I cant see the files onMy external hard drive

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peta - Dec 8, 2010 at 09:46 PM
xpcman Posts 19530 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 - Dec 10, 2010 at 03:24 PM
Hello,
When I plug in my external hard drive (250 GB) My Windows XP computer recognises it, and says that it's found a new USB mass storage device, but when I click 'start', and go into my computer - it doesn't show up anywhere. I've used this hard drive on a mac before, and it's worked fine, but it doesn't seem to work on PC's (or just this computer). I can also eject it, and then the computer says it's ok to safely remove - and I've tried a search and everything, but I can't seem to actually find the icon that will allow me to enter into my hard drive, and access the files. Can anyone please help!!!
Thanks in advance



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2 responses

xpcman Posts 19530 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,827
Dec 8, 2010 at 10:26 PM
If you formatted the drive on the Mac then a PC will not be able to read it. A drive needs to be formatted in FAT32 to be read on both PC and Mac.
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Thanks - but how do I format it in FAT32, and will that wipe it completely???
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xpcman Posts 19530 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,827
Dec 10, 2010 at 03:24 PM
yes formatting it in FAT32 will erase all the data.

Microsoft Windows XP limits a FAT32 volume to 32GB it quits formatting when it hits the 32GB mark. You can download this free program - it should allow you to format the whole drive. You can also partition it into a number or FAT32 partitions and NTFS partitions. Good Luck

https://download.cnet.com/EaseUS-Partition-Master-Free-Edition/3000-2248_4-10863346.html?tag=mncol%3Bpop&cdlPid=10982635

Good Luck
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