Can't get Windows to view my 1TB My Passport EXT HD. Above shows my active C drive and DVD ROM and a SD CARD all in BLUE. Data from the mac partition and reformat drive to something windows.
Hey guys, I'm new to this forum here, but I really need some insight into a huge problem I am having as of late. I'm running a Macbook Pro, and have a Seagate External Hard Drive connected to it. On the drive I have tons of movies, tons of music, and a bunch of photography. About a week ago I noticed that one of the folders with my photography was empty. None of the hard drive space was changed, but upon opening the folder it contained no files, they had disappeared.
Now two days ago, I went to open up the expansion drive, and ALL of the files had disappeared. But again, no space on the hard drive has changed. Weirdly enough, all of my music I have on that external i had previously added to my itunes library. When I open up itunes, I can play all my music, but when I open up the expansion drive, they have all disappeard?! I searched everywhere for an answer to this issue online but have not found anything to help me.
I'm a photographer and I have some major projects on there I need to get finished. If anyone could help me with this, I would be forever grateful! I had the very same issue with Seagate plus 2TB which was formatted in NTFS. All of a sudden around 800GB of data disappeared. The folder shows 0 bytes on disk. Disk utility on Mac didn't report any errors.
This is what worked for me to completely recover the entire data. Plug the hard drive into windows PC. Windows popped up a message saying that there are problems with the disk and should be fixed. Go ahead and allow windows to scan and fix the errors(looks like file indexes are messed up but Not bad sectors though).
All my data can be accessed post fix. Hi Cory, Run Repair Disk: open Disk Utility select your HD in the panel on the left side (the name of the external HD’s manufacturer and the model number) click Repair Disk at bottom of main window. Run this at least twice, and keep running it until it says “appears ok” twice in a row. If that doesn’t happen, you may need a stronger utility (such as DriveGenius, TechToolPro, DiskWarrior) or if the directory is damaged beyond repair, you may have a damaged HD which will need to be replaced (repair utilities can only repair the directory structure, not the HD itself).
When this is finished, quit Disk Utility and see if your files are visible. Note: if you are lucky enough to make it through this with your files intact, and if your files are of value to you (it sounds like they are), you need to back them up on a second external HD; all HDs kept in use will fail, and no one can accurately predict when. Thanks for the reply!
![My passport for mac instructions My passport for mac instructions](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125354286/377424699.png)
I actually tried the disk utility before and it will not even give me the option to select verify disk, or repair disk. I noticed this even when the drive was working.
As well i noticed, where you can select the preferences for the sidebar in the finder, they have the boxes to either show or hide an external drive, ipod, etc right. So when i deselect the option to view the external hard drive, it is still there. But when i delect the option to view ipod, then it goes away? Something really weird is going on here.
It cant be damaged because my music in itunes is still playing, but, i cannot view any of the files on there. I've been looking through a lot of this same issue here and elsewhere, and I'm appalled at the misdirection and finger-pointing that some people are throwing out. It is useful to run a Disk Repair, but when a file is missing, it's missing and you can't bring it back with a Disk Repair. Doing a Disk Repair might tell you that something was wrong with the directory structure that could have been involved in causing the files to disappear - but it doesn't help explain why files disappear when Disk Repair doesn't find anything wrong with the directory structure. And I've gone the extra step and used DiskWarrior to further test the drive.
I'm running Lion on my iMac. Everything is always kept up to date. I recently discovered many missing files in my external drive. Here's the scenario: Folder A contains folders B, C, and D.
There are files in all of A, B, C, and D. Suddenly, all files in B, C, and D disappeared. A Disk Repair found nothing wrong with the drive. I have been involved with some of my clients who were running Snow Leopard.
One of them lost dozens of photos from iPhoto, the other lost several different kinds of files from different places. I carefully examined their systems and could find nothing wrong, and my job is to know how to find a problem with a Mac and fix it. I have also ruled out anything that might have been user error. So, as far as I'm concerned, this condition of disappearing files has been around for a while.
If Apple doesn't want to acknowledge it, it's only because they haven't experienced it themselves - and nothing that happens in the field can ever be verified or reproduced on command. The one and only way I know of that would help track this down is a full Time Machine backup of the drives involved.
In my case, I would need a 5TB drive. And since files disappear from external drives as well as internal drives, it would also be necessary to have multiple Time Machine drives to swap in and out periodically in case the OS decides to wipe out files in Time Machine. Then, rather than wait to discover that a file is missing, the content (structure) of the latest Time Machine backup would have to be compared to previous backups and a report provided showing the differences. This can be done fairly easily using a shell script - something I am quite experienced doing - and it might even be turned into a utility app.
Something for me to work on. But even with this, it might take months before the user notices that the report is showing missing files that should not be missing. Human interaction is required for such a report. And on a daily basis, the user will delete files, so taking notice of which ones that are really missing will require some intense scrutiny and awareness by the user. That said, Apple needs to step up its own analysis of disappearing files - and quickly. And this means acknowledging that such a thing actually happens. Jrc39 wrote: I've been looking through a lot of this same issue here and elsewhere, and I'm appalled at the misdirection and finger-pointing that some people are throwing out.
It is useful to run a Disk Repair, but when a file is missing, it's missing and you can't bring it back with a Disk Repair. Doing a Disk Repair might tell you that something was wrong with the directory structure that could have been involved in causing the files to disappear - but it doesn't help explain why files disappear when Disk Repair doesn't find anything wrong with the directory structure.
And I've gone the extra step and used DiskWarrior to further test the drive. Hi j, Regarding Repair Disk and your first paragraph, I don't know what you know and don't know, so please don't be offended it you already know this, but maybe it would help if you understood that the file's name, stored in the directory, is not the file itself, it's just a 'tag' (or think of it like a map giving directions where to find the data itself) to locate the actual data file. When the directory gets corrupted, it can lose the 'link' between the file name and the actual data file. Rebuilding/restoring the directory can put the two back together again, therebye allowing you to see the data file that you could not before. Does it always work that way? Certainly not, but sometimes it does.
You are right about the link. I'm not offended. I've repaired broken links and recovered deleted files before.
And I did mention that when Repair Disk and DiskWarrior can't find anything wrong, why is it that the missing file can't be explained why it's missing? It's all too easy to shrug our shoulders over things like this and say, 'S. I've worked in the industry all my working life and ran into that shrugging every time the developer has more on his mind than fixing something that he/she doesn't have a clear way to reproduce the problem. And I can't fault them for that. I have given a suggestion for how to troubleshoot that problem, and it's something I'll work on for myself.
Until then, I'm just one more person who has experienced, 'those files were there yesterday, and today they're gone! What happened to them?' We may never know the answer to that question, but at least I may have some satisfaction in knowing when it happens - down to the most recent backup. But even with that proof, it's not likely to move development into finding such a ghost. Thanks for getting involved.
Hi All I had the same problem on Mac with NTFS drive, I had about 12 folders with video footage and suddenly 2 of them got emptied. I looked for hours how to solve this issue.
What worked for me was that I attached drive to windows machine and the first thing that appeared on screen was system question if I want to scan drive for problems or run without scan, when I clicked to make the scan, after few minutes I got message that my problems were fixed and I can find my missing files in folder called 'found', certainly there was no such a folder but my files were back in the original locations and I was able to transfer them to exFat drive and use them on MAC without any problems Hope this will help some of You. I had the very same issue with Seagate plus 2TB which was formatted in NTFS.
All of a sudden around 800GB of data disappeared. The folder shows 0 bytes on disk. Disk utility on Mac didn't report any errors. This is what worked for me to completely recover the entire data. Plug the hard drive into windows PC.
Windows popped up a message saying that there are problems with the disk and should be fixed. Go ahead and allow windows to scan and fix the errors(looks like file indexes are messed up but Not bad sectors though). All my data can be accessed post fix. Apple Footer. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of any proposed solutions on the community forums.
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File Systems HFS+ This is the principal file system of Mac OS X. It is a journalled, relatively modern file system that supports POSIX permissions, and features at least limited automatic defragmenting of files. Mac OS X is capable of mounting these volumes for reading and writing, and has full capabilities to utilize them. Mac OS X systems can also only boot from hard disks formatted in this system (as well as bootable optical media). Windows has no native support for this format, but third party tools such as MacDrive allow for limited read/write support on Windows systems.
NTFS This is the current preferred file system of Windows (beginning predominance circa Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, and including Windows XP). Most Windows systems use principle partitions with this file system. This is a journalled file system with good support for large files. It should be noted that it does NOT support POSIX permissions or ownership. Mac OS X has read only support for this format.
It has no capabilities to write to an NTFS drive. Windows has complete read/write capabilities for this format. FAT32 FAT32 is a legacy file system in the Windows world.
However, it is still widely used as almost all Flash-based drives use this format. Mac OS X supports this format for both reading and writing, as does Windows.
It has notable limitations, including difficulties with files of size larger than 4 GB. Also, as with NTFS, this file system does not support POSIX and permission / ownership errors could arise when files are moved back and forth between this file system and a POSIX-compliant file system. Ext2 Ext2 is a relatively modern filesystem that is used primarily in Linux environments. It features many of the same creature comforts as OS X, including a journal and the ability to use large files (e.g. Bigger than the 4 GB limit in FAT32). This file system is not natively supported in either OS X or Windows, but free extensions are available for both operating systems that allow basically full read/write utilization of this filesystem on both OS X and Windows. The Mac OS implementation is available at Sourceforge; the Windows implementation is available here.
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Comparison Another important distinction that should be noted is that all of the above is based on disks mounted under the given operating system. Limitations can be bypassed by serving a disk from a server for which the format is native. For instance, a Windows client that is accessing a served HFS+ disk that is served from a Mac OS X computer (a 'shared' disk across the network) can write to that disk if the server has granted permission. Likewise, while a Mac OS computer cannot write to an NTFS volume it mounts itself, it can write to an NTFS volume being served by a Windows computer. One important question that gets asked frequently at MacRumors is: how should I format my external device? Here are some suggestions, based on the above limitations of each filesystem.
If the device will only be used on a Mac OS X computer, use HFS+. This will offer the most complete support for Mac OS X features.
If the device will only be used in Windows, use NTFS, for the same rationale. If the device will be mounted on both Windows and Mac computers, and you will not be using very large files (all files. Click to expand.Look, I have already formated my passport for mac using HFS+, NTFS and FAT32 but when I connect it on a Windows Vista notebook, it detects the drive, but the icon doesnt appear. Its like: 'There IS a hard drive here. But I will not show you, da da da daaa!'
I looked up many threads here, but no success. I saw in another forum that I should use a cable that has 2 USB ends, because Windows requires more power to make the hard drive to work. I thought: 'Thats insane. ' Its getting hard to make this piece of.
work. You can't format a hard drive as all three of those filesystems unless you partitioned the hard drive.
And even if you did that, what you store in the partition that is formated as HFS+ will still not be visible to the Windows computer. I'm not sure if a hard drive that big can be formated as FAT32, but that is the file system that you want to format the drive as to be able to read and write from both Mac OS X and Windows. The 'for Mac' part of the brand is only for marketing purposes really. Any hard drive will work, you have the same Passport as the non-for-Mac version, but its just formatted with HFS+ out of the box. Look, I have already formated my passport for mac using HFS+, NTFS and FAT32 but when I connect it on a Windows Vista notebook, it detects the drive, but the icon doesnt appear.
Its like: 'There IS a hard drive here. But I will not show you, da da da daaa!' I looked up many threads here, but no success. I saw in another forum that I should use a cable that has 2 USB ends, because Windows requires more power to make the hard drive to work.
I thought: 'Thats insane. ' Its getting hard to make this piece of. work. Look, I have already formated my passport for mac using HFS+, NTFS and FAT32 but when I connect it on a Windows Vista notebook, it detects the drive, but the icon doesnt appear. Its like: 'There IS a hard drive here. But I will not show you, da da da daaa!'
I looked up many threads here, but no success. I saw in another forum that I should use a cable that has 2 USB ends, because Windows requires more power to make the hard drive to work. I thought: 'Thats insane. ' Its getting hard to make this piece of. work. You can't format a hard drive as all three of those filesystems unless you partitioned the hard drive. And even if you did that, what you store in the partition that is formated as HFS+ will still not be visible to the Windows computer.
I'm not sure if a hard drive that big can be formated as FAT32, but that is the file system that you want to format the drive as to be able to read and write from both Mac OS X and Windows. The 'for Mac' part of the brand is only for marketing purposes really.
Any hard drive will work, you have the same Passport as the non-for-Mac version, but its just formatted with HFS+ out of the box. With regards to the 2 USB cables question, some COMPUTERS cannot provide enough power to USB hard drives through one cable. This is not specifically a Windows problem. I had the same issue a couple of years back with a Formac external drive. It looks like your Mac provides enough power which is why it's okay on the Mac but not on the PC. You need to use a cable with two ends: one for power, one for data.
If the drive didn't come with that, you might need to buy one from elsewhere. Alternatively, if the drive has a separate AC power port you can supply power to it through that. With regards to the 2 USB cables question, some COMPUTERS cannot provide enough power to USB hard drives through one cable. This is not specifically a Windows problem. I had the same issue a couple of years back with a Formac external drive. It looks like your Mac provides enough power which is why it's okay on the Mac but not on the PC.
You need to use a cable with two ends: one for power, one for data. If the drive didn't come with that, you might need to buy one from elsewhere. Alternatively, if the drive has a separate AC power port you can supply power to it through that. If the computer is not suplying enough power you'll know because the drive will make repeated clicking noises every few seconds. Also you will not feel the slight vibration of the disk spinning. These are two easy ways to confirm it's power and not configuration. I have the WD Passport Studio which has USB2 and FW800 and on my old PBG4 it could not deliver enough power to the drive on USB and it would click once every 1-2 seconds forever.
That's why I bought the FW800 drive because I connect it on FW and have no power problems. Power really should not be an issue on most computers, I think my PBG4 was in the minority that it could not power the drive via USB. Desktop computers especially they should have no difficulties powering the drive via USB. Are all the computers you connect laptops?