MacBook - External Hard Drive Help!!!!

atoosa · atoosa #1 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:02 AM

Hi Guys, Wonder If You Could Help

I Bought A Travelstar External Hard Drive From Ebay And Im Having Trouble Getting It To Work.
I Plugged It Into My Mac It The Hd Icon Came Up But When I Try To Put Files Into It It Says The Files Cannot Be Entered Into The Hd Because The Hd Cannot Be Modified

The Hd Came With One Of Those Tiny Disks Which Means I Cant Install The Drivers Because It Will Get Stuck In The Macs Built In Cd Drive.

Was Wondering If Anyone Could Help! Id Be Sooooo Grateful!!!!!!!! Thanks!

goobimama · goobimama #2 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:23 AM

Right click on the mounted hard drive and select "Get Info". if it says NTFS in the file system, which I think it is, you cannot write to it.

You will have to open Disk Utility (applications > utilities > disk utility). Then select your external in the sidebar, and click "Erase" tab. There format it to "MS DOS file system" if you want to move data between PCs and macs. Or if this is going to be a mac only hard drive, then make it HFS journaled.

goobimama · goobimama #3 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:24 AM

Or, i forgot to mention, you could buy this software Paragon-NTFS for mac which will enable writing to NTFS drives.

atoosa · atoosa #4 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:29 AM

thanks so much! ive got to the bit where i clicked erase the options that i have now are MAC OS EXTENDED (journaled), mac os extended, mac os extended case sensitive journaled, mac os extended case sensitive or UNIX FILE SYSTEM, which one do i choose!?!?!??

goobimama · goobimama #5 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:41 AM

Sure you aren't getting MS DOS (FAT)? Well you have to click the partition, and not the physical hard drive itself. The physical drive will be shown as "250GB Seagate" while the partition will be indented with "anyname". Select the partition and not the physical drive. Alternatively, you could select the physical drive, then select "Partition" and do the same thing (1 partition, MS DOS).

atoosa · atoosa #6 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:43 AM

it seems to be working now :S i after i clicked erase the hd icon labelled itself as unknown and i tried dragging a file into it and it works now.... how bizarre!!!!

NPuter · NPuter #7 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:48 AM

you probably formatted it as Mac OS Extended... be aware that windows machines will not be able to read the hard drive... if you want to use the drive on both platforms you need to format it as fat32 (MS-DOS)

atoosa · atoosa #8 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:50 AM

i only want to use it on my mac, so is that fine? and yes i did format it as mac os extended....... is that ok then?!

goobimama · goobimama #9 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:50 AM

You may have formatted into Mac HFS journaled or something. Do a get info and see which format it is. Cause if it is HFS, it won't read on Windows...

atoosa · atoosa #10 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 07:54 AM

i dont need it to work on windows only my mac!

goobimama · goobimama #11 (**permalink**)

12-09-2007, 08:18 AM

^ I was actually replying to "it seems to be working now :S.... how bizarre!!!!" post of yours.

Mac OS extended is the best way to go. HFS is a really good file system and is also compatible with Time Machine, if you are using Leopard.

If however, you need to use the drive on a PC for some reason, then you can get this app "MacDrive" for windows. It allows read/write for HFS in Windows..

NPuter #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 15, 2007 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 989 Mac Specs: 15" 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook Pro - 4GB Ram - 120GB HD OS X Leopard - Windows XP	12-09-2007, 07:48 AM you probably formatted it as Mac OS Extended... be aware that windows machines will not be able to read the hard drive... if you want to use the drive on both platforms you need to format it as fat32 (MS-DOS) "The forums are not only a place to have questions answered, they are a place to be part of a community..."
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atoosa #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 47 Mac Specs: Macbook White	12-09-2007, 07:02 AM Hi Guys, Wonder If You Could Help I Bought A Travelstar External Hard Drive From Ebay And Im Having Trouble Getting It To Work. I Plugged It Into My Mac It The Hd Icon Came Up But When I Try To Put Files Into It It Says The Files Cannot Be Entered Into The Hd Because The Hd Cannot Be Modified The Hd Came With One Of Those Tiny Disks Which Means I Cant Install The Drivers Because It Will Get Stuck In The Macs Built In Cd Drive. Was Wondering If Anyone Could Help! Id Be Sooooo Grateful!!!!!!!! Thanks!
	QUOTE Thanks

goobimama #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 2,542 Mac Specs: iMac Core Duo 20", iBook G4, iPhone 8GB :)	12-09-2007, 07:23 AM Right click on the mounted hard drive and select "Get Info". if it says NTFS in the file system, which I think it is, you cannot write to it. You will have to open Disk Utility (applications > utilities > disk utility). Then select your external in the sidebar, and click "Erase" tab. There format it to "MS DOS file system" if you want to move data between PCs and macs. Or if this is going to be a mac only hard drive, then make it HFS journaled.
	QUOTE Thanks

atoosa #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 47 Mac Specs: Macbook White	12-09-2007, 07:29 AM thanks so much! ive got to the bit where i clicked erase the options that i have now are MAC OS EXTENDED (journaled), mac os extended, mac os extended case sensitive journaled, mac os extended case sensitive or UNIX FILE SYSTEM, which one do i choose!?!?!??
	QUOTE Thanks

goobimama #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 2,542 Mac Specs: iMac Core Duo 20", iBook G4, iPhone 8GB :)	12-09-2007, 07:41 AM Sure you aren't getting MS DOS (FAT)? Well you have to click the partition, and not the physical hard drive itself. The physical drive will be shown as "250GB Seagate" while the partition will be indented with "anyname". Select the partition and not the physical drive. Alternatively, you could select the physical drive, then select "Partition" and do the same thing (1 partition, MS DOS).
	QUOTE Thanks

atoosa #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 47 Mac Specs: Macbook White	12-09-2007, 07:43 AM it seems to be working now :S i after i clicked erase the hd icon labelled itself as unknown and i tried dragging a file into it and it works now.... how bizarre!!!!
	QUOTE Thanks

atoosa #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 47 Mac Specs: Macbook White	12-09-2007, 07:50 AM i only want to use it on my mac, so is that fine? and yes i did format it as mac os extended....... is that ok then?!
	QUOTE Thanks

goobimama #9 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 2,542 Mac Specs: iMac Core Duo 20", iBook G4, iPhone 8GB :)	12-09-2007, 07:50 AM You may have formatted into Mac HFS journaled or something. Do a get info and see which format it is. Cause if it is HFS, it won't read on Windows...
	QUOTE Thanks

atoosa #10 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 47 Mac Specs: Macbook White	12-09-2007, 07:54 AM i dont need it to work on windows only my mac!
	QUOTE Thanks

goobimama #11 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 28, 2006 Posts: 2,542 Mac Specs: iMac Core Duo 20", iBook G4, iPhone 8GB :)	12-09-2007, 08:18 AM ^ I was actually replying to "it seems to be working now :S.... how bizarre!!!!" post of yours. Mac OS extended is the best way to go. HFS is a really good file system and is also compatible with Time Machine, if you are using Leopard. If however, you need to use the drive on a PC for some reason, then you can get this app "MacDrive" for windows. It allows read/write for HFS in Windows..
	QUOTE Thanks

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