Changing format of storage drive from NTFS to HFS on dual boot?

[djmichaelwenz]

Hello guys! I have not been on here so much lately as my Hackintosh has been performing very well. It is in fact performing so well I am wanting to use it as my main desktop. I am entertaining the notion of taking my 1.5 TB internal "Work" storage drive and copying over my data and re-formatting it as HFS extended journaled. The reason for this is as follows...

-I would like to be able to search the contents of the HDD while in Mavericks
-I prefer to use Time Machine as a backup for my data as it is less of a headache then using 3rd party windows apps
-Increased storage for my iPhoto library

My question is this. Will windows be able to read/write as it does now to the HDD once it is formatted HFS Extended Journaled???


I have windows audio plugins (VST) and projects on the drive currently and it is formatted NTFS for windows. I imagine I will have to re-activate the plugins after I reformat. I will also be moving my iTunes library to be read from the OSX partition instead of how I have been using it for years in Windows.

So I still want the option to use windows and access the drive for plugins and music editing projects. Do any of you have any tips or thoughts on this? I really just want to be able to plug my other external in and backup the important information with Time Machine inside OSX. THANKS IN ADVANCE! Please advise!

 

[djmichaelwenz]

Anyone? I hope to do this tonight.....

 

[P1LGRIM]

Anyone? I hope to do this tonight.....

One solution would be to format the drive in NTFS and access it from OS X with Tuxera NTFS.

Good Luck

 

[djmichaelwenz]

One solution would be to format the drive in NTFS and access it from OS X with Tuxera NTFS.

Good Luck

Thanks P1LGRIM, I am not at home to try it just yet. My question is will that app allow the drive to be included in the Time Machine backup???

 

[P1LGRIM]

From the Tuxera website :

"How to backup an NTFS drive with Time Machine?
Use of Time Machine® software requires the drive to be reformatted to HFS+ (which is native Mac OS X file system). Therefore, an NTFS drive can’t be used by Time Machine. Unfortunately this is a limitation that no additional program can solve.
Alternatively, the drive can be partitioned into a Mac volume (HFS+) and a Windows volume (NTFS). This resulting drive would be both a backup drive for Mac OS X and a data exchange drive with NTFS."

 

[djmichaelwenz]

From the Tuxera website :

"How to backup an NTFS drive with Time Machine?
Use of Time Machine® software requires the drive to be reformatted to HFS+ (which is native Mac OS X file system). Therefore, an NTFS drive can’t be used by Time Machine. Unfortunately this is a limitation that no additional program can solve.
Alternatively, the drive can be partitioned into a Mac volume (HFS+) and a Windows volume (NTFS). This resulting drive would be both a backup drive for Mac OS X and a data exchange drive with NTFS."

Yeah, the biggest reason for the change is to use the Time Machine for my backups because of its ease of use. I really dont want to add a partition. Do you know if I am able to read and write the same way on windows with a HFS formatted drive? Thanks again for your help!

 

[Going Bald]

Yeah, the biggest reason for the change is to use the Time Machine for my backups because of its ease of use. I really dont want to add a partition. Do you know if I am able to read and write the same way on windows with a HFS formatted drive? Thanks again for your help!

Windows cannot natively read or write to HFS+ formatted drives.
You can, however buy a 3rd party software to allow it to do so.
Tuxera for Windows is one and there are others - google is your friend.