WD External Drive is Read Only?

I tried erasing the data using Mac OS Extended (journaled) format but that failed and now i dont see anything on my hard disk . That is not even working on windows. On Mac i see a grey marked drive on Utility. none of the operation is working on it now . what to do ?

You should explain what and how you did it.

Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

Then start a new thread, in the correct forum community: this is not your thread. Post here where that thread is.

Oh I am sorry, I am new here, Yes thanks for Guidance. I made a new post here mediakit reports not enough space on device for requested operation external hard drive

FWIW, you don't need either unless the drive is formatted as NTFS. They are commercial programs.

You can find them by doing a search for "paragon ntfs mac" or "tuxera ntfs mac".

You can uninstall the WD Utilities. They are useless.

No one is making you pay for anything. The NTFS format is not the native file format for Macs. Just as Windows users can't read or write to Mac formatted drives without paying for third-party software.

Just to add, Linux cannot read Mac formatted drives or NTFS drives without extra packages. So this …

making me pay for third party software, which function is the core and basic of any other OS

is incorrect.

TheHumanBot wrote:

Thanks for the help and replies. Appreciate it!

making me pay for third party software, which function is the core and basic of any other OS. I have paid more money for the softwares on my mac than actual price of my macbook.

I'm stopping this madness now and switching back to Windows Machine.

this was good 1 month or so on mac lol.

Why did you choose a Windows drive for a Mac?

Most drives, also WD drives, are standard formatted NTFS when you buy them.

Never use the software that you get with it when you have a mac.

When you use the WD drive only on a Mac, you can make a copy of everything that is on it now, then - with Disk Utility - partition/erase the disk to: GUID Partition table, Mac OS Extended (journaled). Then bring the data back. From then on you don't need any software to read and write.

FWIW, most external drives are formatted for Windows by default; all you need to do after plugging them in is to erase and format them. External drives do not need drivers or other software to function, but formatting them for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is essential (unless you want to use it with a Windows machine).

Lexiepex wrote:

When you use the WD drive only on a Mac, you can make a copy of everything that is on it now,

I guess no one has read this part…

I can not format my drive it's full and I don't have any extra drive or any other devices where I can copy the data and format the drive.

If it's formatted as an NTFS drive Macs can't write to it. You would need to install a small program from Paragon or Tuxera in order to write to it.

First, do you know if the drive is formatted as NTFS? Select the drive and press "Command + I" or right/control click on the drive and choose "Get Info" from the drop down menu.