My external hard drive is read only, need to transfer data off it, reformat the drive then copy back

my data from my pc is on a hard drive, 1tb formatted windows ntfs.  So I need to copy data, reformat hard drive to mac format, then reload it.
is that correct?  any tips if so?  only 270 gig is data, about 730 is empty
internal hard drive has about 950 gig free.

Correct.

Similar Messages

  • External hard disc is read only on my MacBook air and I can't safe and export files on it, how can I change that

    My external hard drive is read only on my MacBook air and I cand safe  or export files to it. How can I change this so I can use the external hard drive to export my files and work on an other pc.

    Eject and disconnect the drive (and its power supply, if it has a separate one) for a few moments, then restart it.  Restart your Mac, then reconnect the drive.
    If that doesn't help, the directory structure may be damaged.  See if you can Repair it, per #6 in Using Disk Utility.

  • I can't delete add on bar. I can only temporarly hide it. When I close the browser, then come back and open browser later, the add on bar is back again. This started right after version 11 ato uploaded to my PC. I use Windows XP, Service Pack 3.

    I can't delete add on bar. I can only temporary hide it. When I close and open later, the add on bar is back. I have to delete by checking off each time I open Firefox 11. Previous versions "remembered" my original settings.

    Thank you. I have been using the Fox die (Graphite) 10.3 theme for about 4 years. In all previous versions of Firefox, had no problem. When I customized the settings, Firefox remembered these settings. I like to run browser with the absolute minimum of bars, so that I have maximum view of web pages.I have had no recent add on's in over a year. When Firefox uploaded automatically recently, that's when this problem started. Now it takes 4 clicks every time I log on to Firefox to delete add on bar. Firefox won't remember the previous setting. I honestly think the bug is with the new version, being the latest.
    I don't know how to start in safe mode.

  • I am connecting an external USB HDD and I can see it on my Apple Macbook Air. BUT this drive is READ only. How can I write to it?

    I am connecting an external USB HDD and I can see it on my Apple Macbook Air. BUT this drive is READ only. How can I write to it?

    Drive Partition and Format
    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.
    Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

  • External Hard Drive Becomes Read Only

    I have a LaCie Hard Drive that Time Machine has been backing up to for about 4 days now. All of a sudden, the external hard drive is read only. When I go into Get Info for the hard drive, I can't even change the read/write permissions - it's all grayed out. This is the second time it's happened. The first time was on a Western Digital MyBook. TM fried that drive. At least this drive hasn't disappeared like the last time.
    I've now changed the Time Machine backup to my second hard drive on my Mac Pro (which is screaming along, as opposed to the FW800 [!!] backup on my La Cie, whose file transfers are slo-o-o-w).
    The idea behind backing up onto the external was so that if I ever needed to leave during a fire or earthquake, I could bring this with me and not worry if my computer was destroyed. Insurance would replace the computer, and I could replace my system.
    If it weren't formatted properly, it wouldn't have been backing up for the last few days.
    Can anyone help?
    Message was edited by: Theresa Mesa

    Thank you to everyone who has posted about this issue -- it just happened to me AGAIN this morning (this is my 3rd time), after I installed the 10.5.2 update. The first two times were right after I hooked up my external Iomega 500GB drive to use with Time Machine and I thought it was something I was doing. Then it seemed to work fine for a couple months so I thought the problem was over. Guess not! It is frustrating because I just lost about 2 months worth of backups. So finally I searched Apple's discussion forums and saw that I am not alone. However, no one was really posting a solution other than to say "reformat the drive".
    So I did a Google search about this topic and encountered the following article. I have just gone through the steps he outlines and although I won't know for awhile if it works, I figure at this point it can't hurt to try. I hope this proves useful to others as well. (One note -- in his article, he says to skip the Erase tab and go right to the Partition tab. If you don't see the Partition tab, first erase your corrupt Time Machine backup disk and then follow his steps.)
    http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/leopard-disk-utility-format-issue-screws-with-t ime-machine-but-theres-an-easy-fix-316573.php
    Cheers ~
    Message was edited by: sneebish

  • My external hard drive is read only

    Hey guys,
    I'm just transferring stuff from a windows pc and i had all my music on my external hard drive. Well i set my default iTunes folder back to my external on my new mac but my hard drive is read only so it won't let me download anything after i buy it. How can i change it from read only?
    Thanks

    If the external drive is formatted NTFS, OSX can read but not write to it.
    MacFUSE is supposed to add NTFS write support to OSX
    <http://julipedia.blogspot.com/2007/03/ntfs-readwrite-support-for-mac-os-x.html> , but it may be safer to copy the data from the drive, the re-format it to Mac Extended (or FAT32 if you still want to use in on Windows). Re-formatting will erase the disk, so save the data first.

  • External hard drive becomes "read only" and won't let Time Machine back up

    I have an external hard drive for back up, and it has been working fine until recently.
    There is a version of 10.6.6 loaded on it also.
    The back up will fail every few days. When I do some checking, the back up drive is "read only" but I am not able to switch it to read/write. I cannot repair it with Disk Utility as the repair buttons are grayed out.
    I can run DiskWarrior and it will fix it, but it runs super slow and takes all the memory to do it. I can barely use my e mail while it's running.
    Anyone know what's going on?

    System log says:
    3/27/11 8:01:19 AM com.apple.backupd-auto[1559] Not starting scheduled Time Machine backup - time machine destination not resolvable.
    It's read only because:
    A: I cannot do repairs under Disk Utility, the buttons are grayed out.
    B: I right click and "Get Info" and if I click on the lock icon, nothing happens.
    C: The disk is not listed in the Time Machine backups.
    I will try to take better notes the next time it happens and give you the exact messages.
    There is another drive daisy chained to this external drive which holds my music. The music drive does not have a Mac OS installed on it and is only for storage. It works properly.

  • Error says my External backup hard drive is read only

    I have a WD External drive that I use for my Time Machine backup. I turned on the computer today and it says it cannot backup because the drive is read only. It appears on the desktop and in the Finder window. When I open Time Machine preferences, it's identified as the backup disk. But when I choose "backup now", I get that message (it's read only).
    Do I have to partition this again using Disk Utility or is there a simpler solution? Thank you,

    See #C6 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

  • External Drive is read-only

    When I start up my external drive, which used to be my Time Machine drive (but hasn't been for 4 months) I get a message: "The disk "" was not repairable by the computer. It is being made available to you with limited functionality. You must back up your data and reformat the disk as soon as possible." Does this mean I have to get another external drive (I'm running low on cash - thanks, college!) back up all my files on this drive to the new one? I've tried DiskUtility, and this is what happens:
    Invalid sibling link
    The volume "" needs to be repaired.
    *Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.*
    Help, please!!

    kibbles1053 wrote:
    I've tried DiskUtility, and this is what happens:
    Invalid sibling link
    The volume "" needs to be repaired.
    *Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.*
    If you did a +*Verify DIsk,*+ do +*Repair Disk.+* There's a (small) chance it can fix it.
    If that gets the same results, and you already have a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app, such as +Disk Warrior+ (4.1.1 or later), it might be able to repair it.
    If not, your only choice is to reformat the disk. This will, of course, erase it, so if you want to keep whatever's on it, you'll have to copy it elsewhere (if it can be copied), reformat, then copy back.
    That may or may not work; if the disk itself is failing, there's nothing you can do to fix it.

  • TS1550 OSX Upgrade (Mountain Lion) turned external drive to "read-only" and now I can not do back-ups on time machine.  How do I fix this?

    I recently upgraded to mountain lion, latest version OS and now my external drives are read-only.  They are formatted Mac OS Extended and I have been using one of them for Time Machine.  How do I fix?
    Thanks

    http://pondini.org/TM/C6.html

  • I backed up files onto an external hard rive form my old PC. Now I want to retrieve the files to put on my mac but it is telling me to format it to Mac. How can I do this without erasing all of the data on my hard drive?

    I backed up files onto an external hard rive form my old PC. Now I want to retrieve the files to put on my mac but it is telling me to format it to Mac. How can I do this without erasing all of the data on my hard drive?

    Your drive was used with a PC and formatted NTFS which is proprietary Microsoft format.
    You need to install a third party program that will read the NTFS format.
    There is various software from PARAGON, Tuxera and NTFS-3G
    When you get the data off and have verified it to be good, reformat the drive either HFS+ for Mac use only, or for Mac and PC use then MSDOS (FAT32) for under 4GB files (best) or exFAT (for larger than 4GB files) is proprietary and Microsoft is appling for a patent, which would likely mean OS X won't be allowed to read it anymore without a licensing fee and you'l have to pay another third party software company to read the format, just like NTFS is.
    The less you have to rely upon third party sources to read your drives the better, this way if you have a issue and need to read the drive on another machine you don't need the software, and a internet connection and a credit card and...and...and...

  • Hard disk becomming read-only ?

    hi all,
    I've been having a curious problem for about a year now. After a few days not so intensive usage, my iMac's hard disk becomes read-only. Most programs become unusable of course, some actually work as long as they don't try to write anything...
    Symptoms:
    system.log isn't written to anymore (so no system error reported);
    terminal works I can "ls" here and there, but mkdir, touch, or anything like that fails.
    And worst, I did a clean format re-install (going from tiger to leopard), and the problem still apears.
    I'm assuming it's the disk, but I get no bad blocks error in the logs (well those can't be written too, okay
    Anyones gone thrue that before I replace the hard drive with a new one ?

    Hi ncksayer -
    Greetings and welcome to the Apple boards.
    I have not experienced your particular problem but it does sound like the drive can be an issue.
    I have replaced the hard drive on an iMac of your series. If you are at all handy and not afraid to open it up it is quite easy.
    Luck-
    -DaddyPaycheck

  • Hello, since I actualized my Mac with Maverick it doesn't recognize any  external hard disk ,... only the one to make copy on the time machine. Can anybody help me? thank you!!!!

    hello, since I actualized my Mac with Maverick it doesn't recognize any  external hard disk ,... only the one to make copy on the time machine. Can anybody help me? thank you!!!!

    Hello Laurabcn,
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    For more information, take a look at:
    USB and FireWire Quick Assist
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1151
    Have a nice day,
    Mario

  • How do I change permissions on my seagate expansion drive from read only to read and write?  Thank you!

    I don't seem to be able to change the permissions on my Seagate 1TB Expansion Drive from read only to read and write.
    Are there expansion drives compatible with both Windows and Mac as I have a Windows computer at work and use my Mac at home?
    Thanks

    It is a question of formats.  That drive probably is formatted for Windows.  You will have to reformat it to ExFAT on the PC, then it will work both on the Mac and the PC. 
    REFORMATTING ERASES ALL DATA ON A DISK!
    There is a software option which will allow you to write to the HDD with reformatting:
    http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/
    Ciao.

  • USB Drive Mounts Read Only

    For some reason now on all my Linux systems but particularly Arch Linux, my USB thunb drive gets auto mounted in Gnome when I plug it in but for some reason it's 'read only'.
    [carlos@tuna ~]$ cd /media/usb/
    [carlos@tuna usb]$ ls -l
    total 3722352
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Feb 11 10:34 files
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Feb 13 20:32 movies
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Jan 31 19:18 music
    drwx------ 4 carlos users 8192 Feb 11 10:34 pics
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Jan 28 12:17 tv
    -rw-r--r-- 1 carlos users 1564807588 Feb 14 17:40 WELCOM~1.AVI
    /dev/sdg1 on /media/usb type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=1000,gid=100,shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
    Both on CLI & through my Gnome file browser (Nautilus), I can't re-name, delete, or create new files. I don't understand what has changed. I then tested this on a spare laptop running Ubuntu 10.10 and it too has the same issue.
    Can anyone please explain this to me or help me resolve this problem?

    Correct. In both cases (CLI & GUI) I can't remove, add, or change existing files:
    [carlos@tuna ~]$ cd /media/
    [carlos@tuna media]$ ls -l
    total 8
    drwx------ 9 carlos users 8192 Dec 31 1969 CORSAIR
    [carlos@tuna media]$ cd CORSAIR/
    [carlos@tuna CORSAIR]$ ls -l
    total 3722352
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Feb 11 10:34 files
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Feb 13 20:32 movies
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Jan 31 19:18 music
    drwx------ 4 carlos users 8192 Feb 11 10:34 pics
    drwx------ 2 carlos users 8192 Jan 28 12:17 tv
    -rw-r--r-- 1 carlos users 1564807588 Feb 14 17:40 WELCOM~1.AVI
    [carlos@tuna CORSAIR]$ rm WELCOM~1.AVI
    rm: cannot remove `WELCOM~1.AVI': Read-only file system
    I can't even change the permissions on the file:
    chmod: changing permissions of `WELCOM~1.AVI': Read-only file system

Maybe you are looking for