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Ounpuuadams
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Q: why are all the files on my external harddrive showing as read only?

I have a harddrive (Seagate) that I have used with my PC to store files.  When I plug it into my Mac, all the files are read only.  How do I fix that?

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 28, 2013 6:51 PM

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Ounpuuadams

Q: why are all the files on my external harddrive showing as read only?

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Feb 28, 2013 6:53 PM in response to Ounpuuadams
    Level 10 (314,466 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 28, 2013 6:53 PM in response to Ounpuuadams

    If it's formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, use the Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utiities/ folder to repair it.

    If it's formatted as NTFS, install software onto the Mac which allows it to write to NTFS drives, or copy the files off and reformat the drive.

     

    (77884)

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Feb 28, 2013 6:55 PM in response to Ounpuuadams
    Level 9 (50,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 28, 2013 6:55 PM in response to Ounpuuadams

    Most likely, the drive is formatted NTFS, which OS X can only read natively.

    If you don't want to reformat the disk into something you can use on both, try exFAT.

    If you want to reformat it only for a Mac, use Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

    Either way you'd have to move the files off the drive, format, then reload them

     

    There are several programs which will allow you to write to NTFS, Paragon, Tuxera, and NTFS-3G (free).