How to partition external drive on mac so windows read
- #How to partition external drive on mac so windows read mac os
- #How to partition external drive on mac so windows read software
That means the partition where OS X is installed with have about 140GB of breathing room for extra data.īasically, we are just shrinking the original partition, which took up the entire disk to something smaller. Below, I left the name as Macintosh HD and made the partition 500GB. So if you want to create an additional partition, the first thing is to create a partition that will include OS X and give you some additional space for installing programs, etc.
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My internal drive was already using 359GB of space, so when I typed in 200GB, it automatically changed it to 359GB and put up a message stating that the first volume cannot be removed and the volume could not be split because the resulting volumes would be too small. Since you already have OS X installed on your internal drive, when you click Partition and choose a size, you’ll notice that you can’t create a partition that is smaller than the amount of space already used on the drive. Partitioning an internal hard drive is pretty much the same in terms of the procedure you have to follow, but it’s a little bit different in how it gets implemented. You can also choose exFAT if you like as that is compatible with both Windows and Mac. Since this is going to be for Windows storage, I chose MS-DOS (FAT). Give the partition a name, pick a size and choose the format. Now to partition the rest of the space, you will click on Untitled under External and then click on Partition again. Now select Done and you’re done with the first partition. When completed should see the green check mark next to your drive and it should say Operation Successful. After this, it will take a few minutes to partition, so be patient! Select how you would like to partition the drive (refer back to my percentages, as that’s what I have used in the screenshots here), select Apply and then click Partition.
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In my case, I chose a size of 500 GB, which is one-third of the drive. Select Partition and create the partitions based on your specific needs. Go to the top where it has the options: First Aid, Partition, Erase, Restore, Mount, etc. Now you’re ready to partition the external drive! OS X may ask you if you want to use the drive for Time Machine backups, but you should choose Decide Later unless you want to use the entire drive for the backups.
#How to partition external drive on mac so windows read software
This will prevent anyone or any software from recovering any previously written data from the drive. If you move the slider to Most Secure, it will meet the DOD standard for erasing data by overwriting the data 7 times. By default, OS X will use the fastest method, which not does securely erase the drive. Note that you can also click on Security Options and choose from different levels of security. If you plan to use the drive for Boot Camp, you should also pick GUID. However, if you plan to boot from the drive, you should pick MBR for Windows and Linux and GUID for OS X. If you’re only using the drive for storage, then it doesn’t really matter which one you pick.
#How to partition external drive on mac so windows read mac os
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If you have an even larger drive, you can create even more partitions for other operating systems like Linux, etc.
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If you have a large external hard drive, you can easily partition it so that the entire drive gets utilized. Even if you don’t mess anything up, the chances are good that the OS will screw up and break your system. In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps for partitioning internal and external hard drives on a Mac.īefore you start, you should make sure to backup your entire Mac computer using Time Machine. In addition, I had an external hard drive that I also wanted to be able to use with both OS X and Windows.