external hard drive not mounting

Question

external hard drive not mounting

I was just logging on to look for/post a question about external HD - just bought one for daughter's new MacBook - she's off to college in a few weeks and wants an external HD just for photos. Bought an iOmega yesterday but it isn't allowing us to move anything on to it. I'm sure I'm overlooking something obvious, but regardless, I haven't yet figured out what the obvious is. Any suggestions? It shows up on the desktop and in Finder - just won't let us move anything. Thanks!

Posted on Jul 28, 2009 7:01 PM

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Answer 1

Lyssa

Level 8

41,339 points

Jul 28, 2009 7:29 PM in response to Ssabrina Kapp

Sounds like it's not formatted properly.

Will you need to use the drive with any PCs? Are you planning to use Time Machine?

~Lyssa

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Answer 2

Jul 28, 2009 7:33 PM in response to Lyssa

No to being used with PCs; doubtful (for now, at least) on Time Machine.

I probably need to read online info about the iOmega? I bet you are correct re: formatting. Thank you.

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Answer 3

Lyssa

Level 8

41,339 points

Jul 28, 2009 7:40 PM in response to Ssabrina Kapp

Would she need a bootable clone of her computer? If not, follow the instructions below. If she thinks she could use that, I can give instructions for that as well.

A bootable clone would allow her startup her computer if her internal drive fails and she still needs to do some work.

Here's what you need to do:

Open up Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities).

Highlight the hard drive's icon in the left-hand column (the one with capacity & manufacturer name).

Click the Erase tab and choose "Mac OS Extended" for the volume format.

Name the partition anything except *Macintosh HD*.

Click the "Erase" button.

This should just take a few minutes, then you should be able to write to the drive without problems.

~Lyssa

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