Finder won't find folder on external hdd

[Fazzl]

I have a file with a bunch of .avi files on my external hdd but when i plug it into my mac it doesnt find that folder...

 

[triddent222]

is the External HDD formated as NTFS?

as a matter of fact, I dont even know If it is supposed to work...uhm...it should though.

 

[Fazzl]

It is formated as "Windows NT File System"

All the folders and file work except for the one I want...

 

[Fazzl]

WTF i just plugged it back into my windows laptop and the drive doesnt even show up...

 

[dacreativeguy]

I had a situation once where a disk I wanted to search somehow got into the Spotlight ignore list. So check that too.

 

[triddent222]

you should think about formating your Ext. HDD to FAT32...it will allow you to read and write on both Mac and Pc, and it should be a little more compatible i guess. While Mac can READ NTFS partitions, im not really confident on its abilities. I have an Ext. HDD (which was original NTFS), and it was kinda weird, it would pop up in the desktop, and after a while, disappear (I know some HDD shut off to save power, but they would still show on the desktop, this one however, just dissapeared, I had to manually turn it off, and back on again). Once I formatted it to FAT32 it worked wonderfully.

Anyways, if you dont have a bunch of data, you should copy all of it to another HDD, and format it to FAT32....just a suggestion though.

 

[kolax]

Mac's can read NTFS but can't write to them.

But, can't comment on the reliability of reading NTFS though - could explain why some of your data doesn't show up.

Format it as HFS+ (Mac format) and you can use a 3rd party tool to access the drive on your Windows machine. Or..you could format it as FAT32 so both can read and write to the drive, but then you would restricted to 4GB maximum file size.

 

[triddent222]

Or..you could format it as FAT32 so both can read and write to the drive, but then you would restricted to 4GB maximum file size.

True, the 4GB maximum file size is a bit annoying >.> ... No Dual Layer DVD images for me I suppose...but well, I don't find those a whole lot...Maybe if you're using large video files (HD...) it could be a bother as well...idk