MacBook Pro - Cannot write to an External Hdd

Sonny · Sonny #1 (**permalink**)

01-15-2009, 12:40 PM

hello..i'm having bit of a problem using an external hard drive...i can read and copy off of it...but i can't write to it...a message pops up basically stating it cannot be modified...help plzz...

ADKhikerVW · ADKhikerVW #2 (**permalink**)

01-15-2009, 01:33 PM

How is the hard drive formatted? If it is formatted as NTFS you will not be able to write to the drive. It might be formatted this way if it was used in the past with a Windows system. You will need to back up any data on the drive and reformat in a way that Mac OS X can read and write to. Generally, if you are only going to use this with a Mac, this would be Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you need to use it with both a Mac and a Windows computer, you can format as MS-DOS (FAT32) and have read and write capabilities on both systems.

To format the drive go to /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility

TheInvsbleMan · TheInvsbleMan #3 (**permalink**)

01-15-2009, 01:37 PM

What file system is in use on the drive?

I'm assuming it is probably NTFS which is a windows format Mac can read it but not write (at least without third party software).

Check out my post External HD NTFS for more info

TheInvsbleMan · TheInvsbleMan #4 (**permalink**)

01-15-2009, 01:38 PM

ADK you beat me to it. :-P

Jahova · Jahova #5 (**permalink**)

01-15-2009, 09:52 PM

For legality, Mac cannot allow writing to a Microsoft NTFS partition by default. It is possible to work around it using 3rd party software or other means. Here's a link for info.

How-to: Read and Write NTFS Windows Partition on Mac OS X - Stepcase Lifehack

NTFS write OSX - Google Search

For the most part, Linux is in the same boat. The Linux people (including myself) use something like "ntfs-3g" to write to NTFS partitions.

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MacBook Pro - Cannot write to an External Hdd

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Sonny #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 08, 2008 Posts: 6	01-15-2009, 12:40 PM hello..i'm having bit of a problem using an external hard drive...i can read and copy off of it...but i can't write to it...a message pops up basically stating it cannot be modified...help plzz...
	QUOTE Thanks

ADKhikerVW #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 18, 2007 Location: Wilmington, NY Posts: 715 Mac Specs: 15" Unibody MBP (2009), White MB (2009), iMac G4	01-15-2009, 01:33 PM How is the hard drive formatted? If it is formatted as NTFS you will not be able to write to the drive. It might be formatted this way if it was used in the past with a Windows system. You will need to back up any data on the drive and reformat in a way that Mac OS X can read and write to. Generally, if you are only going to use this with a Mac, this would be Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you need to use it with both a Mac and a Windows computer, you can format as MS-DOS (FAT32) and have read and write capabilities on both systems. To format the drive go to /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
	QUOTE Thanks

TheInvsbleMan #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Jun 05, 2007 Location: Ypsilanti, MI Posts: 274 Mac Specs: 15" MBP 2.4GHz 4GB, iPod Classic 120GB	01-15-2009, 01:38 PM ADK you beat me to it. :-P
	QUOTE Thanks

Jahova #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 13, 2009 Posts: 4	01-15-2009, 09:52 PM For legality, Mac cannot allow writing to a Microsoft NTFS partition by default. It is possible to work around it using 3rd party software or other means. Here's a link for info. How-to: Read and Write NTFS Windows Partition on Mac OS X - Stepcase Lifehack NTFS write OSX - Google Search For the most part, Linux is in the same boat. The Linux people (including myself) use something like "ntfs-3g" to write to NTFS partitions.
	QUOTE Thanks

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