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Western Digital My Book Essential External Hard Drive - 2T 1140

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Patrick Smith Posts 4 Registration date Wednesday February 5, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 7, 2014 - Feb 5, 2014 at 08:34 PM
Patrick Smith Posts 4 Registration date Wednesday February 5, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 7, 2014 - Feb 7, 2014 at 12:05 AM
Hi, we have the above device that is/was used to backup a Mac. I want to transfer the files to a new Windows OS desktop. How do I do this? I can see the backup files on the hard drive when it is plugged into the Mac but can not see anything when I plug it into the Windows OS desktop. I can view properties for the device but that is all. Does anyone know how I can view the Mac backup files on the Windows OS desktop so that I can download/copy yo yhe Windows OS desktop?
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xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Feb 5, 2014 at 08:49 PM
If the external drive was formatted as a FAT32 drive then both the Mac and PC can read/write to the drive. It probably was formatted as a Mac drive and the PC can't read it. Is the Mac still functional so you can reformat the drive and copy the files again? There is an additional problem that FAT32 does not support a 1 Terabyte drive.
Patrick Smith Posts 4 Registration date Wednesday February 5, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 7, 2014
Feb 5, 2014 at 08:55 PM
Yes the Mac is still functional. What is FAT32 and how do I reformat the drive?
xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Feb 5, 2014 at 09:02 PM
This posting will give you more detail about FAT32 formatting. You download the program (if it's still available) on the PC and run it to delete the current hard drive partition ((be sure you don't select the C drive for reformatting)) and reformat it to FAT32.

https://ccm.net/forum/affich-70761-formatting-to-fat32#q=fat32&cur=1&url=%2F

Good Luck
Patrick Smith Posts 4 Registration date Wednesday February 5, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 7, 2014
Feb 6, 2014 at 11:48 PM
the link takes me to another link that results in a Partition Master file to be downloaded. Silly question but is this the correct one? I'm not tech savvy & don't want to stuff up the PC!!!
xpcman Posts 19528 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,824
Feb 6, 2014 at 11:55 PM
Sorry but I posted that link in Feb 2009 and have not used the software since. You will need a program that is able to delete the Mac partition in addition to formatting a large size FAT32 partition. I think you will just need to try it out. You can always uninstall it after you use it. It might also might not work in Windows 8. Which your new PC probably has.
Patrick Smith Posts 4 Registration date Wednesday February 5, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 7, 2014
Feb 7, 2014 at 12:05 AM
Yes, Windows 8. I will give it a go. Thanks. Fingers crossed...

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