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Resolved Question

How do I use external hard drive formatted for a PC?

Feb 15, 2012 11:59AM PST

I've recently switched from a PC to Mac and I had a friend put all my music and pics onto a "Mac compatible" external hard drive ( G-Drive) but after plugging it into my Mac I've found that all the files are read only.

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heidigoddard has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

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RE: How do I use external hard drive formatted for a PC?
Feb 16, 2012 3:18AM PST

The problem is, if your HD was formatted as NTFS, OS X will be unable to write to the drive, since only "Read" ability is enabled for NTFS under OS X as the default. It is possible to write to NTFS-formatted HDs IF one uses a third-party utility such as NTFS-Mac 9.5 [by Paragon Software] or one of the free utilities which enable NTFS writing ability under OS X.

IF you do not wish to purchase a third-party utility, or use one of the free utilities, the only course of action you have available is to copy your files to your Mac drive, prepare the external drive as "GUID", then move the files back to the external drive after it is enabled as a Mac volume. To do this, select the files you wish to save, then just drag them to your Mac drive. I suggest you create a new folder on the Desktop and drag them there. After all is done, you can just drag the temporary folder to the Trash Can.

1) Open Disk Utility [found in ~/Apps/Utilities].
2) Make sure the external drive is mounted. If it's greyed-out, click on "Mount" in the Menubar at the top of the screen, and it should change to darker text. [If It's is still greyed out, stop at this point and we can attempt to try to find out why it won't mount].
3) Click on the drive designation itself [NOT any partitions on the drive]. The drive designation is the parent of any partitions under it. Make sure the "Partition" tab is selected. At this point, there will be a window displaying the partition scheme on the drive. If you do not make changes to the partitioning scheme at this point, it will not change to a Mac-writable one.
4) Click on the arrows beside "Current", and a drop-down list will allow you to select the number of partitions you want. If you do not select any [leave it as "Current"], no changes will be made to the partitioning scheme, even if you click on "Apply" at this point. In your case, it will leave you right back where you started, with an NTFS volume and no ability to write to this volume from within OS X.
5) Below the partitioning scheme area, there will be a button labeled "Options" now enabled [it is greyed out until you change the partitioning scheme in the list]. Click this button, and a window will open giving you the option to erase the partitioning scheme and make it "GUID" -- the first radio button. If you do not name the new partition, it will be given the default scheme of "OS X - Journaled", with the name "Untitled". Make sure this radio button is enabled. If you don't want any of the volumes you create to be bootable, activate the second radio button, and any partitions you create will only be for storage, but not readable/writeable under Windows. If you want them to be read/writeable from within both Windows and OS X, select the bottom radio button ["Master Boot Record"], since FAT32 is pretty-much a universal partitioning scheme.

At this point, Click on "OK", then "Apply", and the partitioning scheme will be created that you selected in [Step 6]. Disk Utility will then work for a minute or two, and when it is finished, you can copy or move the files you saved earlier back to the partition you created.

Donald L McDaniel
OldCelticHippy

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Perfect
Feb 17, 2012 1:31PM PST

That was just what I was looking for, thank you.

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MS-DOS (FAT) is NOT the way to go.
Feb 17, 2012 11:40PM PST

You say that you switched from PC to Mac and that you wanted to use the Mac compatible drive.
You did not say that you wanted to use the drive on BOTH Windows and Mac.

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RE: MS-DOS (FAT) is NOT the way to go.
Feb 18, 2012 2:24AM PST

You and I are both in agreement that FAT32 is not necessarily a good option to use within OS X.
I prefer to use OS X Journaled. But to exchange files between OS X and Windows is not possible unless
one uses a third-party utility such as NTFS-Mac, by Paragon, which is a rather expensive solution. The free third-party utilities are worth their price: free. And these "free" utilities are very undependable, in my estimation.

The only other option open to the OP was to format her external drive as FAT32, since it is a common file-system, and OS X can write as well as read to such volumes.

I did not make any suggestion that the OP should do this. I simply gave her ALL the available options, and she made the choice she thought would be best for her.

That is the difference between those who are convinced that OS X is the best thing since buttered bread and those who simply use computers. Those of us who like computers in general give all options to those asking for help.

Donald L McDaniel
OldCelticHippy

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Thank you for the veiled personal attack,
Feb 18, 2012 10:53PM PST

but the user did not ask how to use the external HD with both machines and your instructions, which nearly covered all the bases, were not at all clear, were incorrect in places and pretty daunting for a professed newbie to follow.

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RE: Thank you for the veiled personal attack,
Feb 19, 2012 3:25AM PST

MrMacFixit:

It is possible to activate the hidden native NTFS writing on Mac Volumes from within OS X, though it is a rather involved procedure, that newbies should not attempt. If Apple would activate it OOB, it would be better for such newbies. But, you and I both know Apple will not do this any time soon.

I am sorry if you have gotten the impression that my reply was a "veiled personal attack".
Since it is apparent that you somehow feel threatened by my replies to other OPs, I will no longer reply to anyone on this network. I do not wish to get into a competition with anyone.

I do apologize for the last paragraph in my previous post. It really had nothing to do with the original poster's needs.

I suppose that others more qualified should reply to switchers who post to C-NET forums. Instead, I will find a switchers forum on other networks to use my knowledge of Windows and Macintosh to help them in the future.

I love helping others. I help them because I have been in the same place they have been, and can feel their frustrations and concerns. This is called "compassion".

I suppose some need a forum to advance themselves. Some need a forum for help. Some need a forum just to "blow and go". We all have different needs. I have a need to show compassion to others, so I post. My knowledge is just sitting there helping no one, which to me seems to be a waste of the years I've spent learning computers and their operating systems.

I do not post because I have a need to be better or greater than others, I post because of those who need help.

Your servant,

Donald L McDaniel
OldCelticHippy

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Not sure the above is fully correct.
Feb 17, 2012 11:44PM PST

Selecting MBR, Apple or GUID under the options does not automatically cause the format to be any particular thing.
Format is chosen outside of the Options section.