Can a hard drive handle files from different OSs?

[vil_iam1]

Hi! Sorry if the question is worded weirdly, but recently I've been thinking of buying a 500gb SSD for my PC to install OSX on so I can use xCode. I already have a Macbook Pro, and it's great, but when working at home it would be much easier to deal with on a PC, since it is much faster (my macbook tends to lag sometimes when connected to a monitor for some reason) and having multiple screens would be useful (I know I could just hook up some cables for my macbook but its a hassle). I've checked my parts for my PC and they are compatible for OSX.

But I don't want to use OSX too often, so I would love it if I could use Windows files on that SSD as well (i.e. installing some steam games and other programs). So when I boot with Windows on my original ssd, would I still be able to use the new ssd to put files onto it, or is that ssd reserved for OSX?

Also, would I be able to put OSX files in another hdd drive with other windows files? Thanks! Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm not very experienced with using two different OSs on a PC.

 

[Jasjar]

Yes you can put windows and OSX files on the same drive. It will not be "reserved" for OSX. But the drive must be formatted to fat32 or NTFS (windows doesn't recognize the file partitions types used by OSX). Fat32 will work without any extra programs but has a size limit for files: 4gb. NTFS will require a program that adds support for NTFS.

 

[duck_of_death]

Yes. Search the forums for 'dual boot'. It's a common question. For the rest, what jasjar said is correct.

 

[vil_iam1]

Thank you both! I apologise if it's a common question... perhaps I was searching for it wrong because I couldn't find anything on it when googling it :/ anyways, thanks again

 

[duck_of_death]

Thank you both! I apologise if it's a common question... perhaps I was searching for it wrong because I couldn't find anything on it when googling it :/ anyways, thanks again

I wasn't criticizing. I just meant that you will be able to find an answer quite easily, now that you know the key phrase to search for. 🙂