to Windows 10
If you’ve got a WD external drive for Mac platforms and you want it to work on a Windows 10 PC, exFAT format is your best bet. To start formatting, connect your WD Passport to your Mac; then open “Mac HD” and click “Applications,” “Utilities” and “Disk Utility.” From the Disk Utility window, select the Passport hard drive.
Here, you’ll usually see two listings of partitions available on the drive – select the listing that is furthest left. Click the Disk Utility’s “Erase” button; assign the drive a name in the “Name” field; then hit “Erase,” and click “Done” when the erasing process is complete. Now, click the “Partition” button at the top of the Disk Utility and click “Format.” Choose “exFAT” from the drop-down menu that appears and click “Apply” to format the drive, which will take a few minutes. Once the formatting is complete and you get a message that says “Operation successful,” click “Done.”
![Passport Passport](https://cdn.mac-world.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WD-My-Passport-for-Mac-katalog-3.jpg)
To Windows 8 and Earlier
The external drive for Mac to Windows 8 transition makes use of Window’s built-in Disk Management software rather than the macOS Disk Utility, but you’ll still want to format your WD Passport as an exFAT drive.
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To do so, connect the Passport to your PC, enter the Windows 8 Start menu and choose “Disk Management.” In the Disk Management app, right-click on the drive and select “New Simple Volume..” from the menu that appears. This brings up the New Simple Volume Wizard. Click the “Next” button until you get to the “Format Partition” window and choose “exFAT” under “File System” (you can also change the name of the drive under “Volume label” if you wish). Make sure the “Perform a quick format” box is checked, and click “Next” when you’re ready. Click “Partition” and then “Finish” to format the drive to a cross-platform compatible exFAT mode.
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About the Author
As the co-founder of an LLC, the owner of a small business and a partner at an S-corporation (all working in media), Dan is no stranger to small business. As a business writer, he's contributed to publications including Chron.com, AZCentral, Fortune, GlobalPost, MSN Money, GoBankingRates, Zacks.com, The Motley Fool and more.
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Ketchum, Dan. 'How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html. 30 August 2018.
Ketchum, Dan. (2018, August 30). How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html
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