NTFS External HDD cannot access file system manipulate large video files.

[Ijickawabash]

Problem:

I have a external HDD that is formatted NTFS and I cannot upload the files onto my MacBook Air or manipulate the files. The files in Finder say they are Read-Only files. I downloaded a NTFS driver and now reads the HDD but still cannot move, copy or paste these files in any way.

I don't have a PC to upload the files to and I am stuck.

Any ideas how to format the HDD to exFAT from the NTFS file system without losing 200 GB of video!

 

[chscag]

First, do not attempt to change the NTFS format to exFat or Fat as that may result in a loss of data (as you suspect). Tell us which driver you installed to your MacBook Air so that you could read and write to the NTFS drive.

 

[Ijickawabash]

Hello!

Yes...I installed a third-party driver called NTFS-3G. I now can see all the files but still cannot manipulate them (copy, paste, delete, etc ). I want to upload them to the ManBooks HDD and then format the external drive to exFAT and then throw them back on.

What are your ideas?

 

[lclev]

You do not indicate what version of OS X you are running. I ask this as NTFS-3G is no longer supported and the last version of OS X that I could find that it worked with was OS X 10.4 or possibly 10.6. That could be an issue.

I use Paragon . I edit/create a lot of videos and I have two editors - one that runs Windows and a Mac Pro. I have a variety of externals and some are formatted NTFS - most are extFat for cross platform compatibility. (Yes, I know some will argue the lack of journal with extFAT makes it vulnerable to file corruption but I have - as she knocks on wood - never had an issue.)

Back to the issue at hand - for $20 I would recommend Paragon and see if that solves the issue.

Lisa

 

[Ijickawabash]

Hi Lisa!

I'm actually a PC Tech Support guy and this is my first experience with the Mac!

Anyways...We are running Ver. 10.10.5 Yosemite. So far I can now transfer a file from the external HDD to a folder in My Documents. Now I get an error: "The item “Videos” can’t be copied because there isn’t enough free space."

Why is there only 8 kb of space in this folder? Isn't it self-expanding?

Thanks!

 

[lclev]

I am not sure where you are getting the 8kb of space information. Your Documents folder on the Mac should expand to what ever size you need it to be up to the size available on the hard drive. Have you tried moving them into the Movies folder? I doubt that makes a difference though. Or what about attaching a second external formatted extFAT and move the videos to it?

Lisa

 

[Ijickawabash]

Hahaha!

Oftentimes it is the simplest answer that solves the problem. I attached a mac formatted Seagate and dragged and dropped each folder and they are transferring!

Thank you very much for the help!!