Best to format NTFS hard drive on Mac or Windows PC?
 

I have Paragon NTFS for Mac on my mac, & it enables me to write to NTFS & format a hard drive to windows NTFS in disk utility. I dont use a mac only, I go between windows & mac, & prefer my hard drives to be more cross platform, & since FAT32 has the file size limit, & it seems windows is still the more common computer, I thought NTFS would be good.

is it safe to format to NTFS like this? or is it better to format on a windows machine?

NTFS is a native file system to Windows. I'd always format on Windows, if possible.
The Paragon software will let Max OS X read/write the NTFS drive. But I wouldn't format it on the Mac.

What would be the best free windows programs that I can format/initialize a blank drive with? & how can I give my hard drive a name?

something that is reliable & simple to use, & for both windows xp & windows 7
I have read about others formats like exFAT, but I read that it is not the most well known or the most stable format.
I like the cross platform ability of FAT32, but the file size limit is a bit awkward to work around.

Never use a third-party program to format a drive. Use the OS.

Windows has the ability to format a drive by right-clicking on it in Windows Explorer ("My Computer"). A more round-about method, if needed, is to right-click My Computer, go to Manage, go to Disk Management, and right-click on the drive there. It's not too often that you'll need to go this route, but it can be needed on virgin drives (unformatted).

exFAT sucks. Don't waste your time on it. It's not very stable in my experience. NTFS is much better for regular Windows/Mac use. For Mac-only use, use the Mac Extended Journaled. For Linux, use what's needed for the task of the server or desktop system.

Thanks for info, I have a western digital 2tb hard drive that I formatted to NTFS in disk utility on my mac, should I go format it to NTFS again on a windows computer?

Is there data on it already? If so, then it's too late now. Just hope for the best. It may be fine.

yes there is some data, but I have an exact copy of this data on another hard drive, so I can do another recopy back onto this one.
and when I do backups between drives on my mac, or pc, should I format & wipe the backup drive each time to start clean? or do it incrementally through software or through the OS?

-- merged --

Oh, & I forgot to ask, how do I name a drive in windows? can I name in addition to a letter that windows assigns it?

On the formatting, I'd just leave it alone at this point.

I'd skip the "backup software" for backing up your photo/artwork/audio files. Just copying files in the OS (Windows Explorer, Mac OS X Finder). Delete what's old, add what's new. There's nothing to gain from constantly reformatting the drive.

To rename a drive in Windows, go to "My Computer", highlight the drive by clicking once on it, then press F2. Same as renaming a file.
That's how you give a volume a new name -- not drive letter, but volume name.

Do you think the formatting is ok? it was done on my mac with disk utility with paragon NTFS? I was just told this was not ideal, but since I have already done it will be ok?

The formatting is probably fine. Paragon is NOT junkware, after all. I wouldn't overthink it at this point. It'll be okay.
However, next time you format a drive, use the OS. And if it's NTFS, do it in Windows.