Files on external HDD

I have an external HDD with all my files. These files were copied on to the device using Windows. I can access these files on my Mac when I connect the drive, but the permission of all these files appear as 'read only'. How can I change the permissions on these files so that I can access / change them when I connect the HDD to my Mac?

Use cmd+I to "Get Info" on the highest level folder(s).

Expand the ownership widget to show details. Change the owner to your username. Access to read and write. Change Group to staff and read only and Others to read only. Then click the "apply to enclosed items" button.

How is the drive formatted? That is most likely your problem.

MacsWork said:

Use cmd+I to "Get Info" on the highest level folder(s).

Expand the ownership widget to show details. Change the owner to your username. Access to read and write. Change Group to staff and read only and Others to read only. Then click the "apply to enclosed items" button.

Click to expand...

The drive was formated using using NTFS, is that why I can't seem to be able to use your suggestion?

You can copy the files to mac then formatt the hd then copy them back to hd...

Macs can only read NTFS, so you'll have to remove the data and format it as FAT32 to use it on both Windows and Mac.

Ive just formatted my external HD on my mac and selected the MS-DOS mode, because of the same problem you have. That works fine.

i have the same issue with my seagate 250GB, how exactly do you reformat the HD? its a plug and play... externals are new to me.. especially coming from windows, when it was ready to go out the box.

i found some info on the seagate website.. im sure other external HD's are very similar.

http://seagate.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...nNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1