MacBook Pro can't open files from external hard drive, but iMac can read and open the files! Help me solve this frustration issue

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MacBook Pro can't open files from external hard drive, but iMac can read and open the files! Help me solve this frustration issue

Hello there,

ISSUE: G-Drive 1 TB Portable USB 3.0 suddenly stopped working. MacBook Pro laptop (late 2012 model) can see the files, can calculate the size of the files, but when I try to open them, nothing comes up. For instance, if I try to open a .tif file, preview would launch and immediately freeze. Similar situation happens if I try to open word document or excel sheet. This is not observed when I plug G-drive 1 TB to iMac. On iMac I can open all files with no problem. Even corrupted files can be seen on iMac and I was able to delete them. I also tried to connect G-drive to a colleague's Windows laptop and I was able to open my files.

I decided to investigate if this issue is specific to the MacBook Pro and moved some of the .tif and word/excel sheet files into a different external hard drive (Seagate 1 TB) and I was able to open up the files on my MacBook Pro!! This leads me to believe the issue is caused by bad interaction between the MacBook Pro laptop and the G-drive. Please help me! I'm getting frustrated with this external G-drive 😟 I'm not tech savvy and I couldn't find a solution to my problem online.

Background: The external hard drive was working perfectly fine on my MacBook Pro Retina Display (late 2012 model) until couple of the files got corrupted and it stopped working. I think the corruption occurred because the external hard drive was improperly disconnected from the system.

I do not use Time Machine with this external drive or upload large files. I use it solely for microscopy images (~50 MB per picture). So far I only used ~ 10 GB of this drive. I also should mention that when I received the external hard drive, it was formatted for Mac (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)), and I partitioned it into two separate drives; xFAT so that I can use it on Windows OS, and Mac Journaled. They were split into even 500 GB.

Attempted repairs:

1. Using iMac, I ran First Aid on G-Drive to attempt to repair it. It said that it can't repair Mac OS Journaled Drive (it's the one that contained the corrupted files).

2. I decided to save copies of my non-corrupted files to the iMac internal drive, and erased G-drive 1 TB drive clean. This time I formatted it to xFAT and did not partition it. I moved back 2 large picture folders (1.5 GB, 2.8 GB) back to the drive. I tried to access these pictures again on my MacBook Pro and I still get the same issue. I cannot open any of the .tif images or word/excel files.

Posted on May 31, 2018 7:34 PM

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Answer 1

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sterling r

Community Specialist

Jun 1, 2018 5:50 PM in response to M7mad13

Hey there, M7mad13,

Thanks for swinging by the Apple Support Communities. If I'm understanding your post, you have been experiencing issues opening files stored on an external drive with your MacBook Pro. I also see these same files open just fine on an iMac, and have previously opened on the computer in question. I'd be happy to help!

It looks like you're off to a great start by using Disk Utility First Aid on the external and reformatting it. Since the issue still persists with the MacBook Pro, I would suggest the following troubleshooting:

Reset the computer's System Management Controller (also called the SMC): How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
On your MacBook Pro, check if you can open the files while in safe mode: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support
Set up a new user account, and try accessing the files there: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support

Each of the articles provided will give you information on the related step, including why it's helpful to try, how to do each step, and what to do with the results you get. I recommend reading each over before trying the steps, then testing to see if the issue is resolved. This will make sure you don't do any unnecessary troubleshooting; if resetting the SMC fixes the issue, you won't need to use safe mode or a new user account.

If you do wind up going through all three steps and still do not have a solution, though, don't hesitate to respond back.

Have a lovely weekend!

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MacBook Pro can't open files from external hard drive, but iMac can read and open the files! Help me solve this frustration issue

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