External HD

cliffw0970 · cliffw0970 #1 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 07:49 AM

Hi All

I bought a mac book a few weeks ago, I was using an external HD with my Windows laptop to save music, pics, videos etc

When I plug the HD into the Mac I can see the images and take the music to itunes etc but I cant add anything to it or change files within in it etc

Any ideas?

Thanks

jonkovach · jonkovach #2 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 09:29 AM

First thing I think of is to check the permissions levels...?

Vinny Vegas · Vinny Vegas #3 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 11:56 AM

Have same issue...working w/ Apple store next Monday for solution. I think it has do do w/ creating shared folders w/in each environment...

My work around has been to drag items needed to Mac desktop so I can have it on Mac side to work w/ or view.

I'm sure it's pretty simple in making this seamless but I haven't taken too much time in trying to figure it out...

Hope we can get a solution here...

aquariaguy · aquariaguy #4 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 12:13 PM

Having the same problem too. It's frustrating because I can't transfer big files that I have on my mac to my harddrive. How do i put stuff on my HD?? Anyone know? I can't even delete anything off the HD. I don't have my PC anymore so what do I do?!

eric · eric #5 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 12:35 PM

check the format of the drive.

it's most likley NTFS. natively a mac can read but not modify/delete files on an NTFS drive. format the drive FAT32 if you want to access the drive on both win and osx. alternately there are third party apps for both win and mac to read/write the other native file system (NTFS or HFS+).

05GT · 05GT #6 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 12:55 PM

It's because the drive is formatted in NTFS. That makes it read only when plugged into your Mac.

Vinny Vegas · Vinny Vegas #7 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 03:01 PM

Makes sense...

Reformatting Ext HD, will that wipe out all the data & make it clean? I'll assume YES so that data needs to be moved elsewhere then moved back on...

Thx

Vinny Vegas · Vinny Vegas #8 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric

check the format of the drive.

it's most likley NTFS. natively a mac can read but not modify/delete files on an NTFS drive. format the drive FAT32 if you want to access the drive on both win and osx. alternately there are third party apps for both win and mac to read/write the other native file system (NTFS or HFS+).

Should this be done if you are trying to go straight Mac? The files I have are pictures, video, XLS, PPT, WORD files...all created from the PC side.

I want to be able to access them, use them, change & save while also using Ext HD as a backup & storage for Mac...

Thx

eric · eric #9 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 03:09 PM

if you're going entirely mac, you can format HFS+ which will be a little more stable than FAT and suport larger file sizes (> 4GB). The "windows" files can be stored on any file system, it will just be trickier to get tham back on a windows pc if you ever need to do that.

05GT · 05GT #10 (**permalink**)

11-05-2008, 04:00 PM

Here's a thread I started a while back.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-...fs-drives.html

cliffw0970 · cliffw0970 #11 (**permalink**)

11-06-2008, 06:46 AM

Thanks to all that replied, I fully understand my issue now and can set about getting the drive formatted, dont suppose will be too chuffed about me borrowing 500gb HD space to dump my files to so I can format the disk though lol

eric #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 04, 2006 Location: twin cities, mn, usa Posts: 8,708	11-05-2008, 12:35 PM check the format of the drive. it's most likley NTFS. natively a mac can read but not modify/delete files on an NTFS drive. format the drive FAT32 if you want to access the drive on both win and osx. alternately there are third party apps for both win and mac to read/write the other native file system (NTFS or HFS+). Please participate in our Member of the Month polls. Every vote counts! And remember to use the user reputation system! ["Dear Homer, I. O. U. one emergency donut. Signed, Homer." - Note by Homer Simpson]
	QUOTE Thanks

05GT #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 09, 2006 Location: Biloxi, MS Posts: 353	11-05-2008, 12:55 PM It's because the drive is formatted in NTFS. That makes it read only when plugged into your Mac. -13.3 Macbook Pro Retina / 64GB iP5 / 16GB iPad Mini
	QUOTE Thanks

eric #9 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 04, 2006 Location: twin cities, mn, usa Posts: 8,708	11-05-2008, 03:09 PM if you're going entirely mac, you can format HFS+ which will be a little more stable than FAT and suport larger file sizes (> 4GB). The "windows" files can be stored on any file system, it will just be trickier to get tham back on a windows pc if you ever need to do that. Please participate in our Member of the Month polls. Every vote counts! And remember to use the user reputation system! ["Dear Homer, I. O. U. one emergency donut. Signed, Homer." - Note by Homer Simpson]
	QUOTE Thanks

05GT #10 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 09, 2006 Location: Biloxi, MS Posts: 353	11-05-2008, 04:00 PM Here's a thread I started a while back. http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-...fs-drives.html -13.3 Macbook Pro Retina / 64GB iP5 / 16GB iPad Mini
	QUOTE Thanks

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
iTunes library on external HD only. Starting from scratch	Doug b	OS X - Apps and Games	5	09-12-2008 12:51 PM
Initializing WD External Drive	Macrsd	Other Hardware and Peripherals	4	08-16-2008 11:55 PM
Why does 'Copy' overwrite files on my External HD? Please read...	visodd	OS X - Operating System	5	08-08-2008 01:41 PM
Q950 Hard Drive & External Drive	sniffy	Other Hardware and Peripherals	0	01-29-2008 04:24 AM
External drive backup software?	5160519	OS X - Apps and Games	7	07-14-2006 10:36 PM

New To Mac-Forums?

Mac-Forums Brief

External HD

Hosting and Cloud

Data Centers

Web Development

Performance Marketing

Consumer Tech

Interested In Great Deals on Apple Products?

cliffw0970 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 23, 2008 Posts: 14	11-05-2008, 07:49 AM Hi All I bought a mac book a few weeks ago, I was using an external HD with my Windows laptop to save music, pics, videos etc When I plug the HD into the Mac I can see the images and take the music to itunes etc but I cant add anything to it or change files within in it etc Any ideas? Thanks
	QUOTE Thanks

jonkovach #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 27, 2007 Location: Butler, PA Posts: 30 Mac Specs: G5 PowerMac Dual 2.3 GHz 8GB DDR2 SDRAM Os X 10.4.11	11-05-2008, 09:29 AM First thing I think of is to check the permissions levels...?
	QUOTE Thanks

aquariaguy #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 19, 2008 Posts: 29	11-05-2008, 12:13 PM Having the same problem too. It's frustrating because I can't transfer big files that I have on my mac to my harddrive. How do i put stuff on my HD?? Anyone know? I can't even delete anything off the HD. I don't have my PC anymore so what do I do?!
	QUOTE Thanks

Vinny Vegas #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 21, 2008 Location: TEXAS Posts: 46	11-05-2008, 03:01 PM Makes sense... Reformatting Ext HD, will that wipe out all the data & make it clean? I'll assume YES so that data needs to be moved elsewhere then moved back on... Thx
	QUOTE Thanks

cliffw0970 #11 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 23, 2008 Posts: 14	11-06-2008, 06:46 AM Thanks to all that replied, I fully understand my issue now and can set about getting the drive formatted, dont suppose will be too chuffed about me borrowing 500gb HD space to dump my files to so I can format the disk though lol
	QUOTE Thanks

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)