The best file system for transferring 5 + GB files between OS X and Windows on removable media

Question

I need to transfer DVD image files between a computer running Windows XP and Mac using Leopard.

The machines are not connected through a fast network, and I have several USB drives floating around that I want to use, for example. 8 GB, 60 GB and 250 GB hard drives.

Sometimes files creep above 4 GB (the maximum size of a single file on FAT32), and I’m out of luck with NTFS on Leopard. I do not know any drivers for XP / Vista that support Mac file systems such as HFS.

Anyone have any suggestions as to which file system works best?

Thanks tom

Answer 1

What have you tried for NTFS on Leopard?

It is pretty simple:

• install MacFUSE and NTFS-3G .
• ???
• Profit

Answer 2

You can use split on a Mac to split files into 2GB fragments, and then recompile the fragments on Windows using copy .

 split -b 2048m file copy xxa + xxb file 

Answer 3

You can try the Linux file system, for example. from e2fs to mac (I only ever tried reading them, however). There are drivers for windows.

Alternatively, you can use the split utility on the macro to cut the file into smaller pieces and recombine them in windows.

Answer 4

Formatting in exFAT worked for me, it assumes some limitations with old windows, but that is not my business.