I cant see the files onMy external hard drive

Solved/Closed
peta - Dec 8, 2010 at 09:46 PM
xpcman Posts 19528 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



Related:

2 responses

xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
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.
Thanks - but how do I format it in FAT32, and will that wipe it completely???
xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
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