# [FAQ] Formatting an external hard drive to FAT32



## grey_opal (Jan 19, 2008)

Fairly new to Mac and about to ask probably a really obvious question.

I have an external hard drive that I was previously using on PC, having attempted to use it on a Mac, it will not write to it. I've found that I have to format to FAT32, which I think i can just about manage (yes, im a girl) but my concern is, if i format through the MAC, will i then lose what's on the hard disk as the tab says 'erase'?

I have a lot of images on the hard disk so am a little petrified! Any advice for this really basic question would be appreciated! 

Sophie


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## Soulwar (Jan 19, 2008)

Yes, when you reformat a drive, it WILL erase everything on it. You need to back up the data before you start.
What Mac and OS are you using? Your beliefs for formatting may not be right.
If you are a "little petrified" of what you are doing, please do more research and ask a lot of questions before you start. The "better safe than sorry" definitely applies here... 
 Ask away!


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## grey_opal (Jan 19, 2008)

Thank you for your reply... I am so glad I haven't got that far to reformatting it yet?!

Im using Mac OS X Lepord and using a Phillips hard dive. I got the hard drive to take everything off my old PC. Im a photographer so was again looking to back everything up again off my MAC, I don't really have the ability to back everything up off the hard drive unless I burn it all to DVD, which would be very time consuming and seems to defeat the object!

Would you have any suggestions?

Thanks
Sophie


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## Soulwar (Jan 19, 2008)

How much HD space do you have on your Mac? Do you still have your old Windows machine? (looking for HD space to temporily use as a backup)
And still need to know which Mac you are using as well and if it's a PPC or Intel-based processor)


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## grey_opal (Jan 19, 2008)

i have 66 GB on my mac, which is a macbook with an Intel processor, and about 465 GB on my external hard drive.... i can sense its going to come down to DVD burning isnt it!


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## Soulwar (Jan 19, 2008)

Are you using Bootcamp? You may not have to reformat the external HD...


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## grey_opal (Jan 19, 2008)

I do not believe so.... 

what is it?


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## Soulwar (Jan 19, 2008)

With Boot Camp you can install and run Windows XP or Windows Vista on your Intel-based Mac computer, using a Microsoft Windows installation disc that you provide.

Boot Camp Assistant (located in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder) helps you set up a Windows partition on your computer's hard disk and then start the installation of your Windows software. To complete the Boot Camp installation, you install Boot Camp drivers to enable Windows on your Mac.

After installing Windows and the Boot Camp drivers, you can start up your Mac in either Windows or Mac OS X.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306703


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## grey_opal (Jan 19, 2008)

ah ha. this sounds very interesting.... i shall have a look. if not I shall get into dvd burning! thank you for all your help and advice. it has been most useful!

sophie


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## Soulwar (Jan 19, 2008)

Also, check the other forums for more questions and help...
http://www.macosx.com/forums/boot-camp-os-virtualization-mac/


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