External Hard Drive Error -- alias “Home Hard Drive” can’t be opened be

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External Hard Drive Error -- alias “Home Hard Drive” can’t be opened be

I've got an iMac and an external hard drive I've been using for about three years. Recently, every time I try to open the external hard drive I get the following error, "The alias “Home Hard Drive” can’t be opened because the original item can’t be found." The three options it gives me are, Delete Alias, Fix Alias or just ok. I've got my iTunes library on the EHD so I'm very skeptical about pressing fix alias b/c obviously I don't want to lose any of my data. Has anyone experienced this or have a solution?

Thanks!

Mac Book Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2), iMac

Posted on Feb 25, 2010 3:30 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 25, 2010 6:07 PM in response to Will62981

Is the disk actually mounting (visible in Disk Utility), or are you trying to open a shortcut on the Desktop (for example)?

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Answer 2

Will62981 Author

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Feb 25, 2010 6:09 PM in response to Sandra Guzdek

The disk is already mounted, I get that error when trying to open it.

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Answer 3

Was2be

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31 points

Mar 2, 2010 7:17 AM in response to Will62981

We have the same exact problem on multiple machines and with multiple hard drives since upgrading to OS 10.6. It is a known issue at Apple. The suggestion to me from Apple support staff was to use a third party application called "Path Finder", which allows you to correct the problem by turning off an "alias bit" after selecting "show info" on the hard drive.

The problem with this solution is 1) it costs $40 which I think is unfair... apple should provide a free solution, and 2) the problems can reoccur spontaneously, requiring periodic resetting of the alias bit.

I'm hoping Apple can solve this problem... but I am still out the $40.

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Answer 4

Will62981 Author

Level 1

1 points

Mar 3, 2010 3:36 AM in response to Was2be

Thanks for the response, I'll have to that if that happens again. I ended up taking my HD in and they were able to get the data stored to a server, reformat the HD and copy everything back. Apple needs to fix this issue though it doesn't seem to happen a lot.

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