The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    External Drive Formatting/Firewire questions....

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by ifti, May 18, 2010.

  1. ifti

    ifti Undiscovered

    Reputations:
    188
    Messages:
    2,287
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Ive purchased a 4TB external HDD for use with my MBP.

    The unit has 2x2TB drives in it, and I have set it to mirror one drive to the other - so I have 2TB of useable space.

    1. I always tend to use FAT32 in case I ever want to connect a Windows machine to use it, which isnt very often TBH - but at least I know I can if need be. I dont save any files larger then 4GB onto the drive. Should I stick with FAT32 or move over to HFS+ ? Are there any other benefits to HFS+ over FAT32 other then larger file sizes etc?

    2. Is Firewire 800 Hot Swappable - or do I need to connect the drive with my MBP off, then boot up?
     
    ifti, May 18, 2010
    #1
  2. SP Forsythe

    SP Forsythe Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    173
    Messages:
    664
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    As far as question number one goes, Apple has an interesting read on "Journaling" that may explain one of HFS+'s key benefits for you. HFS+ also tends to have a little less fragmentation where small file changes occur. But that may be inconsequential for your intended purpose of the drive.

    Mac OS X: About file system journaling
     
    SP Forsythe, May 18, 2010
    #2
  3. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

    Reputations:
    996
    Messages:
    3,727
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    106
    firewire and USB drives just need to be "ejected" in the OS then they can be unplugged or plugged in as you like.. no need to shut down or restart the computer.
     
    doh123, May 18, 2010
    #3
  4. ifti

    ifti Undiscovered

    Reputations:
    188
    Messages:
    2,287
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Great, cheers.
     
    ifti, May 19, 2010
    #4