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External HDD is 'Read only' - How to solve this?

Hi guys,


I recently purchased a Toshiba 1TB USB 3.0 External HDD and I'm having trouble adding ANY files from my MacBook Pro to it as I receive the message "The Volume is Read Only".


I have seen a few articles surrounding this online but rather than go into any of the numerous methods suggested I thought I would bring it to the community.


Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 8.3

Posted on Jul 28, 2015 1:01 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jul 28, 2015 1:18 PM

Click on the drive, choose Get Info from the File menu, and check the format.

If it's listed as Windows NT filesystem, reformat it as MS-DOS, exFAT, or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as desired, or install software which allows Mac OS X to write to NTFS drives. New drives(other than those specifically intended for Macs) typically fall into this category.

If it's formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, use the Disk Utility's Repair Disk command on it, or if you don’t need anything on it, reformat it.

If it's formatted as Mac OS Extended, click Authenticate and provide your administrator password, or change the permissions on that specific folder in its Get Info window.

(130900)

7 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jul 28, 2015 1:18 PM in response to BMoon

Click on the drive, choose Get Info from the File menu, and check the format.

If it's listed as Windows NT filesystem, reformat it as MS-DOS, exFAT, or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as desired, or install software which allows Mac OS X to write to NTFS drives. New drives(other than those specifically intended for Macs) typically fall into this category.

If it's formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, use the Disk Utility's Repair Disk command on it, or if you don’t need anything on it, reformat it.

If it's formatted as Mac OS Extended, click Authenticate and provide your administrator password, or change the permissions on that specific folder in its Get Info window.

(130900)

Oct 4, 2015 12:40 PM in response to BMoon

I am having the same problem. My toshiba external hard drive worked perfectly yesterday morning before i updated to el capitan. it had only ever been used on my macbook pro and now it is saying it's formatted as NTFS which has mysteriously appeared in my settings after updating. how do i fix this? i have wedding photos i need to access to edit!

External HDD is 'Read only' - How to solve this?

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