Copying files from iMac to USB flash drives

I am having problems copying files from my iMac computer to USB flash drives. Sometimes, I get the error message: "Sorry the operation could not be completed because an unexpected error occurred (Error Code -50)."
How can I solve this problem?
This error message does not happen everytime but rather occasionally. Most of the files I am trying to copy to my USB flash drives are MS Word documents. I have tried using various brands of flash drive, but I still get this error message.
I use my USB flash drives for both Mac and Windows OS computers. For my 2GB Kingston Data Traveller flash drive, I checked its product datasheet on the Kingston website, and it says that it is compatible with both Macintosh and Windows OS, and that I can use it for cross-platform PC/Mac file transfers.
I also checked the Properties tab for this flash drive, and the File System for the drive is listed as "FAT."

Hello Stedman:
I am pretty sure that these files were not open in MS Word when I tried to copy them.
I only get this error message/code for a handful of MS Word documents; the rest of my MS Word documents were copied successfully to my USB flash drive.

Similar Messages

  • How to transfer files from ipad to usb flash drive

    Hi Everyone,
    How can I transfer docs stored on my Ipad to a USB flash drive or external hard drive? Thank you.
    Donnie

    You can't do it directly, you will need to copy them to a computer first e.g. via the file sharing section at the bottom of the device's apps tab when connected to iTunes, via wifi, email, dropbox etc., whatever the app that you using supports. The iPad's camera connection kit which has a USB connection only supports the copying of photos and videos to the Photos app, you can't copy any content off the iPad with it.

  • Photoshop Elements 12 will not let me save files edited on a usb flash drive, but will photos on the hard drive all other apts will on the flash drive

    Photoshop Elements 12 will not let me save files edited on a usb flash drive, but will photos on the hard drive all other apts will on the flash drive

    Thanks for the information and your help. I have never bothered before changing the format. Next time I will.
    I copied the library to the external drive and then it went and said they were referenced files but I was okay about that. Now it cannot see them and will not do anything with them. I think I will buy another external drive and start again by importing all of my files again. I guess 55K will keep the mac busy this week.

  • Hi, I have a late 2008 iMac with a new hard drive. How do I install Mountain Lion from my bootable USB flash drive.

    How do I install Mountain Lion to a new hard drive without having the recovery partition on it.
    I have the USB flash drive with software on it but when I switch my Mac on all I have is a white screen & a flashing question mark.
    ATB,
    Steve.

    Did you use LionDiskMaker or DiskMaker X?
    Boot the machine with the option key down until you see your bootable USB stick.  Select the latter, and reboot.
    When the installer boots up, you will first need to choose Utilities and Disk Utility. Select the target HD device name and then the partition tab. Select 1 partition, name it Macintosh HD. Format is Mac OS Extended, and option is GUID. Apply. Exit Disk Utility and return to the installer, which will now show your newly partitioned HD as available for install.
    When OS X is installed and all updates applied, press shift+command+U and run disk utility again. Verify/repair permissions and verify the boot disk.

  • Importing photos from iPhoto to usb flash drive

    I just bought a USB flash drive because i need to import my photos from my iMac to the usb drive and i have no clue how to do it.

    sadiekatelyn wrote:
    I just bought a USB flash drive because i need to import my photos from my iMac to the usb drive and i have no clue how to do it.
    1. Connect your USB drive to your iMac.
    2. Open iPhoto.
    3. Select pictures in iPhoto and export them to your USB drive.
    Let us know if you have further questions.

  • Finder stall after wake from sleep w/USB flash drive mounted

    Has anyone else experienced this? iMac works flawlessly while USB flash drive is mounted UNTIL iMac sleeps. Then as soon as the iMac wakes from sleep the finder is non-responsive (perpetually spinning beach ball) and other apps slow to a crawl and become non-responsive as well if they need the finder (i.e. to save, etc.). This only happens when the USB flash drive is mounted.
    Trying to force quit (relaunch) the Finder does not work, I always have to perform a hard restart.
    I have an external FireWire hard drive that works beautifully and does not cause these same symptoms.
    Any ideas?

    umm.. don't let the computer go to sleep with your jump drive connected? The mac will usually take a few seconds to get his gear together after waking up from a sleep sounds like he is having to gather additional things since the jump drive is in there. I don't have a REAL solution except don't let Mr. Mac sleep with the jump inserted....

  • Can I copy files from an external NTFS formatted drive to my Mac?

    My PC laptop died and I have two external NTFS formatted hard drives. I also have a desktop Mac.
    I searched and came across another post dated Sept 2005 in the Support Forum that asked this similar quesiton I post. Sorry if i appear to sound repetitive but I really need  confirmation to the answer for reason stated below.
    The answer given then was as follows, "Max OSX can only read files on an NTFS formatted external hard drive -- it cannot write files to such a drive [OK, that is clear to me]. If you copy a file from an NTFS formatted hard drive to the internal hard drive of your Mac, there are absolutely no restrictions on what you can do to that copy of the file."
    So, to me this means I can modify the JPEG file in my Mac using Photoshop, right? No reformatting of the NTFS drive is necessary? If so, please let me know ASAP as i have a deadline to return the brand new PC which I purchassed thinking that that was my solution.
    I pose this question to this forum because the original post is 8 years old and wonder if OS compatibility issues remain the same.

    If you want to modify the JPEGs you have on the NTFS external disk, you will have to copy the images to your Mac hard disk before editing them.
    If you want to edit files on a NTFS external disk, you have to install a third-party application as Paragon NTFS

  • Help copying files from iTunes to external hard drive

    I have a bunch of music files (about 15,000 of them) that I want to back up to an external hard drive. They are only files of a certain bit rate, so I can't just locate them in a particular folder and copy them; I need to sort them in iTunes and copy them from there. I tried to highlight all of them and just copy them, but I got the spinning wheel for a couple minutes and then the operation stopped. I then figured out that I could transfer about 1,000 at a time -- I got the tracks by bands starting with A, then B, then C, to transfer. But now I am stuck. When I try to transfer files now, when I highlight them in iTunes, the window showing the destination folder on the external hard drive disappears, and I can't transfer them. Before, it seemed like both windows were active, but now they are not. Anyone know the solution to this?

    The Windows drive is probably formatted NTFS which is not natively writable
    by the Mac. It should be formatted as FAT32 to be usable on both.
    Dave

  • Can't copy files from Macbook to External Hard Drive

    Hi:
    I have an external hard drive for backup, works fine at the office with mssoft -- but for some reason I am told by Macbook that I cannot modify the External hard drive when trying to copy files and folders to the drive from the Macbook.
    I'm thinking "read only" because I know how to change attribute in Windows - but this is my first MAC (and generally I love it).
    HELP -- how do I copy to the External Drive?
    ...Dan

    This drive is probably formatted as NTFS for use with the PC.
    Your options are:
    1) Install NTFS-3g on your Mac (available here: http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/2010/06/ntfs-3g-for-mac-os-x-2010522.html)
    2) Reformat the external drive as FAT32 (you'll have to save the data elsewhere, then use either OS X's Disk Utility to reformat the drive, or use a Windows tool to do the same thing). FAT32 has a 4GB maximum file size limit.
    3) Reformat the drive as HFS+ on the Mac (saving the data elsewhere first) and install MacFuse on the PC. HFS+ does not have a maximum file size limit, but MacDrive is not free.
    http://www.softpedia.com/get/File-managers/MacDrive.shtml
    ~Lyssa

  • How can I transfer video files from iPad to a flash drive

    Hello! My daughter has sent her iPad to me before it gets sent for servicing and wants me to have a backup of her photos and videos. Can I transfer the files to a flash drive, if yes, how?
    BTW, I do have my iMac with me and would transfer to it be easier, details of how to go about this stuff not being known to me.
    Can anyone guide me?
    Thanks in advance.
    Dr. Somanna

    You can backup her iPad to iCloud.
    Backup and restore
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766

  • Can not copy files from computer to external hard drive

    Have tried to copy thru drag and drop and also by edit copy files to folder ... I even tried copy of the files and paste but get the same error message which is in a little box that says Error copying file or folder Cannot copy file: and a OK button.
    How can I get the folder to copy?

    Try this tool and check : http://longpathtool.com/ 
    Also, can you format the HDD and check?
    Arnav Sharma | Facebook |
    Twitter Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members
    reading the thread.

  • Moving files from iMac to an external drive

    I have a 250 gb iMac and a 1 tB external drive (Seagate). My iMac is getting quite full, so I tried moving some files to my external. It told me that I couldn't because these files needed OS X to operate. How can I move files to my external so I can clear up my iMac drive?

    Greetings,
    Is the drive you are moving files to the drive you use for your Time Machine backup? If so, don't do this. Any files you put on that drive are not backed up by Time Machine (Time Machine cannot backup it's own drive. That would be like performing brain surgery on yourself.) If you are running out of space, get an additional external drive to store them on so that they can still be backed up by Time Machine.
    Here are some general ideas on how to free up space: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8358.html
    The most common items that people tend to have that use up all their space are iTunes (Music/Movies), iPhoto (Pictures), and iMovie (Movies).
    You can move all 3 of these to an external hard drive if you like. Again, do not use your Time Machine backup drive for this purpose. That is for making a backup copy, not for holding the originals.
    Once you have another drive you can move the afore mentioned large items if they are indeed taking up a large amount of space.
    iTunes: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
    iPhoto: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229
    iMovie: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iMovie/8.0/en/19555.html
    Hope that helps.

  • Copying files from iMac to Macbook

    Hi All
    I've just bought a Macbook and would like to put copies of my itunes and iphoto libraries from my iMac onto it. What is the best way to do this? I've bought a firewire cable.
    Do I use migration assistant or will this just transfer the files rather than creating a copy of them? I've also read something about connecting the two machines by firewire and then holding down T when I turn on the Macbook. Do I do this when I first turn on the Macbook or should I go through set-up assistant first, then shutdown and then do the above?
    Thanks
    David

    When the files are transferred they will in effect be copied to the Macbook while still remaining on the iMac. This link will help with your firewire set-up...
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

  • I cannot copy files from Macbook to Iomega hard drive

    I wanted to use my Iomega hard drive on my macbook for the first time but I cannot copy any files.
    Can anybody provide me with the steps I have to do to configure the Iomega (formerly used on a PC)
    for the Macbook?
    Thanks

    If you want to use the drive exclusively on your Mac - and not a Mac and PC - open Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities folder), click on the drive to be erase, and format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with a single GUID partition and give it a new name. It should only take a minute or so (depending on the size of the drive) to format.
    Call back if you have any problems.
    Clinton

  • How do I store files from iPhoto onto a flash drive???

    My New Mac Book is full!!!!! I have 65gb of photos on it, and I cannot work out how to save them onto an external hard drive, I have tried to drag and drop, and that doesnt work.  Do i need to format the external drive for Mac?? If so, then how....... I cannot use my macbook as its completly full, and thats a bit of a waste.... some pleae point me in the right direction.
    Thanks

    chefhenry715 wrote:
      Do i need to format the external drive for Mac??
    Perhaps this is the issue.  Some drives come pre-formatted for Mac, others don't.  If the drive is empty as yet, why not reformat it and see if this helps. 
    Plug in the drive.
    Now launch disk utilities:  Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
    Select the external drive in the left hand column, select the "Erase" tab and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the Format.  Now click "Erase" at bottom right.  The utility will reformat the drive.  When finished, see if you can move the image files to the drive.

Maybe you are looking for