Lover of quiet computers Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 I have a Lexar thumb drive that I have used exclusively in Windows environments. Yet at the school I attend, we have a Power Mac G5I’m afraid to insert it into the Mac’s USB port without knowing if it could cause any undesirable effects on the drive itself, or on the computer (which is shared).Are there any concerns of which I should be aware when using this drive on a Mac? Will Windows XP and OS X be able to manipulate (not necessarily open) the same files on the thumb drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Hey,One question, does your Lexar drive have encryption software that you access on a Windows machine to encrypt/decrypt the data???If it doesn't: You wont have any problems. I have a SanDisk 256 USB drive, and I easily switch it from my Mac to various Windows PCs. OS X won't format it or erase your data.There will however be one small thing. Every-time you save files to your drive on the Mac, it will save a second hidden file with the same name, but will be 1k and will have a period in front of it. On the PC, just ignore them, on the Mac, you wont see them. Also, if you delete files on the drive (on the Mac), make sure you empty your trash before ejecting the drive; because when you delete a file it stays in a hidden trash folder until you empty the trash.Oh, just make sure you eject the drive on the Mac, instead of just unplugging it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lover of quiet computers Posted June 17, 2004 Author Share Posted June 17, 2004 One question, does your Lexar drive have encryption software that you access on a Windows machine to encrypt/decrypt the data???No, I don't use encryption software. (Should I?)Thanks; my Lexar drive has worked great on OS X. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 No, I don't use encryption software. (Should I?)Not unless you are transfering really secretive stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 I asked that because most USB Flash drives come with Windows only encryption software. If you were using it, you wouldn't be able to access your data via the Mac. That is unless you encrypt the files using an encryption thats on both OSs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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