Can't save to external hard drive, help......

It's probably formatted NTFS for Windows. Use Disk Utility located in the Utilities subfolder of the Apps directory and format it for the Mac.

Go into Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. From there select your new external hard drive and then erase/reformat to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). That should do the trick. It is most likely formatted for Windows which Mac could read but not write to.

Was this drive formatted NTFS either by you or from the factory? If so, that's why you can't write to it from the Mac. OS X can read an NTFS drive but cannot write to one. To use the drive on the Mac do this:

Drive Preparation

1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.

4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.

5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.

6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

mine reads: "last opened: Wednesday, December 31, 1969 at 4:00 PM" I was not born yet!!!!

what that means? how can I change that? and still cannot save in it....

IF I do this will it erase my photo's saved from my Windows PC?

Golf for fun wrote:

IF I do this will it erase my photo's saved from my Windows PC?

Yes you would, if you want to save them then temporarily copy them to the iMac and save them. Then reformat the EHD and once the drive is reformatted, drag the photos from the iMac back to the EHD.

Thanks guess I will have to buy another external hard drive to save my Apple iMac pictures. My external hard drive has 15 years of 141,000 pictures from my old Windows computer that I'm not going to delete as long as I can save them to my new iMac 3 terabyte computer. Which I already have. So thanks for the help. It has been fun but frustrating at times making the Apple transition. Will this Apple support carry on beyond my 90 day after purchase? I think this service could be very helpful for some of my other questions.

Golf for fun wrote:

Thanks guess I will have to buy another external hard drive to save my Apple iMac pictures. My external hard drive has 15 years of 141,000 pictures from my old Windows computer that I'm not going to delete as long as I can save them to my new iMac 3 terabyte computer. Which I already have. So thanks for the help. It has been fun but frustrating at times making the Apple transition. Will this Apple support carry on beyond my 90 day after purchase? I think this service could be very helpful for some of my other questions.

AppleCare can be purchased to extend your support to 3 years. Apple charges $169 for the 3 years, however you can find it as low as $125 or so from reputable resellers such as B&H Photos, Adorama, Amazon etc. I STRONGLY recommend that you get it, not only does it offer telephone support but it extends the 1 year warranty to 3 years too.

Will this delete existing files on the drive?

Formatting will erase EVERYTHING that is on the drive. If you want to save it, move it to the Mac first, then verify it's there and then you can re-format.

Hi there,

I do not want to reformat my external drive and lose all my existing data, so how to I move it to the Mac and reformat so I do not lose data and can still save pictures, etc. as there is significant memory remaining.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.