Can an external hd be formatted for use on a mac and a pc?

[SAWYER]

It already has files on it, I want to make it where I can swap between a mac and pc

 

[Ka0t1x]

Depends on the sizes of files, Fat32, but you cannot have files >4Gb.

 

[SAWYER]

What program would I use? The external hd already has files on it

 

[TheStu]

OS X can read NTFS (but not write to it), and both Windows and OS X can read/write to FAT32.

If you bought it from a store and didn't do anything to it, then it is probably FAT32 formatted in which case you are ready to go.

If you want to get rid of the 4GB file size limit then you should reformat it to exFAT, assuming;
A: you have backed up the files
B: you have Snow Leopard or later on your Mac
C: you have Vista or later on your PC

 

[SAWYER]

I have files scattered on it and my desktop, I want to make sure I am not missing anything before I format it. is there an easy way to do this?

 

[SKORPI0]

I use MacFUSE for OS X to read/write on a NTFS drive.
I use MacDrive for Windows to read/write on a HFS(Journaled) drive.

There a times I need to access, read, and write to those some files while using either Windows 7 or OS X Lion on a dual boot system. Usually docs, bmp, jpgs, excel files. Always maintain a backup of important ones just in case.

 

[ViRGE]

I have files scattered on it and my desktop, I want to make sure I am not missing anything before I format it. is there an easy way to do this?

Copy the files off of it, then right-click and format? I'm not sure what you're asking for. Pick a format and go for it.