New macbook air recognizes my external hard drive, but cannot read it

I recently bought a new Macbook Air about 3 weeks ago and I'm trying to access files that I have on my external hard drive. The macbook recognizes that there is an external drive, but when I click on it, the finder window is empty and it shows that there are no files on the drive. When I plug it back into my old Macbook pro (purchased in 2007, running Lion 10.7.5 ) I can access all of my files just fine. Also, a little while ago, while the drive was connected to the new laptop it ejected itself and gave me the prompt saying that the disk had been ejected incorectly. I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the disk because I did have to run disk repair on it once since it bricked. Or is it not compatible with this new macbook? I don't really want to shell out more money to buy a new disk, are there any programs I can install or new USB cables I can try? the disk is a Seagate 500GB portable expansion drive.

Hi Beth!
1) You need to plug the phone in with your USB cable. If for some reason it doesn't sync automatically, try clicking on the name of your phone in your lefthand menu of iTunes, and it'll bring you to a homepage of sorts for your phone.
2) From there, you should be able to click on "sync" at the bottom right of the page. Or you may have to go to the individual parts of your phone (where it says "music," "apps," etc. at the top of the page), and enable those to sync on each individual page.
3) That should do it, but you can always go back to that homepage from step 1 and click "sync" or "apply" once more to be sure everything syncs over.
If you've done this already, can you explain where you're seeing a red circle on your iPhone? Usually those red circles let you delete something if you click on them. For instance, if you want to delete an app, you hold your finger down on it for a moment and then the red circle appears so you can click again to delete.
Hope this helps you!

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Why won't my macbook air recognize an external hard drive?

I have a new 2011 (August) Macbook Air and when I plug in any external hard drive to either one of my USB drive ports it does not recognize. Doesn't matter what device, doesn't matter what USB port it just will not recognize.
Help please!

Start a Finder window and on the menubar, Finder > Preferences > General Tab > check External disks.
Regards,
Captfred

How do I put all my music and pictures from my macbook air to an external hard drive ?

My macbook air is already full - I transfered everything from my desktop as soon as I got home with my new laptop. As it is already full, I would like to put all my pictures and all my music on a external hard drive. I am unsure how to do that. I've 'slide' the file to the external hard drive, but now, my computer is bizarre. If I'm in iphoto, I can see photos, but they then dissapear, etc. It's just bizarre and I feel this is not normal.

To transfer your music to an external drive see this knowledgebase article from Apple. For iPhoto, see this article. This is doable but the downsides are (1) you can only use iTunes or iPhoto when you are connected to your external drive. If you forget and launch the program without the drive connected you'll see nothing. Even worse, if you aren't careful (2) you might forget and download photos or music while the external drive isn't connected and then you have a mess.

Need help exporting from lightroom 4 on my Macbook Air with an external hard drive.

After importing photos to my new Macbook Air (2014) from external drive, it made me reformat my external drive. After reformatting, I tried to export edited images back to my external drive and it says "photos missing or offline", even when external drive is connected. How do I get my edited images back onto my reformatted external drive?

Ok, so at least you haven't lost the images.
The catalog knows "about" the images but not where they currently are. You cannot import them again because they have already been cataloged.
If the images are on the external drive in the location you want, the the procedure to re-connect is as follows.
Select one of the thumbnails. It should have an "!" or "?" on it (upper right). Click whichever it is and you will be asked to Locate the file. Navigate to the file to re locate it and make sure the check box "Find nearby images" is checked.
Lightroom will now relink all the images.
Note:
I usually just import from my external hard drive and then export them back to the external hard drive when I finish editing them.
this is not a "correct" workflow when working with catalogs. The files remain on the external drive. The act of importing is only necessary once to catalog where the files are and to allow quick access to them via the Library. Editing them either in or outside of Lightroom via Photoshop does not require you to move the file.

HT1449 After moving music and movies from my MacBook Air to an external hard drive, do I create a new iTunes music and media folder on my computer then add more music and movies, then will I be able to move the computer music/media to the hard drive musci

I need to move the music and movies from my MacBook Air (original) to an external hard drive, after I do this, do I create a new music folder and media folder on my computer to load music/movies in via the dedicatd external drive and then would I be able to move the newly imported to the external drive which would be my main site of storage?

No, do it all in one go and henceforth only use the library located on the external drive.
iTunes: How to move [or copy] your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option (shift on Windows) key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.

How do I transfer my data to my new macbook pro using an external hard drive?

I've already set up my new MacBook Pro is my issue. It asked me if I'd like to "Migrate" my stuff or use an external hard drive etc but at the time I didn't transfer my data from my old MacBook yet. I was going to manually do it later as I had to wait for my External hard drive to back my old Mac up. Now it's that time and I have no idea how to do it. I believe I've researched best of my ability.
I feel like I'm asking a pretty dumb question. If I were to just drag all my programs out like my Adobe Suite on to my new macbook pro would that work? I feel like that's just too easy and incorrect. Please and thank you.

The Adobe suite can be downloaded free, you dont have to copy it at all, under standard CS6 Adobe rules, if you own the suite, you get 2 computers "activated at any one time" Make sure, if youre not using the older computer, you deactivate the software under the HELP menu in Adobe.
format the new drive in disk utility ......APPLICATIONS.....UTILITIES.....DISK UTILITIES.......select the external drive and format (if its new and empty!!!) under the ERASE button with Mac OSX extended journaled
copy all your important stuff from older computer , pics, files, documents, personal anything.
most of you apps, i ASSUME you bought in the (other than Adobe software, or Office suite, etc etc,..... obviously) in the MAC APP store, so you can reload them on the new computer without copying them , makes things very easy......just open APP STORE, and download what you already bought.
really the only important things , is copy all important work files, documents, pictures, personal ABC...XYZ...... obviously.
the migration is about emails, contacts, etc etc etc, also data, just because you passed it by at the time doesnt mean you still cant do it, go to the SEARCH at menu at top and type in MIGRATION ASSISTANT to do it again , since you passed it by at first .
the only thing you NEED / SHOULD copy is all your personal stuff........Applications need to be reinstall from either ONLINE download,.......or from the MAC APP STORE,........ you cant just copy the apps over (in most cases) and toss them onto the new computer
Nahh, there are no dumb questions, just dumb mistakes because you DIDNT ask any questions, and we all make those here and there.

How do i back up a macbook air to an external hard drive

I want to back up my macbook air. How do I back it up to an external hard drive?

You must first partition and format the drive for use with OS X. If the drive is at least twice the capacity of your MBA's drive, then you can use Time Machine if you wish. Or you can simply clone your drive to the external drive so you can boot from it. Use Disk Utility:
Clone Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
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     2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
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     5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
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     6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

How do I put my pictures back on my macbook air from my external hard drive?

i have a macbook air and i put all my iphoto library on a toshiba external hard drive and i can not get them back onto my computer. can anyone please help me, i also dont want to do anything that will make me lose the photos that i now already have on my computer. if any body knows anything please let me know asap i really need the help.

hook up your Toshiba USB external to your AIR.
Open the Toshiba and drag your file with photos back to a file on your Air.
A: are the files on the HD in a time machine backup? Or are they just stored there as archived data?
B: Can you or can you not access your HD when you hook same to your Air? ....or is the case that you cannot SEE to open it?

How can I get my MacBook to recognize my external hard drive again?

Hi,
I own a 500GB Toshiba external hard drive, and I've been using it for months now, and up until today it's worked flawlessly. I never formatted it, I just used it as a mass storage device so that I wouldn't have compatibility issues with PC's because of the formatting. For some unknown reason, today the hard drive decided it didn't want to work; I can't see it in the Finder. However, I tried it on a PC today and it's just fine there. I've never disconnected it without ejecting it first or anything else that I can think of that might damage the drive. I'm at a total loss, though admittedly I'm a novice, so maybe there's something I'm overlooking here. What can I do to fix this problem?
Another thing: I just upgraded from 10.5.7 to 10.5.8... could that cause issues?
Thanks! If this is a topic that's already been discussed, please link me to the thread or article.

Does it appear in Disk Utility? (located in utilities folder of applications)
If so is it mountable from there?
And just to check- you are using the same connection (USB or firewire) to connect the PCs and the Mac?

IMac won't recognize my external hard drive, and cannot backup onto it.

Time machine fault with Western Digital "my book" external drive
In trying to select a backup disc I follow these steps:
I have the drop down panel from Time machine preferences which asks me to select "time machine" by clicking on the "use for backup" button.
When I do this message appears,
"You do not have appropriate access privileges to save file “.0016cb83cfe5” in folder “Time Machine Backups”.
How do I set up "My book" to start backing up again? It was originally installed and backed everything up without a problem, but although the icon still appears on my desktop time machine will not backup.
Hope there is a simple explanation folks!

Welcome to Discussions compuvic!
I believe you're experiencing a problem that happened with the 10.5.6 update. There is a workaround found by V.K in [this thread|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8668572#8668572]. If you follow the instrux it should work.
/p

I am trying to restore my old Macbook Pro data using Time Machine on a new Mackbook Air from external hard drive, but when I install I get two different loggin accounts and I only want one loggin account

I am trying to restore my old Macbook Pro data using Time Machine to a new Macbook Air from an external hard drive, but when I restore I get two diferrent loggin accounts and I only wnat one loggin account to access all my data/files?

This web site might answer all of your Time machine questions:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Ciao.

My external hard drive change to read only

I have been backing up my vids, pics, etc on my Seagate HDD for the past 2 months with my Macbook Air. All of a suddenly my external HD changed permissions to read only. I understand that this has been a hot topic for some time but I have not found the solution in any of the threads. Under the "Get info" tab "Sharing & Permissions" section it only reads "you can only read" with no other info. No mention of the users (I am the admin and there are no other users setup) or any other info and I can't click or hit anything (other than my head against the wall!!!!) If I try the Desktop Utilities route my Macbook Air recognizes the eternal hard drive but all buttons such as "verify Disk" etc are greyed out... no idea what I should do. Tried logging out of my user account and back in, tried ejecting and reconnecting but everything has failed.
Anyone with any ideas?! please need any help I can get. Thanks!

Disd you ever get a resolution to your problem? I have exactly the same problem with my ADATA HD710 I use for Time Machine, it works fine for a while, then for no apparant reason I can no longer write to the disc. Even though my permission is still read/write, I am told I can only read and everything is greyed out in disk utility. Previously fixed problem by reformatting, and starting again, but have just lost ability to write again. Need help!
FYI appears to happen when disc not connected to MacBook for a while. Disc fomatted Mac Os extended.

How do I keep my media on an external hard drive but still access it in iTunes?

I just recently purchased a new Macbook Air and I had my itunes media library on an external hard drive. How do I access my itunes media on the macbook air from the external hard drive without transferring all the media onto my macbook air? I also want to be able to add and download media to my itunes and have it saved on my external hard drive. I have been trying to figure this out for weeks and need some assistance. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

hey, basically i had the same problem as you. i had all of my itunes on an external hard drive and just bought a macbook pro, so here is what i was told to do....plug in the external hard drive to your MBA and then when you open itunes hold down the option button while you click and hold it down till you see a pop up window, it will ask you what library you want to use, click choose library and choose the itunes file that is on your external hard drive. and then all of your stuff will be in the itunes.
what i have seemed to run into though is, when the external hard drive isn't plugged in itunes won't open unless you choose another library or plug in the external hard drive. - my question is this, should i open another library on my macbook pro's internal hard drive so i can at least look at itunes when i don't have my external hard drive connected. my old macbook did this, it would point to another library on my macbook and i would still be able to see all of my media but couldn't play it without the external hooked up, is there a way to do this on lion?
i hope i was able to answer your question sam and hopefully can have my question answered too.
thanks!
- sorry sam, don't mean to hijack your thread but hopefully it will help us both - i don't want to store any media )movies, music, podcasts, apps, any of that stuff on my macbook pro's hard drive, so say there is a way to get itunes to open without my external hooked up and i can still see my media, or not see my media and i want to download a song or a app that i see when i am not near my external....what is the easiest way to get that file onto the external and not have it taking up space on my macbook pro's hard drive? sorry for all the long questions
Message was edited by: thenumbersarebad - thought of one more thing - sorry

Migration Assistant finds external hard drive but says it has 0 kb in profile

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I did this just yesterday yesterday. I put a new disk into a G4 iMac, installed a fresh copy of Tiger on it and then migrated the user folders across from the old drive that I put in a firewire enclosure. Obviously if you go for an Intel Mac then you will have to be careful with the applications.

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New macbook air recognizes my external hard drive, but cannot read it

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