External Hard Drive

TTWNF

Hey, i bought a Toshiba EHD today but when i attach it to my MAC it seems to be 'Read only'.... anyone know how i change it to read & write?

starlit

Are external drives not similar concept to dvd players and cds some are read only such as play only and not make changes to cd if it read only compared to read and write. You can save make changes on a rw cd for example same apply to dvd system some only play others play and write.

Maybe there is a special way to change the settings for the external drive?

Doodah7

You will need to reformat it for Mac as 99% of external hard drives are formatted for Windows. Mac's can only read files formatted in the Windows OS.

Use Disk Utility to format it for Mac.

TTWNF

tallpaul wrote: »

You will need to reformat it for Mac as 99% of external hard drives are formatted for Windows. Mac's can only read files formatted in the Windows OS.

Use Disk Utility to format it for Mac.

Cool how does one use Disk Utility?

DubDJ

TTWNF wrote: »

Cool how does one use Disk Utility?

Open the utility folder or using the spotlight search will bring it up. You select the External HDD in the left hand panel of Disk Utility and then click on the erase tab. Then choose which format you like.

Fat32 - Is probably the most universal but only supports files under 4GB.
ExFat - Is mostly the same as Fat32 but supports files larger than 4GB. Certain devices wont recognise this format like TV's and Media Players.
Mac Journaled - If it's for Time Machine I think it does the formatting for you but the Mac Journaled is probably the best bet.

Nemeses

DubDJ wrote: »

Mac Journaled - If it's for Time Machine I think it does the formatting for you but the Mac Journaled is probably the best bet.

Aye, If you plan to use it for Time Machine, It will force you to format it!

nialler

Assuming that the OP has already plugged it in Nemeses and canceled that option hence the Read Only discovery. I think they'll have to use Disk Utility.

The external drive is formatted as NTFS which is a windows filing system and is read only on mac.

Plug your external drive in, it will mount on your desktop, under the go menu, select utilities, when in the utilities folder, select disk utility.

In disk utility, on the left hand panel you will see your external drive, there will be two drives (be careful here), there'll be the drive itself and then it's mounted partition offset to the right slightly. Select the leftmost drive which is the drive itself. The reason I'm asking you to do this is so you can partition the drive as GUID which will allow you to Boot from it.

Select partition tab, select 1 partition, hit options and select GUID, ok, under Volume information give the drive a relevant name and pull down to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

This should sort you out. Once the drive mounts Time Machine will ask you do you wish to use it as a backup drive, say yes, it's a great system.

Niall

TTWNF

nialler wrote: »

Assuming that the OP has already plugged it in Nemeses and canceled that option hence the Read Only discovery. I think they'll have to use Disk Utility.

The external drive is formatted as NTFS which is a windows filing system and is read only on mac.

Plug your external drive in, it will mount on your desktop, under the go menu, select utilities, when in the utilities folder, select disk utility.

In disk utility, on the left hand panel you will see your external drive, there will be two drives (be careful here), there'll be the drive itself and then it's mounted partition offset to the right slightly. Select the leftmost drive which is the drive itself. The reason I'm asking you to do this is so you can partition the drive as GUID which will allow you to Boot from it.

Select partition tab, select 1 partition, hit options and select GUID, ok, under Volume information give the drive a relevant name and pull down to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

This should sort you out. Once the drive mounts Time Machine will ask you do you wish to use it as a backup drive, say yes, it's a great system.

Niall

cool yes thats what i did... this Time Machine seems great. Used one of the EHD's to back up the whole system & then the other to store photos & music. It's keep my Mac pretty much clear of stuff...

Nemeses

nialler wrote: »

Assuming that the OP has already plugged it in Nemeses and canceled that option hence the Read Only discovery. I think they'll have to use Disk Utility.

You assumed right so I see