Western Digital Passport WDXML800UE (WDXML800UETE) 80 GB Hard Drive Logo
Kathleen Hopkins Posted on Mar 05, 2012
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My WD My Passport external Hard Drive ! TB formatted for Mac is not reading my files

I have photos on my hard drive that my computer can not read.

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  • Master 32,281 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 06, 2012
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A Windows PC computer will not read files on the WD hard drive that has been formatted on a MAC.
The fix.
Copy your photos onto the MAC computer then remove the WD hard drive and connect it to your Windows PC and format the WD hard drive in FAT32 file system.
After formatting has been completed remove the WD hard disk and connect it to the MAC computer. The MAC can read and write to a Windows FAT32 formated hard disk. You can now copy the photos from the MAC to the WD hard disk. When copying is complete, remove the WD hard drive and connect the WD hard drive to your Windows PC and you can now copy the photo from the WD hard disk to your Windows PC.

5 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 39 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 26, 2008

SOURCE: cannot copy large files onto my WD passport

Your drive is probably in FAT32 format.  FAT32 has a 4GB file limit that is why your 5GB movie isn't saving.  You will have to format the drive in Mac OS file format (HFS) using Disk Utility.
Unfortunately once its in Mac format the drive will not be recognized by windows PCs.  What I do is have a program called macdrive installed on my windows computers so that they can access mac format hard drives.
i hope this helps!

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Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Feb 24, 2009

SOURCE: WD My Passport Essential 250GB USB2.0 is not working in WIn 98SE

Try using a Usb 2 cable "The one that came with the WD My Passport " And put it directly to the PC...
In some cases, Like mine, I used an extended cable + the cable that came with the "WD My Passport" and i got the same problem ..
So i simply removed the extended cable and put the put "WD My Passport " directly to the PC with its own cable and the problem was solved to me ..
Samer.F

Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Mar 08, 2009

SOURCE: My I Mac doesn't recognize the WD 500GB external drive anymore

it must be initialised /mounted 1st for osx

hamster47

  • 739 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 17, 2009

SOURCE: Can't drag items into WD external hard drive (Mac OS X)

OK Where did the files on the drive come from if you can't write to it?
I'm suspecting that It's come from a PC and the disk is formatted NTFS.
Macs can read the NTFS but cannot write to it. They can read and write to FAT and other DOS formats.
If you are only going to use it on your Mac then you will have to reformat the drive.
First, copy every file you need to keep onto your HD (if you have room) then use Disk Utility (in the Utilities Folder) to erase and refomat as Mac OS Extended (Journalled).
Then copy all your files back on
If you need to use the drive on both Mac and Windows use the MS_DOS (FAT) option.

Anonymous

  • 3153 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 17, 2009

SOURCE: I have a WD My Book 1 TB external hard drive. It

One or more of the hints below will probably sort out most USB problems with most USB portable / external hard drives and OTHER devices (though not always)

A few things to check but assumes USB and Windows for other interfaces / operating systems (mac/ Linux) similar steps may be adapted to suit.

1. Ensure it is connected directly to the computer to a USB 2.0 port not a USB 1.0 port as this can have effects on performance and reliability

2. Use only the cables that came with it NOT one that fits that may have been lying around or is longer. Not all USB cables are equal even though they should be)

3. Do not connect through an external USB HUB unless that hub is USB 2.0 AND has its own power supply.

4. Use ONLY the power supply that came with it if it has an external power supply Don’t use any other unless you know it has both the same voltage and current rating e.g. 12V 500mA anything rated below that would not work properly. 5. Always use the same port for connecting your devices. Some devices do not like being switched about. If switched they may want to install software / drivers again. This can be especially true if you move a HUB to another port

6. For FLASH DRIVES you should ensure that the device is set for "quick removal" using the drive control panel properties or use the USB "Safely Remove Hardware" option. If you dont do this there is a very strong chance that any files you transfer may not be there when you plug into another computer.
7. It is possible to remove drives from the enclosures in most cases and connect directly inside a PC to fully check it.
You should also do this to cheack the drives connections are not bad inside the enclosure.
 
8. If none of the above steps help look at updating the drivers from the manufacturers web site in the support section.

9. If you checked and fixed anything there and still have issues then check your hardware from CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE.
Any exclamation marks by hardware need fixing before you investigate any further
10. ensure that you have set removable drives for "quick removal" or that you use the "Safly Remove Hardware" option often shown on the lower toolbar.It is possible that files my not be fully written to external devices before they are removed. This corrupts the file itself and even on occasion the drive.

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I have an external WD My Passport hard drive but Pages says it cannot create a file when I try to save a document on the external hard drive. Is it because the file format is not compatible with Imac? Can...

Apple Pages has a few bugs like this. There is a work around.
  1. Save to Desktop or Documents folder on the System Drive
  2. In Finder, move the file to your external drive.
  3. Now when you open the file from your external any saves will continue to go to your external drive.
It's a bit of a pain but works for now.
All the best
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When i connect my WD passport 1TB USB 3.0 on my television or my car, we can't read it. But it's ok on the computer. What can we do ?

what sort of computer do you have? mac is generally non-compatible with mainstream equip. does the hdd show up at all on the tv? If it does but you cant see any files, try removing the files from any folders, do you have any more info you can post?
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Plug hard drive from pc to mac now i cant open files on my pc and the icons have a short cut icon on them?

It appears to be a problem with the WD hard disk that has data that the PC cannot read.
I suggest you format the WD hard disk.
The WD hard drive must be formatted on a PC in FAT32 for you to exchange data between the MAC and the PC.
This will allow the MAC to see a PC hard disk and write files to the WD that the PC can open.
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When I plug in my WD My Passport drive I am asked to format it. I can read any files

Try running a scan disk and/or defrag it and see if it helps. If not, maybe you can trying copying all the files to another drive and then format your passport drive. After that, copy everything back to the drive and work normally with it.
Hope that helps!
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I'm not able to write files to my WD passport drive. It works fine in XP, but I have a Mac only..really not sure wat to do here..sos!

If the WD has been formatted in NTFS then the MAC cannot read or copy to this hard disk.
To make it compatible for the PC and MAC, format the WD Passport drive on your XP computer in FAT32 format. Then you can copy and exchange files between the PC and MAC.
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Xp not recognizing my 250gb WD passport

The Western Digital My Passport line, besides the Essential Series, is originally formated for a Mac (in the HFS+ format) and as such cannot be read by Windows PCs. You can either get a program to read the External such as Macdrive, or format it to NTFS or FAT32; formats that are readable by Windows. I would recommend formatting it to NTFS, because you can only transfer up to 4 Gigabyte files to FAT32, while NTFS is nearly limitless.
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Mac will find wd hard drive PC will not

The Mac disk format cannot see or read by a PC, the PC can see the external drive as a device only.
The way around this problem is to format the external drive with the PC, now you can fransfer/copy files to the external drive and when you plug it into the Mac, the MAC can read PC file formats, this also applies to USB memory sticks.
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