Global reset of file / folder permissions on a USB Drive

I just migrated to a new MB Pro. I now have an issue with file permissions on my USB drive that I use for Time Machine and some other external data. I understand (sort of) why the permissions are messed up, because you're forced to come up with a new user name when you migrate your data and applications. That being said, I just want to globally reset / update the permissions on my USB drive and it's data so that I'm the owner; and I can read and write. And I want to save all my data.
I've started this process going from the "get information" screen, so I think I know how. But it's been running forever. Isn't there some type of universal setting for a drive or does it just need to crunch thru every single file and directory?

Whatever you've done already it's the wrong thing to do. You cannot arbitrarily change permissions on every file on your backup using the Get Info window. The result will be a complete screwup of all the file permissions on your backup. You will manage to make a simple problem into an unsolvable one.
Next time you should ask first before you act rather than after when you cannot go back. Since you did this to your TM backup drive about all you can do at this point is erase the drive and start your TM backups from scratch. Of course this doesn't resolve anything for whatever you tried to migrate to your new computer.
If you migrated your old Home folder to the new computer then first be sure the account has admin status, then log into the account. You should then have full access to all your restored files. You can then delete the other user account.

Similar Messages

  • Does SyncToy 2.1 keep file/folder permissions?

    Does SyncToy 2.1 keep file/folder permissions?
    Thx,
    J

    Hi Texxxas,
    Apparently the problem is not with SyncToy, it is with Task Scheduler. If you have had Task Scheduler work for you in the past, then I don't have an answer for that. I have never been able to get Task Scheduler to work correctly with SyncToy and a NAS drive.
    I have found that for some reason it works with USB external HDD's but will not work with a network connected hard drive. The same bug exists in Win8.1 as well. However, I have since found a third party task scheduler that works perfectly with SyncToy and
    my NAS drive. It is called System Scheduler by Splinterware. The free version only works when you are logged in but they have a paid version that runs as a service and will execute without being logged in. This has solved my problem.

  • How to lock a specific files on a shared network usb drive connected to an airport extreme on a mac running lion?

    Is it possible to lock a specific files on a shared network usb drive connected to an airport extreme on a mac running lion?

    Here is one from Pondini, who was the foremost Time Machine expert in the world.
    http://pondini.org/TM/Airport.html
    And another from Apple. Info near the bottom.
    AirPort base stations: About USB disks
    And another miscellaneous from Apple:
    AirPort base stations: Time Machine hard drive compatibility

  • Sharing files among different user accounts -- file/folder permissions?

    I have two main user accounts that I switch between during the day (essentially a PERSONAL account and a WORK account). This allows me to keep separate Mail, iCal, etc -- as well as desktop applications and file organization. However, I am having some major issues with sharing data between the user accounts.
    WHAT I WANT: A local drop box for shared communal files between these two primary users. Seems simple enough, right?
    WHAT I DID: I created a subfolder in /Users/Shared/ called "COMMUNAL DROP BOX" and set the permissions to R/W for both my user accounts, and no access for the other accounts. However, when I copy files into this folder from my PERSONAL account -- it retains the file level permissions. For example, I grabbed some photos from my iPhone that I shot of a display for work -- I grabbed them off the phone and then dragged them into the drop box. They are in the shared folder, but the file perms are set to PERSONAL_ACCOUNT "Read & Write" and Everyone "No Access." There's no way I can continue to individually change every single file's permission -- how do I set it up to automatically match the folder, so that files like this are then readable by my work account?
    -Jason M.

    On my machine I've created a directory(folder) in the /Users directory called localshare. Since the directory can have just one owner, I've made root own the folder.
    sudo mkdir /Users/localshare
    Every user on my machine belongs to the group-Staff. I need to change the group class on the localshare directory that I've created.
    sudo chown :staff /Users/localshare
    As a reference, I changed the traditional permissions to reflect my desired results and lock down the permissions some.
    sudo chmod 770 /Users/localshare
    I have added an ACL on the localshare directory that allows the group staff to do anything within the directory- make file and directories, modify files that they do not owner, etc.
    sudo chmod +ai "staff allow list,addfile,search,delete,add_subdirectory,delete_child,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity,file_inherit,directoryinherit" /Users/localshare
    This works well for me with one issue. Files or folders must be copied to the localshare directory. They cannot be moved.
    Message was edited by: Mark Jalbert

  • File Folder with Question Mark: Hard Drive Failure?

    I did a search on this topic in these forums, so I think I know what's going on but want to confirm:
    I shut down my MacBook Pro this morning and tried restarting it but got a blinking file folder with a question mark. Tried to restart from Disk Warrior (pressing C while restarting) but got the same thing.
    Does this mean my hard drive has failed and there's no remedy I can try myself?

    The flashing question mark is usually a sign that the hard drive has failed and drives can fail at any point, yours may simply have some bad sectors; it could also be the logic board. It should boot from the DiskWarrior disk though. Try again.

  • All files in Blackberry folder on Micro SD/USB drive gone!

    how could something like this happen? the minute I plug my micro SD, which contains files in a blackberry folder (this folder works fine when transferring files back and forth between my blackberry and windows PC), into my used macbook pro that i just bought today, the folder is completely deleted. two other folders which i didn't open in the micro sd are still there. all i did was open the blackberry folder when the micro sd popped up as an icon in the background. i had some mp3 files and video files saved in a subfolder of the blackberry folder. I went to a subfolder named "video" and carefully selected just five mp3 files. with the files selected, i held the control key while tapping the trackpad to bring up the pop-up menu. i then clicked on "open file from" and selected iTunes on the right to listen to these songs. what happened next was bizarre. iTunes wouldn't play the songs. So I closed the folder and reopened it only to find that the subfolder names in the blackberry folder appear in a bunch of funny characters! i close the folder again and when i reopen the usb drive icon, the blackberry folder itself doesn't show up at all this time.
    Message was edited by: Seho Park
    Message was edited by: Seho Park

    what make me really mad is that i repeated the same exact process but with another folder called "mp3" in the same usb drive and the mp3 files i selected played in itunes without a hitch! so what is going on here? i lost some important files in my blackberry folder and when i looked at the hidden trash.bin files by plugging the micro sd/usb drive into a windows pc, the size of the trash files are 0k and 4k. there's nothing in the trash files at all.
    Message was edited by: Seho Park

  • I deleted a specific file folder from my Seagate backup drive, via Time Machine. Instead of only deleting that file, it deleted ALL my files for that date.

    1. Why? I was quite obviously selecting one file folder ONLY.
    2. Is there any way to retrieve the lost items?
    3. How do I avoid this happening in the future?

    Never had any issues while deleting specific files/folders from a time machine backup.
    However, regarding the original post, what do you mean by "file folder"? Did you select a FILE for deletion, or a FOLDER? These two terms tend to be quite different, you know.
    If you selected a FOLDER, then ALL FILES inside the folder have been deleted. If you selected a single FILE, then only that file should have been deleted. "Delete all backups of..." is a completely different story.

  • No contents of the BootCamp folder present in the usb drive

    Hi guys,
    I have a problem with this BootCamp thing. So I have installed windows 8 pro on my iMac(late 2012) and the first thing i did when I installed it was go to the BootCamp folder in the usb drive (my external hard drive) and click the setup.exe thing. I clicked next continously and then it started extracting some thing/file with a weird name. It was taking a long time so I closed it and started it again. It was again taking a long time to extract the same weird-name-file/thing (It did not take this long to do the same when I installed windows 7 Ultimate). So I closed my computer and after some time switched it on. To my astonishment,
    when I opened the BootCamp folder (the same one I mentioned before), it was EMPTY! Can you guide me on how to bring it back?
    Questions:
    Q:Did you Download the Windows Support Software?
    A:Duh, It's permanently checked in my version of BootCamp (got it pre-installed with Mavericks)
    Q:Did someone by mistake delete the contents of the folder?
    A:Nope.
    Oh, And one more thing, There is no audio coming when i switch to windows 8 pro and it can't even read the wifi whereas Maverics can read about 20-30 wifis. I know it's got something to do with drivers but still, can you guide me?
    Note: Feel free to ask any question. Thanks anyway.

    Sounds from your post that you are trying to install the Support software from within OSx. You install the support software from Windows. Read the Boot Camp instructions. You install Windows. Take out the Windows disk. Shut down your computer. Insert the usb containing the support software. Boot your computer into Windows. Windows will automatically detect the support software on the usb and install it. If Windows does not automatically install the software, navigate to the usb, while still in Windows, and double click the setup.exe file.

  • Is there a possibility to download files directly to the external usb drive in Firefox for Android?

    I have the Android device that support external usb hard drive, when I want to download some files via Firefox there are only two possible "places" where I can put the files - external memory or SD card. It will be nice if there would be an option to save file on ext. usb drive.

    Hi Nix_N1:
    Yeah I don't know about this and I don't have an Android device that supports USB storage.
    What Android device are you using and what operating system (Jellybean? Ice Cream sandwich ?)
    I asked the Mozilla QA folks and they said Firefox for Android uses the Android platform download directory so the USB drive *should* show up if it registers properly with Android.
    They suggested the following:
    # removing the SD card and seeing if it shows up in place of the SD card.
    # perhaps changing the following preference (type "about:config" in the url bar without the quotation marks)
    ''' browser.download.dir'''
    will fix it ('''WARNING:untested and unsupported but hopefully this might help''')
    Regardless I suggest filing a bug at (I looked but couldn't find a bug that corresponds to this):
    https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi

  • WRT610N Shared folder area is Blank - USB DRIVE

    I have a 1tb drive connected to the USB port of my WRT610N 
    Firmware Version: 2.00.00 B05  
    I can create a shared folder for individual folders as well as the entire drive. However the Shared folder area of the Disk tab in the Storage area of the routers interface is blank, just white area.
    If I go to a PC on the network and type \\192.168.1.1 or \\WRT610N  I see the shares I have created. But clicking on them results in a Network error.... Windows cannot access, path not found.
    So I can't connect.  I have created a group and user in the administration, made sure PC and router config are both connected to the same workgroup name... WORKGROUP.
    Also when navigating into the storage area of the router I get the error ...  In a popup labled "Message from Webpage" the error is "Shared Folder location not exist, Please check all shared folders" 
    I am hioping I am missing something simple. I have logged in under the admin account and the new account I created and same results.
    Message Edited by gmark on 12-12-2009 11:52 AM

    Click Start>>Run/Start search and type "\\192.168.1.1" (Without quotes) and hit enter, and it should prompt you for the Username and Password, in the Username and Password use "admin" all in lower case and click Ok...Now you should be able to see your USB Drive... You need to right click on it and select "Map Network Drive" and check the box Enable and below click on Finish... This will Map the USB Drive on your computer... Once done you will be able to Send and Receive the data from your Computer to the USB Drive...

  • Windows server 2008 R2 File& Folder Permissions; Ghost Permissions From "Parent Object" Assigned to Folder Owner

    Windows 2008 R2 file server: Subfolders of a particular folder have an account that has Full Control permission that are listed as inherited. That account has no permissions in the parent folder. It was, however the account that was used to copy the folders
    and their contents in there from another source and was the owner of the folder.
    In Advanced Permissions, it shows them as inherited from "Parent Object" as opposed to the folder name of the parent folder (there are some of these.) (The parent folder of the place where the problem occurs does not inherit from _its_ parent)
    I removed it as owner and yet the permissions remained. (as displayed either through the GUI or with ICACLS.)
    If I make _any_ edit in Advanced Permissions, the 'ghost' permissions then go away (e.g. add my account with full control - I'm domain admin, so have that anyway) This step seems like it should be unnecessary, but it is required in this situation.
    I've done this to 5 of about 20 subfolders and it is consistent. Folders which did not have the 'problem account' as their owner did not exhibit this characteristic.
    This affects the files within the subfolders as well.
    Oddly, adding an owner to a folder has the same effect and required the same edit before the permissions are seen. This was tested on a different drive on the same server.
    Is this an anomaly, a bug, or expected performance?

    Hi,
    Do you mean that there is an account that has Full Control permission that are listed as inherited but it doesn’t appear in the parent NFS permissions? If so, please try to uncheck the "Include inheritable permissions from this object's parent" checkbox,
    clicking Apply.
    There is a similar thread, please go through it to help troubleshoot this issue:
    NTFS: I have a user’s that's inherited from parent folder but it doesn’t appear in the Parent ACL
    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/6061af36-4d44-4de8-8139-d71f06d59a2c/ntfs-i-have-a-users-thats-inherited-from-parent-folder-but-it-doesnt-appear-in-the-parent-acl?forum=winserversecurity
    Regards,
    Mandy
    We
    are trying to better understand customer views on social support experience, so your participation in this
    interview project would be greatly appreciated if you have time.
    Thanks for helping make community forums a great place.

  • How do I reset my music folder permissions to default?

    There is something very strange going on with my music folder. All I want to do is re-organize my folder in the following format:
    /Music/Artist/Album Name/Tracks.mp3
    However, when I try and drag a song into an "artist" folder, Finder asks me for my password, and it will continue asking for my password each and every time I drag anything.
    These are my permissions:
    deathstar-3:~ jake$ ls -al ~
    drwx---r-x+ 3671 jake  staff  124814 Oct 14 01:09 Music
    What is wrong here? If "drwx" are the attributes that belong to the owner (me), and I am logged-in as the owner, why do I have to enter my password every time I want to copy or move something? Thanks a bunch for any assitance in advance!!!

    this is in the arrange window. everytime i change the key commands to what i want and export and save the presets they disappear when i close logic and open it up again.
    The side arrows go to next region and then go to next event and then selection end. It does like 3 different things its completely possessed!
    I need to reset it to the way it came initially where the side arrows do fast rewind/forward and up and down do rewind/forward.
    Any help would be great!
    Thanks

  • Remove-Item & Program Files folder: permissions error

    I am attempting to use Remove-Item to delete a file in Program Files and getting a permissions error. But, I am a local admin, and I tried running the script as administrator. I have also tried -Force, to no avail. I hope I don't have to go back to the DOS
    kludge I used in VBScript.
    Any thoughts?
    Gordon

    Well, this is odd. I tried doing it in the ISE, super simple, just Remove-Item and the raw path. Errors. But I verified that the folder in question is set to read only. So in the ISE I added -Force. And it worked.
    So I went back to my code and added -Force back in. And it worked. I assume if I misspelled it or something I would get an error, and I can't imagine the order makes any difference. May be that midnight is just a bit late to be playing in this sandbox.
    EDIT: The plot thickens. I have another folder giving me grief, but this folder actually says in Explorer that I don't have permission to view the folders permissions. this is a lame leftover folder after a (typically incomplete) Windows uninstall. Is there
    perhaps a PowerShell way of taking ownership of a folder like this? In my VBScript version I actually used DOS commands to do the deletes, and they all worked. 
    Thanks!
    Gordon

  • Audit when file/folder permissions change?

    Hello,
    We have an old Windows 2003 std server and someone keeps changing the permissions on a single file that is very important, can I audit who does this?
    Thanks

    Hi，
    Firstly, please enable audit object access policy under Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Audit Policy in Local Group Policy Editor (if it is in a domain, please check it under the default domain
    policy in Group Policy Manager) to a Security setting of Success.
    Then you need to enable auditing on that file. Please open the file's properties dialog box, select the Security tab, click Advanced, and select the Auditing tab of the Advanced Security Settings window. In your case, you can check the
    Change permissions permission in the "Auditing Entry for ..." page.
    After that, you can check the security logs in event viewer once some changes the permissions on that file.
    Best regards,
    Susie
    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected]

  • Iphoto library to file folder structure on External Hard Drive?

    So I've had some recent problems with my iMac that make me question just using regular Time Machine to back up my photos.  So I got an external drive and formatted it for both Mac and PC - just in case my computer crashes and I just dump it and go the PC route...sad I know...
    But anyways I'm trying to get my photos out of iphoto with a file structure similar to iphoto - but in explorer view.  I have gone to Finder and did show package contents.  But with iLife 11 the pictures are stored by date, rather than by how I have it in iphoto.
    And if I also tried the export feature in iphoto and it seems to get hung up when it sees a MOV file.  Any ideas? I don't really want to pay for any kind of app - I'm thinking there is an easy way and I'm just not aware of it.
    Please help!

    What version of iPhoto? Recent versions of iPhoto 11 have this in the Export panel:
    File -> Export
    This User Tip
    https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
    has details of the options in the Export dialogue.
    Earlier versions: Apps like iPhoto2Disk or PhotoShare will help you export to a Folder tree matching your Events.
    Be aware that exporting to folders on n external disk is not a back up for your iPhoto Library. Yes, you can choose to export your originals or your versions, but you can't have the connection between them maintained. So you lose the lossless processing. Read the link above on the export settings carefully: do it wrong and you'll lose a lot of data.
    Best back up for an iPhoto Library:
    Most Simple Back Up
    Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
    Slightly more complex:
    Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically. Examples of such apps: Chronosync or DejaVu . But are many others. Search on MacUpdate

Maybe you are looking for