I have an external hard driver that I used to use with my old pc, but now I have a mac and I can see all of the files on it and open them, but I can't add things to it. How do I fix this?

I use my external hard drive to store all of my music, but now I can't save anything on it with my new Mac. Is there a way that I can reformat it or something without losing everything I already have on there?

I suggest to copy all your files in your external drive to your Macbook and reformat that external drive to Mac OS Extended Journaled or exFat.
Once you've done that - then copy all the files back to your external drive.
Do not format your external drive if you haven't copied whats in your external drive. You'll lose everything.

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I have an external hard drive that I have been using for years. All of a sudden my mac will not recognize the external as a "save as" device location. But the external does show up on my desktop and I can open it to drag and drop items. Help.

I have an external hard drive that I have been using for years. All of a sudden my mac will not recognize the external as a "save as" device location. But the external does show up on my desktop and I can open it to drag and drop items. What happened and how do I get my mac to rerecognize the device?!?!?

Hi,
Check Finder>Preferences>Sidebar, is it checked there to show external drives?

I have an external hard drive that shows up in disk utility but Verify and Restore are greyed out.

I have an external hard drive that shows up in disk utility but Verify and Restore are greyed out. I am trying to determine what is wrong with the drive.
I need the data on the drive and it won't show up in Disk Warrior. I have tried different Mac's and different USB cords only to find the same outcome. When selected in Disk Utility the information read as such...
Disk Description : WD Elements 1023 Media                      Total Capacity : 500.11 GB (500,105,740,288 Bytes)
Connection Bus : USB                                                               Write Status : Read/Write
Connection Type : External                                                     S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
USB Serial Number : 575837314135304D36373132        Partition Map Scheme : Unformatted
As the drive shows in Disk Utility there must be some life left in it surely. There is a possibilty that the physical connection between the USB cord and the external drive is damaged but since the drive shows up I believe it's unlikely... before I give it to the pro's is there anything else I can do to diagnose the issue?

Hello,
I have just experienced the same thing!
Although my external drive shows in Disk Utility, it does not show in Finder.
And the Verify/Repair buttons are also greyed out.
Also, although the drive is 2TB. DU shows it as having Total Capacity of only 4.14GB! (Which should be the Free Space).
I was wondering if you solved your problem, & if so, would you share your solution.
I´m afraid to Erase in case I lose all my Data on the drive.
Thanks in advance for your reply!

I have an external hard drive that was formatted by a PC and has files and directories etc. I want to format it and use it on my IMAC for backup but I can't seem to write to it nor can I delete current content. How do I initialize it for use with the MAC?

I have an external hard drive that was formatted by a PC and has files and directories copied to it etc. I want to use it on my IMAC for backup. I see it on my my IMAC . I can open files etc. But I can't seem to write to it nor can I delete current content. I don't care if I lose current content. How do I initialize it for use with the MAC?

You can't write to it because it's formatted as NTFS which OS X will read but not write to. If you want to continue using the drive with both a PC and OS X you will need to download and install NTFS-3G so you can then write to it from your Mac. You can get NTFS-3G at:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/24481/ntfs-3g
If you want to use the drive exclusively with your Mac then move the data off it and reformat it in Disk Utility (Applications - Utilities - Disk Utilities) as Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)

I keep getting "error occurred while attempting to import file *******. The disc your are attempting to use is full." I have an external hard drive that I moved files over to, but apparently they're also still on my hard drive? HELP!

I keep getting "error occurred while attempting to import file *******. The disc your are attempting to use is full." I have an external hard drive that I moved files over to, but apparently they're also still on my hard drive? HELP!

So you have backed up the content of the computer's hard drive, too?
That usually is a great idea since it is possible to lose use of the system
if parts of it have accidentally been removed or get over-written, or the
main system files get corrupted, when the hard disk drive gets too full.
If you have not trashed the originals of your created content, that remain
after you made copies on an external hard drive or other device, then
that is what you'd have to do to reclaim the capacity still in use by them.
What are specifications of the hard disk drive? The unused capacity
verses the used, in GB? If the hard drive has less than 15 to 20%
free or unused capacity, you could run into trouble. Mine are 40-50%
unused hard drive space, so ample room is available for automatic
Virtual Memory to use that capacity as temporary swap file space.
This is helpful when the computer could use more physical RAM
memory capacity, but doesn't have it. Or if the RAM is maxxed out
and you can't add any more. Virtual Memory is part of OS X and the
system automatically can use as much as is available, but it is better
to be sure there is plenty of resources available to include chip RAM
as well as unused or free hard drive capacity for use as VM.
If for some reason your files in Trash won't go away when you empty
it, you may have to restart. Be sure you have not included any System
files in the content in the Trash, or the Mac may not start up later on.
You may have to boot the computer from the install-restore OS X DVD
and run Repair Disk from its version of Disk Utility, to be sure it's OK.
I'm guessing that by now you know enough about the vintage system
in the older hardware to figure it out, so I won't write about it now.
In any event... hopefully you can simply trash the files, but check them
carefully, & you may need to remove (copy to archive first) even more.
Good luck & happy computing!

I would like to know if you have to back up a macbook hard drive, can I use a external hard drive that has been previously used to back up several pc 's, or is it best to have a separate external drive for the Mac?

I would like to know if you have to back up a macbook hard drive, can I use a external hard drive that has been previously used to back up several pc 's, or is it best to have a separate external drive for the Mac?

In the Mac side of things, backups usually come in two flavors: clones or incrementals.
A bootable clone is a bit-for-bit copy of all essential files in the startup volume. If using the Lions, clones can be made using CarbonCopyCloner or just plain old Disk Utility. These backups represent the safest protection of your info, but take the longest to do. Recovery is an inverse process: you copy the clone back into the internal drive.
Incremental backups start with a complete backup of the startup volume and only copy whatever changed from the previous run. OS X includes the fully integrated Time Machine backup utility to do this. It is extremely easy to do and takes the least amount of time. Recovery is another matter altogether since you have to start with a freshly installed instance of the OS and have to apply all intervening backups to bring the result to the latest saved version.
As for where the backup takes place, the recommended media is an external dedicated drive or drives connected via the fastest interface available on your Mac: Thunderbolt, USB3, Firewire, or USB2. Network-based backups, wired or wireless, are attractive but may not offer the same performance and hence take longer. Also important to note that the entire drive need not be completely dedicated to a single backup. The Mac's EFI firmware infrastructure allows for an unlimited number of partitions on a hard drive and each can be used for either type of backups.
Holler if you need specifics on how to do each. This was just an executive summary.

I am new to a MAC. I have an external hard drive that I used with my Windows XP computer. Can I reformat it

I am new to MAC. I have an external hard drive that I used with my former computer running Windows XP. Can I reformat it to use with my new MAC? If so, how do I do it?

Yes you can. See the following:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your 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.

HT4718 I have an external hard drive that I used as Time Machine Backup. I have not used it for a while and now, when I plug it in computer says: This disc is not readable. I want to recover the backups and not erase and reformat the disc. Thank you in

I have an external hard drive that I have used as Time Machine backup, but not for a while. Now when I plug it in, computer says this disc is not readable.
I want to keep the backups on it and not erase and start over.
Thank you in advance.
Gregor

It sounds like something went wrong with the drive. Did you drop it? How long has it been sitting around unused?

Hi there! I would like to ask if is there anyway that I can see all of the file from IPHONE 4 using over my desktop?

Hi there! I would like to ask if is there anyway that I can see all of the file from IPHONE 4 using over my desktop?

Apps must be updated using the Apple ID used to originally download them to the device.
If you cannot or will not use the old Apple ID, then you can delete the app, and then download it again using the current Apple ID. Be aware that any paid apps will have to be purchased again.

Do I need to have an external hard drive that has a certain spindle speed, like 7200?

In the past, when I did audio or video editing, the specs on the software required a certain rotational speed if I were using an external hard drive. Most of the time it was 7200. Do I need to use a specific spindle rotational speed for Final Cut Pro, or will drive 5400 or above do fine?

That still applies today as well. Helps to also use faster connection ports like Firewire 400 or 800, USB 3.0, or Thunderbolt rather than USB 2.0.

HT4848 Is it possible to partition an external hard drive that is already being used for Time Machine backups without it being erased?

I'm want to use my current external hard drive, which I use for Time Machine Backup, as a recovery disk for Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2. From what I have read, the recovery disk assistant will erase all data on the external drive unless it is partitioned. Can I partition my current backup drive without erasing it, even though it is already being used for Time Machine?

It's very simple to test. Turn off your computer. Have your time machine backup plugged in. Hold option and turn it on, keeping option held. Do you see your time machine drive? If so, select it and press enter. You'll end up in recovery. If it works, there you go. Then just click the apple and restart to get back to your regular desktop. Then you'll know for when you're ready to do the deed.
Edit...
I'm not sure if time machine will think it's an entirely different computer, though, when a hard drive changed, making an actual restore not doable. Either way, you could still reinstall mt lion fresh and then just migrate after, skipping the need for SL.

I have an external hard drive that I cannot find on my macbook pro.

I cannot find my external drive on my MacBook Pro. I can find it in the Utilities disk but I don't know what to do so that I can use it. Can you please help?
Thank you

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
To access to your external disk, open a Finder window and choose it in the sidebar, under "Devices". Another way is to go to Finder menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > General, and mark "External drives" to show it in your desktop. Then, you can read your data on your external disk and you can copy files, unless your external drive is using NTFS. In this case, you will have to use Paragon NTFS or format it

I have an external hard drive that is both Mac and Windows compatible and can no longer delete any files. I recently reformatted my Mac, does this have anything to do with it?

I've clicked on the 'get info' tab, but it says read only for all files.

You can't write to it because it's formatted as NTFS which OS X will read but not write to. If you want to continue using the drive with both a PC and OS X you will need to download and install NTFS-3G so you can then write to it from your Mac. You can get NTFS-3G at:
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/24481/ntfs-3g
If you want to use the drive exclusively with your Mac then move the data off it and reformat it in Disk Utility (Applications - Utilities - Disk Utilities) as Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)

I have an external hard drive that is partitioned three ways. I have made an install disk out of one partition. How can I use this partition, and not the whole drive with bootcamp assistant?

See title.
When the drive is plugged in, boot camp assistant says that no installer can be found, but the application doesn't list the three separate partitions like finder/disk util does.
I am using a mid-'12 retina mac running os X 10.9
Hopefully this is an easy fix.
Thanks in advance.

Hello,
I have just experienced the same thing!
Although my external drive shows in Disk Utility, it does not show in Finder.
And the Verify/Repair buttons are also greyed out.
Also, although the drive is 2TB. DU shows it as having Total Capacity of only 4.14GB! (Which should be the Free Space).
I was wondering if you solved your problem, & if so, would you share your solution.
I´m afraid to Erase in case I lose all my Data on the drive.
Thanks in advance for your reply!

So, I have an external hard drive that was connected to my mac not able to access.

Under Disk Utility I was able to see it how ever I was unable to access it. So I made a partition thinking that might help. However I think it erased that the disk? Can I recover or undo? or remove the partition? what can I do to get the information from it?? Please help!

You have erased your drive, if this data is important stop using the drive immediately and contact a data rescue company, you may also try some of the data recovery software available, I have no recommendations for that stuff (I backup so don't have a need for recovery)

I have an external hard driver that I used to use with my old pc, but now I have a mac and I can see all of the files on it and open them, but I can't add things to it. How do I fix this?

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