NTFS partition in OSX question.

[mfacey]

I installed Bootcamp and WinXP pro on my girlfriend's macbook yesterday. I formatted the windows partition as NTFS. Now when the macbook is in OSX it shows up on the desktop as "untitled".

Because NTFS is read-only I can't change its label to something more sensible like "Windows partition". Is there a way for me to adjust the name of this disk in OSX (possibly through windows?)? Also, is it possible to change the icon from the standard OSX harddisk icon to something more fun?


Thanks for your help!

 

[htdefiant]

I installed Bootcamp and WinXP pro on my girlfriend's macbook yesterday. I formatted the windows partition as NTFS. Now when the macbook is in OSX it shows up on the desktop as "untitled".

Because NTFS is read-only I can't change its label to something more sensible like "Windows partition". Is there a way for me to adjust the name of this disk in OSX (possibly through windows?)? Also, is it possible to change the icon from the standard OSX harddisk icon to something more fun?


Thanks for your help!

To do this:

1. Boot from XP
2. Open My Computer
3. Right Click on the drive that has XP on it
4. Select Properties
5. Rename the Disk

Did that do it?

 

[mfacey]

That did the trick for the name. Quite simple in the end .

Now, what about that boring icon?

 

[balamw]

That did the trick for the name. Quite simple in the end .

Now, what about that boring icon?

Search for .VolumeIcon.icns...

B

 

[mfacey]

Search for .VolumeIcon.icns...

B

I don't really want to change the standard system icon set if I don't have to. You can change pretty much every other icon by means of "get info" in OSX. Why not this one?

 

[7on]

I don't really want to change the standard system icon set if I don't have to. You can change pretty much every other icon by means of "get info" in OSX. Why not this one?

because you can't write to NTFS volumes.

 

[mfacey]

because you can't write to NTFS volumes.

Fair enough. I figured that. But its odd that something like the icon (which is retrieved from the Mac library) can't be changed. Guess its just not possible. Maybe Apple will fix it in a future release.

 

[balamw]

I don't really want to change the standard system icon set if I don't have to. You can change pretty much every other icon by means of "get info" in OSX. Why not this one?

It's not changing the system icon set, but is due to the fact you can't write to the file system. Make the changes on the NTFS file system under Windows and you'll be fine.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/226761/
http://forum.insanelymac.com/lofiversion/index.php/t19295.html

B

 

[blakebinkley]

can't write to NTFS....

because you can't write to NTFS volumes.

so would it be advisable to set up a 3rd partition as Fat32 for transferring data between the Windows XP and OSX systems?

would that be done through the Bootcamp partition system?

thanks

 

[mfacey]

so would it be advisable to set up a 3rd partition as Fat32 for transferring data between the Windows XP and OSX systems?

would that be done through the Bootcamp partition system?

thanks

In order to access the files on the HFS+ partition through windows (which is only used occasionally) we use MacDrive. Works great. It allows Windows to read and write to HFS+ formatted drives. You should give it a try. Either that or use FAT32. This format, however, has too many drawbacks as far as I'm concerned.

 

[balamw]

would that be done through the Bootcamp partition system?

Unfortunately, no.

B

 

[The General]

Replacing the Mac partition's icon

1.- Go to your desktop and select the HDD that you want to personalize

If you don't have your partitions showed in the desktop, you can always go to your computer's folder by pressing Shift+Command+C

2.- Right click the icon and select Get Info or press Command+I

3.- Select the new HDD's icon, right click it and select Get Info

4.- In the new icon's Get Info window, click the icon's icon (the one next to its name)

5.- Copy the icon by selecting the Edit>Copy menu or pressing Command+C

6.- Go to the HDD's Get Info window and click the HDD's icon (the one next to its name)

7.- Paste the icon by selecting the Edit>Paste menu or pressing Command+V

Voilá! Your Mac partition has a new icon


Replacing the XP Partition's icon
If you use a NTFS file system, you will not be able to modify the XP Partition's icon by the "Get Info" procedure. Follow this instructions to see how you can change your XP Partition's icon

1.- Format a USB stick with a FAT file system (you can use any volume really, but it needs to be FAT).

2.- In Mac OS X, set a custom volume icon using the Finder's "More info" window or any tool of your choice.

3.- Open a Terminal window, enter

cd /Volumes
 ls -la

You'll see a file listed that has the same name as the FAT volume, but with a "._" prepended. For example, "._USBSTICK".

4.-Copy that file to the equivalent name for the Windows XP NTFS partition by typing in the terminal

cp ._USBSTICK ._WinXP

5.- Transfer the ".VolumeIcon.icns" file created on the FAT file system to the root of the NTFS partition, using Windows.

6.- Open a Command Prompt and Enter in "attrib +H +S .VolumeIcon.icns" from the root of your NTFS partition. This will make the file a Hidden, System file, which hides it from curious passers by and even if you have the show hidden and systems files it will not show up in your NTFS partition.


Congratulations! Now your XP partition has a new icon

Source: http://wiki.onmac.net/index.php/Personalize_your_bootloader