Changing permissions on WD Passport?

Hi, all! I need to back up my iPhoto (9) library, and when i try to drag it onto WD Passport, I get the message that the whatever folder I'm using cannot be modified. I checked and sure enough, the WD is set to Read Only permission. I have no idea how it got there, because I used the HD before for backing up and digi scrapbooking all the time (not in a while, though).

Can anyone help me figure out how to set the permissions straight?
Thanks in advance!

quick update. as it turns out, if we plug in the WD into a Windows computer, the permissions are fine.... so it's my Macbook. ANy suggestions on how to fix this?

thanks!

It sounds like your WD Passport hard drive is formatted as NTFS which is a Windows proprietary format. You will need a driver installed on your Mac in order to write to the drive. (NTFS is read only for OS X)

The best third party driver is "Paragon NTFS" currently being sold for $19.95. I recommend this driver over other methods because it's stable and works both ways. It also allows you to read and write to your Mac from Windows. (A Windows driver is included with the package.)

thank you for the advice! I will look into the drive...

However, I'm puzzled... why did the WD work as read and write before? I copied stuff to it all.the.time (files, digiscrapbooking stuff, etc etc etc)... and now it doesn't..

If you were able to read and write to the drive before - from your Mac, not a PC, then it means the drive was formatted to FAT-32. Unless someone changed the file format, it should still be read and write.

Mount the drive on your Mac and open Disk Utility from Applications, Utilities, and tell us which file format it's using. Post back and we'll try again.

Thank you for your continued support...

Bear with me, i'm not really a techie.. if I get the info on the EHD, it says it uses Windows NT File System Format. If I go under Disk Utility under Applications, it seems to be info NOT related to my WD Passport.. here is what it says, "Disk Utility 11.1.... 32.8MB on disk (THIS makes no sense?)" and a bunch of other stuff, name, extension, languages, sharing and permissions... please tell me if I'm looking in the wrong place? Really need to get this WD working

THANKS!

That's OK. Being a techie is not a requirement to use a Mac. (thank goodness)

It appears the WD is using the NTFS file system. NTFS is by default read only from a Mac. Go back to my first reply to you and follow the advice I gave about getting Paragon NTFS. Once installed on your Mac, the WD will allow read and write access.

Hehe true dat....

thanks, i'll look into getting the driver. Not thrilled about spending money on smth that used to work fine before... I'm just stomped as to how it went from read and write to read only... I used it with THIS Mac for 3 years.

My husband got a Windows home server, and in testing some things, he did use the EHD for a little while (he took my data off of it and then put it back on when he was done)... could something have happened in that transition, do you think?

Is there a way for me to avoid having to pay $20 for the driver? Could I take all the info off (i could stick it on the server), reformat the drive and put it back on? Though, if i reformat it to Mac only, won't it be impossible to copy anything from the Windows server onto it? oy....

My husband got a Windows home server, and in testing some things, he did use the EHD for a little while (he took my data off of it and then put it back on when he was done)... could something have happened in that transition, do you think?

Click to expand...

Maybe hubbie reformatted the drive from FAT-32 to NTFS when he used it with his Windows home server? We'll blame him anyway.

Is there a way for me to avoid having to pay $20 for the driver? Could I take all the info off (i could stick it on the server), reformat the drive and put it back on? Though, if i reformat it to Mac only, won't it be impossible to copy anything from the Windows server onto it? oy....

Click to expand...

Actually, there is a way. Go ahead and remove all the data from the drive and then use Disk Utility to reformat as MS DOS (FAT-32) but be very careful about reformatting with Disk Utility. Do not format it using the default GUID scheme. Instead use the MBR option. This is important, because if you don't do it right, the drive will be messed up.

If you need any more help, just post back.

Can almost guarantee hubbie (I would have) changed the format to NTFS to use it with his Win home server. That would be the reason he took your stuff off it in the first place. If he's doing what I do with my Win home server, the limitation of 4GB file size with FAT32 would not allow him to move a great many of his movies around.

Make hubbie reformat it back to FAT32 or have him cough up the $20.

thanks, guys! well, i seem to be up and running!
I had DH take all the stuff off the EHD onto the Windows Media Server, so I could reformat it. When I went to look at the contents, it appears that the EHD created a sub-category with all my contents in the Windows format, while the entire device shows as FAT32. Weird, I know. Once I deleted that sub-category with all of the contents (which was ALL of the contents), I now can read and write. Have no idea how that happened. DH is a computer tech and didn't reformat the drive on purpose, so I don't know how at some point the WD went haywire lol

Either way, I was able to put the iPhoto library on it and am in the process of copying my 200Gbs of crap back on it

THANK YOU so much for your help!!!!!!! REALLY appreciate it!

Great to hear. All is well that ends well! Have fun and visit often.