USB drives and external hard drives use the Windows FAT32 to format for compatibility. The best news is that most devices included Mac computers can read and write from FAT32 devices. New Apple devices will be formatted with APFS while old Mac drives can use the HFS file system. ITunes will load that library and automatically adjust its settings to make that the default iTunes folder while you're using it. Assuming you followed all the steps in the backup process (most importantly consolidating and organizing your library), you'll be able to use your iTunes library on the external hard drive just like it was on your main hard drive. Hi I have an Buffalo external hard drive Model HD-LBU2. Connected via usb. It is from my windows pc and all I would like to do is transfer my photos from this HD to my new Mac. Problem is, I cannot find or see the HD on my Mac anywhere. Windows can’t normally read Mac-formatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. But third-party tools fill the gap and provide access to drives formatted with Apple’s HFS+ file system on Windows. This also allows you to restore Time Machine backups on Windows.
- Apple External Hard Drive On Windows 7
- Apple Mac External Hard Drive
- Open Apple External Hard Drive On Windows
Discover the world of external hard drives for Mac. Compare portable, USB and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online.
While most external hard drives are already designed to work for Windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. You might want a drive that works with Macs and PCs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. Here’s how to format an external hard drive for Windows 10 or partition it.
How to Format a Hard Drive for Windows 10
Note: Formatting your drive will erase all the existing files on it. So if your external hard drive already has important files on it, make sure to back them up before proceeding.
- Connect your external hard drive to a Windows computer. If your external hard drive is working, your computer will automatically detect it, and the drive will appear under Devices and Drives next to your internal drives in the This PC window. You can also find it in the left sidebar of File Explorer.Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.
- Right-click on the external hard drive and click Format.
- Choose a format under File System. By default, Windows computers will choose NTFS (New Technology File System) for you because that’s the native Microsoft filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT.Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.
- Check the Quick Format box, and click Start. Depending on the size of the drive, and if there are files to be deleted in it, this can take a few to several minutes to finish.
- Click OK when the Format Complete pop-up screen appears.
Now you have a hard drive formatted for Windows, but what if you wanted to use it with Mac computers also? One easy way to have a hard drive that works with Mac and Windows is by partitioning it. This means you’re splitting the drive into two formats, one for Mac and one for PC. Here’s how to do that:
How to Partition an External Drivein Windows 10
- Open the Windows search box, type “diskmgmt.msc,” and hit enter. The Windows Search Box is the magnifying button icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
- Right-click on your external hard drive and select Shrink Volume. If this option is not available to you, reformat the drive to NTFS and try again.
- Enter an amount of space that you want to shrink your volume by. The remaining space will be displayed in megabytes.
- Then click Shrink. This will split the hard drive, with one part becoming unallocated space.
- Right-click the unallocated space on your drive and select New Simple Volume.
- Click Next.
- Then indicate how big you want the partition to be. If you want to use the rest of the space, enter the maximum disk space indicated above it. Then click Next.
- Next, choose what drive letter you want to use. Letters that have already been assigned to other drives will not be on this list, so don’t worry if there are missing letters. Just choose among the drive letters still available.
- Go to File System and choose a format. Windows will choose NTFS for you because that’s Microsoft’s native filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT, which is an upgraded version of FAT32.Macbook pro steam performance. Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.
- Check the Quick Format box, and click Next.
- Finally, click Finish. If a pop-up appears telling you to format the disk, click Format Disk. After that, the newly formatted disk will open automatically.
Partitioning your external hard drive will enable you to perform tasks in one section without affecting the rest of the drive. If you want to know how to format a hard drive for Mac, check out our previous article here.
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By Adela D. Louie, Last updated: August 31, 2020
Having trouble with your iPhone device? Are you seeking an answer on how to backup iPhone to external hard drive windows? Well then, this post is for you.
iPhone devices come with a huge storage space that every user can enjoy using for them to store as much data as they want. However, even though it comes with a huge amount of storage space, you still have some limits on the data that you can store. And with that, the best way to keep our data is to transfer them over to an external hard drive since this can accommodate a larger amount of data.
But what if you have a Windows computer and have an iPhone device that you want to backup to your external hard drive? Would you still be able to do this? Well, the answer to that is, of course, you still can. And that is what we are going to show you in this article. A guide on how to backup iPhone to external hard drive Windows.
Part 1: Two Ways to Backup iPhone to External Hard Drive Windows
How do I backup my iPhone to an external hard drive without iTunes?Now when it comes to backing up your iPhone device to an external hard drive using your Windows computer, you will have to ensure two things first.
- You have to make sure that your external hard drive is formatted to the Windows NT files system or known as the NTFS.
- You also have to make sure that you have a new folder that is named “iPhone backup” that is in your external hard drive that you are going to use.
Way #1: Change the Location of your iPhone backup using the Command Prompt
The first thing that you will be needing to do is to make a symbolic link on your Windows computer into the external hard drive that you are going to use. And then, have your external hard drive connected to your Windows PC. And in case there is a link symlink that is made the error, then go ahead and fix it this way.
- Step 1: Simply close your iTunes program and then launch the Command Prompt and run it as administrator on your Windows PC.
- Step 2: After that, go ahead and key in the command below and then press the Enter button after.
mklink /J “C:UsersisunshareAppDataRoamingApple ComputerMobileSyncBackup”H:iPhoneBackup”
Reminder: For your default iPhone backup location: C:UsersisunshareAppDataRoamingApple ComputerMobileSyncBackup
For new location of backup for your iPhone: H:iPhoneBackup
- Step 3: And right after that, you will then be able to see a new folder with a name “Backup” that comes with an arrow in the location where your iPhone backup is.
Way #2: Use Your iTunes to Backup iPhone to External Hard Drive Windows
Here, all you have to do is to connect your iPhone device to your Windows PC and then launch your iTunes program. Once that your iPhone is detected by the iTunes, go ahead and click on the iPhone icon and choose the option Back Up Now. Apples web browser is called. Then, then you have to wait to finish the process.
Also, you have to make sure that you do not cancel on the Mklink that is routing to your external hard drive with the command that we have indicated below and so your iTunes backup will be saved on your external hard drive.
Apple External Hard Drive On Windows 7
mklink /J “C:UsersyourWindowsusernameAppDataRoamingApple
ComputerMobileSyncBackup” “C:UsersyourWindowsusernameAppDataRoamingApple
ComputerMobileSyncBackup
Part 2: The Best Way to Backup iPhone to External Hard Drive Windows
Aside from the one that we have mentioned above, there is also another way on how you can backup iPhone to external hard drive Windows is by using a third-party application. And the app that you need is no other than the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore.
iOS Data Backup and RestoreOne click to backup the whole iOS device to your computer.Allow to preview and restore any item from the backup to a device.Export what you want from the backup to your computer.No data loss on devices during the restore.iPhone Restore Won't Overwrite Your Data
The FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore is a one-click application that you can use for you to backup the data on your iPhone device, and at the same time, you can also restore them to another device such as your external hard drive. Through this tool, you can easily backup your contacts, photos, messages, videos, and so much more that are important on your iPhone device.
And to know how you can use this program, here is a quick tutorial that you can follow.
Method #1: How to Backup iPhone
Step 1: Simply Launch and Connect
After getting the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore tool from the official website, you can then go ahead and run it on your Windows computer. And once that the program is up and running, you can now connect your iPhone to your Windows PC using your USB cable and wait for the tool to recognize your iPhone device.
Step 2: Select a Method
Then on the next page of the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore, you can now go ahead and select a method that you want to do. Here, since that you want to backup your iPhone device, simply click on the iOS Data Backup option. And after that, click on the Continue button for you to proceed on the step.
Step 3: Choose the Way You Want to Backup Your iPhone
In the next step, the program will show you different modes of how you can backup your data. One is the Standard Backup which will allow you to backup your data from your iPhone device without the need of setting up a password. And the other one is the Encrypted Backup wherein you can set up a passcode for your backup file so that no one will have access to it except you.
And after choosing the backup mode that you prefer, you can now go ahead and click on the Start button for you to proceed with the process.
Step 4: Choose on Data to Backup from iPhone
After clicking on the Start button, the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore will then start to scan your iPhone device so that it can get all of the data that you have. And after that, you will be able to see on your screen a list of data types that you can backup from your iPhone device. So from here, all you have to do is to choose those that you want to backup.
Step 5: Finish the Backup Process
Apple spreadsheet download. And once that you are done choosing all of the types of data that you wish to backup from your iPhone using the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore, go ahead then and click on the Next button. Doing this will then start the process of backing up all of the data that you have selected earlier so all you need to do now is to wait for the program to finish the whole process.
Method #2: Restore Your Backup and Save to External Hard Drive
Once that you have made a backup of the data that you have on your iPhone device, then you can easily have them restored and transfer them over to your external hard drive using your Windows PC. And to know how you can do that, just follow these steps.
Apple Mac External Hard Drive
Step 1: Select the Restore Option
Simply launch the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore and then connect your external hard drive to your computer. Then on the main page of the program, you can go ahead now and select the option iOS Data Restore for you to get those data that you have on the backup file that you made earlier.
Step 2: Choose on the Right Backup File
After backing up your data, the next thing that you need to do is to restore them. So for you to do that, choose on the next page the most recent backup file that you made using the FoneDog iOS Data Backup and Restore.
Step 3: Scan the Chosen Backup File
Once that you are done choosing the backup file, you can now go ahead and click on the View Now option. This way, once that the scanning process is complete, the items that it has scan will show up on your screen.
Step 4: Choose Items to Back
After the scanning process, then you can now go ahead and select all of the items that you would like to restore from the backup file that you made. Then you can have those data restored to your Windows computer. You can do this by clicking on the Restore to PC option from the lower-right corner of your screen.
And once that you have restored your backup file to your Windows computer, then you can have the data be transferred to your external hard drive. You can search for the restored data from your iPhone device to your computer.
iOS Data Backup and RestoreOne click to backup the whole iOS device to your computer.Allow to preview and restore any item from the backup to a device.Export what you want from the backup to your computer.No data loss on devices during the restore.iPhone Restore Won't Overwrite Your Data
Part 3: Conclusion
As you can see, there are still a lot of ways on how to backup iPhone to external hard drive Windows is one easy task as soon as you have the right tools to use. So with that, just simply follow all of the methods that we have shown you and you will be able to finish the whole process in no time.
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