
To change it back to original size do this.The precise manner in which data is organised on a hard disk drive is determined by the file system used.įile systems are generally operating system dependent.Įach cluster contains a pointer to the next cluster in the file, or an end-of-file indicator at 0xFFFFwhich indicates that this cluster is the end of the file.
#IS FAT16 GOOD FOR MAC AND WINDOWS UPDATE#
The software update usually have backup plan if something wrong occur. I think you should try using fat32 usb, if it does not work then format to fat and try again.ĭon't worry too much. I haven't tried yet - am worried about the old software coming off and the new not going on! Making the machine a brick. Did you try to use a fat32 USB? And can you upload the whole message when you try to update? Reply 7 months ago. Can I use this workaround safely? Answer 7 months ago. Facebook Twitter YouTube.So why it happened? Here's a basic rundown of which format we recommend for your USB flash drive, broken down by use case.

If you need to transfer files between your Mac and one of these non-PC devices, you're almost certainly going to have to format your flash drive in FAT32 instead. Of greater issue is that most consumer electronics cameras, camcorders, video game systems don't support exFAT, either. If you won't be dealing with older Macs or PCs, this may not be a problem. It has one big advantage over FAT exFAT supports file sizes larger than 4 GB, so if you have a need to move huge files between Macs and PCs, this is likely the format you'll want for your flash drive. However, those downsides may be more than outweighed by FAT32's near-universal support, and if you don't think you're going to be dealing with files bigger than 4 GB, this may be the optimal choice. Furthermore, FAT32 doesn't support OS X Lion's Versions feature - something users have discovered the hard way when working directly off of files stored on a USB flash drive something we recommend against doing. You also can't create a startup drive for your Mac using this format. It's the closest thing we have to a universal file system format, which is why most flash drives are formatted this way right out of the box. Virtually all cameras and videocameras support FAT32, too. You can also move files to video game systems like the PlayStation 3, Xboxand Wii. Advantages: FAT32 offers near-universal interoperability with virtually every computing system on the planet.Ī drive formatted this way can easily transfer files between Macs and PCs. Otherwise, you may need to consider one of the file formats discussed below.
#IS FAT16 GOOD FOR MAC AND WINDOWS FOR MAC OS X#
The "Mac OS Extended Journaled " option will have the highest degree of support for Mac OS X features, and there's no limit to the size of files you can put on the drive.ĭisadvantages: Windows-running PCs can read files from drives formatted this way, but they can't write to them at least not without the same amount of work it takes to get OS X to write to NTFS-formatted drives. You can even set up an OS X startup drive if you have the right files, the know-how, and a big enough flash drive, which will allow you to boot your Mac off an external disk if something goes wrong with your built-in drive. I'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the other three formats below. There are several possible file system formats you can use for a USB flash drive, and changing them in Disk Utility is as easy as selecting the number of partitions you want on the drive usually just onepicking the format you want for the drive, and clicking "Apply.

Your new drive should appear in the left-hand column, and clicking the "Partition" tab will bring up info on the drive which includes its current format. How do you tell which format your brand-new USB drive has? Hook it up to your Mac and launch the Disk Utility app, located in your Utilities folder which is in Applications. If the drive comes formatted in NTFS, which is the default file system for Windows, you're going to want to re-format the drive because Mac OS X can't write files to NTFS-formatted volumes at least not without a bunch of extra work that's beyond the scope of this article.
