WD drive was formatted on a Mac with FAT32 filesystem and can't be read/used with Windows

WD External Drives External Drives for PC
1

My WD 1TB Passport drive is not working.

The 1TB external drive was formated on a Mac, as a FAT32 file system.

Now, the 1TB Passport can’t be read by a Windows computer.

How can I read the data on the 1TB Passport drive using a Windows computer?

2

Hello,

If you access your Windows computer Disk Management what’s the drive status? Is the drive unallocated? If the drive is indeed unallocated you will need to change the drive volume and reformat the unit to make fully compatible with Windows.

3

Thanks for the suggestions.

I hope it is not necessary to reformat it. The My Passport was formated with a FAT32 filesystem (using Disk Utility on a Mac (OS 10.8.3), and I believe a Windows computer can read a FAT32 filesystem.

I suspect there is an issue with the WD security system…

4

It might be some issue because you formatted the drive on a Mac even though it is FAT32 there may be something present causing a problem with Windows 7. Also FAT32 is known for corruption problems . Does the drive show in Disk Management and the Device Manager?  Have you tried different USB ports preferably one on the back? Don’t use a cable longer than the one proviced or use a hub.

Joe

5

Apparently it was an issue with the USB port on the PC that was preventing the My Passport drive from conencting.

Thanks to those community members who provided advice.