Hard Drive Problem and Mac

Please, it's urgent.

Hello heisenberg61 :)

When I was reading your message, I was wondering which device (besides your MAC) your WD HDD has been connected to... Could you specify what the main use of this external HDD is, please? (backups, watching movies on TV, etc.). Have you recently updated the software on your MAC? Were there any signs of weakness shown by your HDD?

Another question arises, @heisenberg61: what is the current format of this HDD? To check this information: on your MAC > access Disk Utility > you will see some tabs at the top of the window (First Aid / Erase / Partition / RAID / Restore - this depends on the version of MAC OS you have) > under the Partition tab you will see the window with the hierarchy of HDDs on the left > the representation of the partition(s) will display in the middle of the window > to the right of this image, you will see the Volume Information: name / format / size.

@heisenberg61, does this HDD contain any content that you would like to recover?

If so, and as a precaution, you could try one of the methods suggested here https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-37640569-recuperer-des-donnees-sur-disque-dur-et-cle-usb or a Linux Live CD that could allow access to the HDD.

I will keep an eye on the topic :)
Let me know the details, please!
A+

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Hello,

heisenberg61- May 31, 2015 at 5:36 PM
Hello, 
When I bought it I did the steps to make it compatible with my Mac, but I don't think I remember formatting it

Making it compatible with Mac implies that it should be formatted in Mac OS Extended since the Mac by default cannot write to an NTFS format intended for Windows (it can only read it). To write on it, you need to install Paragon NTFS for Mac.

But before a simple formatting, you also need to consider the partition scheme chosen based on your needs. A hard drive contains at least one partition, and this partition, also called a "volume," is "based" on a given scheme.
See detailed information here:
https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-30438967-reformater-dd-lacie-de-fat-32-en-hfs-compatibilite-windows-8#2

or here:
https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-37636360-disques-durs-externes-ou-cles-usb-sous-mac-os

Best regards

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To get an appropriate answer, always indicate your exact system configuration
Have a good day :-) - Francis

Thank you for your feedback, @heisenberg61 :)

Before we continue our conversation, I would like to clarify a few points regarding file systems (formats) that different operating systems support :) The file system of a hard drive is the language that allows the OS to communicate with that drive. Each OS knows a few languages (file systems), and if the hard drive has a format different from what the OS supports, communication between the two remains disrupted. The Mac OS Extended (journaled) format is specific to Mac OS, and for this reason, it is not recognized by Windows. @*_Francis_* details and explains all of this in his message :).

It seems to me that to recover the data, you could apply one of the alternative methods here https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-37640569-recuperer-des-donnees-sur-disque-dur-et-cle-usb#sous-mac or go through a Linux Live CD. Once the data is safe, you could reformat your hard drive by following the steps indicated here: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=SuUzxd

Please keep us updated on the progress, and if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask them :)
Talk to you later

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If you found the answer to your question, don't hesitate to click on Resolved to help other members with the same issue ;)