Is NTFS safer and more reliable than FAT32 for MacOs X?
- Thread starter Graf Spee
- Start date
Satcomer
In Geostationary Orbit
The first thing is Mac OS X will only read a NTFS formatted hard drive (thanks to Microsoft not releasing the specs to the code) but not write to one. So if you want to write to the drive from OS X you have to select FAT32. The caveat you have to remember about FAT32 is the 4GB file limit. So large video files could be a problem.
You better bet is to go backwards in thinking. Format the drive with HFS+ then with your PC buy the program MacDrive. It will make you XP/2000 system be able to see & mount HFS+ volumes, plus write to them.
Now to share all you Mac files with someone on the network, turn on the appropriate System Preferences->Sharing and select 'Personal File Sharing' & 'Windows file Sharing'. you can also share the connected Printer no the Mac. One things is OS X is based on BSD Unix and Unix protects your data MUCH better than XP/2000. So if you want to share all or some of you data over the network make sure you have the freeware application of SharePoints. It will help you in selecting all or certain files on you hard drive to share, not just stuff in your Home folder.
Lastly if you are getting into the wonderful world of cross platform sharing, then remember the the web site MacWindows. It is a good integration trouble shooting site.
You better bet is to go backwards in thinking. Format the drive with HFS+ then with your PC buy the program MacDrive. It will make you XP/2000 system be able to see & mount HFS+ volumes, plus write to them.
Now to share all you Mac files with someone on the network, turn on the appropriate System Preferences->Sharing and select 'Personal File Sharing' & 'Windows file Sharing'. you can also share the connected Printer no the Mac. One things is OS X is based on BSD Unix and Unix protects your data MUCH better than XP/2000. So if you want to share all or some of you data over the network make sure you have the freeware application of SharePoints. It will help you in selecting all or certain files on you hard drive to share, not just stuff in your Home folder.
Lastly if you are getting into the wonderful world of cross platform sharing, then remember the the web site MacWindows. It is a good integration trouble shooting site.
Dear Satcomer thank you but all these you wrote are already discussed in the forum and I have read them. My question is very specific:
NTFS vs FAT32 in terms of data safety-reliability in MacOs X.
Just this. I have already said that I don't care about about limitations, alternatives etc. Just this Vs. Can anyone answer to this?
NTFS vs FAT32 in terms of data safety-reliability in MacOs X.
Just this. I have already said that I don't care about about limitations, alternatives etc. Just this Vs. Can anyone answer to this?
Technically in the Windows world NTFS is more secure as you cannot assign file permissions at the user or group level on a FAT32 partition, so if you are trying to have areas of the file system available exclusively to different users that is the one you would go for. I have not had a chance to check this using OSX, but it would doubt it would work as the uid and gid of the Mac accounts would be different.
The answer to your question will also depend on what you want to use the the external disk for, I would assume transfering data between the Mac and a Windows system. Define what you want to do with the drive and I can try and give a more relevant answer.
The answer to your question will also depend on what you want to use the the external disk for, I would assume transfering data between the Mac and a Windows system. Define what you want to do with the drive and I can try and give a more relevant answer.
"Is NTFS safer and more reliable than FAT32 for MacOs X?"
Since NTFS can only be _read_, I'd say the data is safer, yes, because you won't be able to alter anything from within Mac OS X - unless you happen to reformat the drive, of course, but then the disk's original format doesn't really matter, anyway. Could you _please_ specify what you want to _do_ with the disk? If you only need to be able to _read_ from it on Mac OS X, I don't think the format _matters_, really.
Since NTFS can only be _read_, I'd say the data is safer, yes, because you won't be able to alter anything from within Mac OS X - unless you happen to reformat the drive, of course, but then the disk's original format doesn't really matter, anyway. Could you _please_ specify what you want to _do_ with the disk? If you only need to be able to _read_ from it on Mac OS X, I don't think the format _matters_, really.