How do i get my external hard drive permissions changed from read only to read and write?

Does anyone know how to get an external drive to unlock the permissions from read only to read and write? Without reformatting or buying an app?

Hey P,
If you single click on your external drive icon on the desktop and then goto
'File > Get Info' a window will display the information for that drive. At the
bottom of the window their should be a check box that either allows you
to recognise users of not. You probably want to uncheck this box.
Or... You can keep the user option and just change the permissions
using the same Get Info window.
A.

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I have iMovie 09. I just erased my external hard drive, but it is still formatted for the mac. However, iMovie will not recognize the hard drive. It shows the only hard drive available is the computers. How do I get the external hard drive to show up?

I have iMovie 09. I just erased my external hard drive, but it is still formatted for the mac. However, iMovie will not recognize the hard drive. It shows the only hard drive available is the computers. How do I get the external hard drive to show up?

In Finder's Menu, select Go menu>Go to Folder, and go to "/volumes". (no quotes)
Volumes is where an alias to your hard drive ("/" at boot) is placed at startup, and where all the "mount points" for auxiliary drives are created for you to access them. This folder is normally hidden from view.
Drives with an extra 1 on the end have a side-effect of mounting a drive with the same name as the system already think exists. Try trashing the duplicates with a 1 or 2 if there are no real files in them, and reboot.
If it does contain data...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2474

How do I get an external hard drive to mount?

I have two Maxtor One Touch 4 Plus External Hard Drives. One works the other doesn't. The one that works is over a year old and has been a trusty loyal aid. The one that doesn't is only a couple of weeks old. It worked fine initially. Now no icon appears and its volumes won't mount. I have switched both HD's between a MacBook Pro and an iMac with the same results. I've also switched between USB and Firewire cables. Same again.
I have a fair idea what went wrong.
The adapter for the new faulty HD was dislodged a little from the power socket. A small electrical crackle was heard, nothing to serious, but obviously enough to create this problem. The power jacks here in this part of the world are not often the best and snuggest of fits.
I have visited the Seagate/Maxtor "support" sites and come away with nothing other than switching on and off, etc... very elementary.
Any suggestions as to how I can get this dodgy piece of hardware to get over itself and get operational again?
Thanking you in advance.

Do you hear the drive spin up?
You may want to contact the manufacturer and ask for a replacement power adapter/cord and see if that helps.
Personally, I think there has been some damage to the circuitry inside the enclosure, which really can't be repaired.
~Lyssa

How can I get by external hard drive to be seen by other computers on the Airport Extreme Network

I purchased and installed an Airport Extreme yesterday. I finally got my computers to find it, but I cannot get my wireless laptop to connect to the external hard drive that is connected to the AE using a Cat5 cable. I have already verified that the Cat5 cable IS good so please don't advise me to change the cable. I am 36 hours into my purchase of the AE and ready to take it back to the store because it is NO WHERE as good as the sales rep reported it to be.

An ethernet connected drive is actually not part of the AE setup.
It is merely a client on the network.
So the first chore is to find it.
I saw in your other post it is iomega device..
http://www.iomega.com/support/manuals/800mseries/trblshoot_conf.html
A few questions..
Other computers can access the network hard disk??
What OS is on the computer that is having access difficulty?
Can you please ping the hard disk.. on a Mac open the terminal and type ping followed by the address.
Or on a PC open the windows command and type the same thing.
Does the hard disk respond to ping?
Try mounting it directly in Mac by using Finder, go, connect to server.
SMB://IPaddress
Or CIFS://IPaddress or AFP://IPaddress
In windows type the address directly into the windows explorer address bar
\\IPaddress

How do I get my external hard-drive recognised by iTunes?

I have 2 external hard drives, but now iTunes 12 will only recognize 1 of them. When I plug in the second for a back-up, it doesn't show up on the screen. This just happened with the latest upgrade to iTunes 12. I have a MacBook with OS X Version 10.7.5.

So there is no itunes 12. You must be having this problem in the future LOL
So you library is on the external? Make sure itunes is set to look on that drive for it, after checking to be sure the drives have different names, do into the prefs/advanced and set the location of the itunes library file/folder
I ran itunes on an extrernal for years its always been very reliable.

External Hard drive Permissions changed to "read only"

I use a Seagate Slim Drive (500GB) on my Macbook Pro (Late 2012, Retina, 13"), to store movies and tv shows and whatnot. Last night, I was watching a movie and everything was fine. I ejected the drive after use and it stayed that way overnight. This morning, I tried to connect it, but the partition refuses to mount. I got a friend to help me run command prompt diagnostics using terminal, which revealed that the permissions had suddenly changed to "read only". I really need to access the data on this drive because some of the movies in there are part of an important project that could hopefully land me job. Any help is welcome.

1. Select the external hard drives icon
2. Right-click > Get Info (cmd + i)
3. Expand the Sharing & Permission column
4. Click on the lock at the bottom right
* You will be prompted for an administrator name and password *
5. Once unlocked change the permission for user, group & everyone to read & write
6. Click the little gear right below and select “Apply to enclosed items…”

How do i get my external hard drive to show up in finder sidebar?

I recently had to restore my computer and my hard drive won't show up in the sidebar anymore. I've been through the finder preferences and have the option checked for it to show up but still no luck. Any suggestions?

Interesting. Comes with? you didn't have either before? Paragon is commercial and is now v. 10.0, they were the only one keeping updated and was supporting 10.7.4. I would not enable more than one.
For writing to HFS Paragon has theirs but probably give the nod to MacDrive there.
I never do an upgrade to a new OS over the old system, I backup (clone) and format the drive with the new OS and do the install so whatever is there I know is clean and also to keep from carrying around leftovers from years and systems past.
I would assme Paragon is limited. Try their site and knowledge base?
MacDrive
http://www.mediafour.com/updates/macdrive
Paragon HFS
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows/
Paragon NTFS
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26288/ntfs-for-mac-os-x
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

How do you use an external hard drive for your Mac (movies only), iTunes and Apple TV2 all together? I can't put movies on internal HD as it would use it all up.

any help is appreciated

Welcome to the Apple Community.
The following article(s) may help you.
Moving your iTunes library to an external drive (Mac)
Moving your iTunes library to an external drive (PC)

How do I create an External Hard Drive iPhoto Library

How do I create an external Hard Drive iPhoto Library? Will it remember faces and places, and the camera settings? I have over 20k photos. Most pictures are already stored in files on my external hd, but everytime I need to edit, I need to import the pics back into iPhoto. Is there an option for "editing software" outside of iPhoto? I do not want to store pictures on my computer, but I do like the "faces" feature! Please help!

Sure it can be UnDone in the same way it was done. By Copying the iPhoto library back to the original location or any other location on your internal drive and then Repointing iPhoto to use that Library as you did when you moved it to the external.
Have no idea about the thumbnails being blurry as I only use iPhoto for testing and helping others. I find iPhoto lacking in many ways and I already own Adobe Lightroom so I use that on my Mac.
I wouldn't think the thumbnails wouldn't be any different. They are the same files and even if the external is slower the Thumbnails should display the same way not differently.
I also do not allow any of the "i" programs, Photo & Tunes, to Copy my image or music files into their folder structure. I have them set to Leave the Files where they are, as I copy them to my hard drive where I want them Not where Photo and Tunes want to put them, and then just create a Library Database of them. So if I wanted to I could have just the actual image files on an External drive and then have iPhoto just create a Library database reference to them.
One Note though.
If you move the Library, including the actual image files, to an external and then start iPhoto without that external connected iPhoto will then Create another Library in the normal Default location that is blank and then you will need to point it to your original that is on the external once you reconnect that external.
That is one reason I don't care for iPhoto. Apple has made it fairly easy for novice users, placing everything in their User folder but IMHO that is not always the best way to do things.
Also at any point in time, even with the external connected, iPhoto will lose that association to the external Library and create another in the original Default location. Which will look like all your images are missing.
colleen747 wrote:
Thank you for responding. I understand. After reading quite a bit about this procedure, can it be undone? So many out there have stated that everything slows way down and the thumbnails are blurry. What is your opinion?
Do I first create a New File on the EHD and name it "iPhoto Library"? Then paste?
Most pictures are in folders on my EHD, how do I move them to the new library?
Thanks!

How can I edit lightroom 5 smart previews on mac book pro (mbp) when the lightroom 5 master image files are on my external hard drive is disconnected from the mbp

How can I edit lightroom 5 smart previews on mac book pro (mbp) when the lightroom 5 master image files are on my external hard drive is disconnected from the mbp? So far when I try to disconnect the external HD from the mbp, I get the following pop up window: The disk "external hard drive A" couldn't be ejected because "Lightroom" is using it. Quit that application and try to eject this disk again. When I do that and restart Lightroom 5, the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Select Catalog screen pops up but doesn't list my external hard drive A as a choice.
I've reviewed Adobe's Lightroom Help | Smart Previews Lightroom 5 web page and still haven't been able to figure what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Your internal HDD. by default, is named 'Macintosh HD'. From what information you supplied, it looks like there is already a Lightroom catalog installed on you local (internal) HDD using the standard naming convention Adobe uses as well as a Lightroom catalog on your external drive which you created. To be sure of which catalog Lightroom is loading when it starts up, To do this, start Lightroom as you normally would. After it starts, select the Lightroom menu item, then select the Catalog Preferences item and finally, navigate to the General tab. The Location information will tell you exactly what catalog Lightroom is opening by default. This will likely be the Photography Mac Book Pro Versions catalog on your external HDD. Once that is confirmed, you are ready to proceed. As an additional test/verification, you can shut down Lightroom and, this time, start Lightroom while holding down the ALT/OPTION key. This will cause Lightroom to pause and display a screen which will allow you to chose a different catalog to open. Navigate to the /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder and select the Lightroom 5 Catalog.lrcat file. When Lightroom comes up, there should be no previews or folders as this catalog should be empty. Now you can be certain which catalog is being used and which catalog has all your data and you are ready to migrate your current catalog. Shut down Lightroom.
To migrate your current catalog, use Finder to locate your Photography Mac Book Pro Versions folder on your external drive. Select the folder and select COPY from the context menu. Next, use Finder to navigate to the /Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder on you internal HDD. You can start at the Macintosh HD level and work your way down by opening each level (Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures). Select the /Pictures folder and then select PASTE... from the context menu. When the COPY/PASTE is complete, you should see the following files on the Macintosh HD:
Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom/ and
Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions
The Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Lightroom folder will contain the empty default catalog the Adobe created when Lightroom was installed and Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions will contain a copy of the catalog you created on your external HDD.
You are almost done now. Make sure your external drive is still attached for this step. Restart Lightroom using the ALT/OPTION key again. When the Select Catalog screen appears, select the Choose a Different Catalog button (lower left side). When you do, a Finder window will open to allow you to navigate to a catalog of your choosing. Navigate to Macintosh HD/Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions and select the file Photography Mac Book Pro Version.lrcat. This is the copy you just created. Select the Open button and Lightroom should start. You should see all of your previews and settings just as before. Also, in the left hand panel, all of your folder should show up and none of them should be dimmed and none of your previews should display a small exclamation point badge. Either a dimmed folder name or an exclamation point badge indicates that Lightroom can't find the associated image file. If everything looks good, go to the Lightroom menu, select Preferences and then select the General tab. Under Default Catalog, select an option to either load the LAST catalog opened or select the Users/[user name]/Pictures/Photography Mac Book Pro Versions catalog from the drop down. Shut down Lightroom and then restart it normally. This time, when Lightroom starts, you should be viewing the new copy of your catalog. You can confirm this by looking at the General tab on the Catalog Preferences screen (Lightroom/Catalog Preferences menu items). Shut down Lightroom once again and this time, eject your external drive before restarting. This time, your folders in the left hand panel will be dimmed but you should be able to work with your smart previews. If Lightroom should display a Select Catalog screen with the external drive detached, double check your settings as it indicates Lightroom is still looking at the copy of the catalog on the external drive rather than the new copy you made.
Finally, if you are seeing dimmed folders and/or exclamation point badges with the external drive attached, this indicates a problem. You can select any folder and select Update Folder Location from the context menu. This will allow you to navigate to the copy on the external drive and select it. Lightroom will then update the catalog (select to synchronize the content). This will not only clear the dimmed folder problem but also remove the exclamation point badges for all photos in that missing folder. However, it may indicate that not all went well with the copy of the catalog so make sure to verify all went well. You can use the Get Info option on the two folders. You should see the same number of files/folders for both the copy on the internal drive as well as on the external drive but you can't rely on the byte count because of the possibility of differences between the geometry of the two drives. Hope this all helps!

My external hard drive will not open and only shows up in Disk Utilities. When I try yo repair it, it give me and error of invalid sibling link. How do I fix my external hard drive?

My external hard drive will not open and only shows up in Disk Utilities. When I try yo repair it, it give me and error of invalid sibling link. How do I fix my external hard drive?

Invalid sibling link may not be fixable by Disk Utility. (Disk Utility is very conservative, and will not attempt repairs that might cause you to lose data.)
It is an indication of serious Directory damage.
that leaves
a) third-party Utilities that will take those risks, or
b) re-initializing the drive (which deletes all your data) and restoring from another backup source.
c) "Copying off whatever files you can salvage" has gone by, and you cannot copy anything off a drive that will not mount. You may be able to use "rescue" programs such as prosoft engineering Data Rescue to copy files to another drive, but that sounds a lot better than its reality. You may get many files, but not get ANY filenames.

How do I reformat an external hard drive from an IMac 10.4.9?

I am new to Mac, having migrated from PC recently. I just purchased a new external hard drive but it is formated as NTFS (read only) and I need to reformat it as FAT 32. Does anyone know how to perform this reformat from my new IMac? Sorry, but I am totally new to Mac and I need all the help I can get. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance.
IMac Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi rubenrodz;
May I welcome you to the Apple Discussion Forums.
Just be aware that while FAT32 can be used for both the Mac and the PC, it does have limitations. You can't have files larger then 4 GB. Plus FAT32 doesn't keep all of the Mac files.
If you are only going to use the disk on the Mac if would be better to format it as HFS+, the native Mac format.
Allan

How can i save my individual playlist on itunes on my external hard drive because i want to buy a laptop and install itunes and move all my music and playlist thats on my desktop to my laptop and almost all my music is from a bunch of cd's i own

how can i save my individual playlist on itunes on my external hard drive because i want to buy a laptop and install itunes and move all my music and playlist thats on my desktop to my laptop and almost all of my music is from a bunch of cds i own

Hello ryane84
The easiest and most efficient way to copy your music is to follow the steps under the External drive section. Make sure that you have organized the iTunes library first before you copy it over. Then put the copied iTunes folder in the same Music folder on your computer.
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
Regards,
-Norm G.

I have a new MAcBook Air and my photos don't fit on the internal hard drive. I want to store my photos on an external hard drive which I will connect to my Air when using Iphoto. How do I set an external hard drive as the default drive?

I have a new MAcBook Air and my photos don't fit on the internal hard drive. I want to store my photos on an external hard drive which I will connect to my Air when using Iphoto. How do I set an external hard drive as the default drive in Iphoto?

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

How do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

how do i use an external hard drive for all my itunes music?

Hi valleydave,
Here are two good links for you to check out:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
The first one goes over, in-depth, what you're looking for in regards to "off site" iTunes.

How do i get my external hard drive permissions changed from read only to read and write?

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