How do i save files from my macbook to an external hard drive

Question

Ive always been a PC user until recently when i purchased a macbook pro. I have an external hard drive that i used to back up all my files including word documents & mp3's etc. I now want to use the same hard drive to back up files from my macbook but i dont want to make a copy of the entire drive (like with time line) i just want to save individual files. When i go to do this, a light grey circle appears with a 'cross out' and i am unnable to copy/save the file. In the past (with PC) all i have had to do is drop and drag to perform this function. I have attempted to make an alias, copy and paste etc to overcome the problem but nothing thus far has worked.

Answer 1

Your external drive is formatted NTFS which OS X can read from but not write to. You can either install third-party software on the Mac to enable writing to the drive or repartition and reformat the drive for exclusive use with the Mac. If you don't need to move files between a Mac and a PC, then I would recommend the latter solution.
Tuxera NTFS 2012.3.2
NTFS for Mac OS X 9.5.3
To repartition:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select the external hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.