Can I shut down the process of applying privileges to an external hard drive

I've been having a hard time with Adobe Bridge 2024 - it will not read a specific external hard drive. I read some things on a discussion forum that suggesting changing the permissions on the external hard drive that it is not acknowledging. I followed those instructions (I am now having severe anxiety) and it is taking quite some time. Can I abort this process? The drive contains mostly photos and scrapbooking png files. It has quite large capacity (999.86 GB) - can someone talk me off the ledge?

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Sep 26, 2023 3:35 PM

Reply
2 replies

Oct 15, 2023 7:15 AM in response to sjdodd

Permissions, whether none are set or very restrictive are set, you can't just halt an OS process and expect it to continue to work properly. You have to live within the rules. If permissions is the problem, you need to set those that work for you. That includes ignoring ownership on a specific volume which is an option under Get Info for a drive.


I suggest you ignore ownership on the drive.


If that fails to remedy the problem, you need to consider the drive is failing. If it's five year old, or older, it needs to be replaced. Some need it sooner. Devices fail and we all hope they last ten years but that's not reality.


Try the drive on a different Mac. Maybe even a Windows box and see how it reacts.


It may just need to have First Air run. Have you done that? It may need to be reformatted after erasure. Sometimes you just have to start over.

Can I shut down the process of applying privileges to an external hard drive

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.