Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

Older Mac Could Write to Drive, Newer One Can't

Tags:
  • NTFS
  • Mac OS X
  • FAT32
  • External Hard Drive
  • Macbook
  • Macintosh
Last response: in Mac Os X
Share
July 9, 2014 6:51:25 PM

I recently bought a 2011 MacBook Air which is running 10.9.1.

I purchased this computer because I recently left my job where I was issued an older, white MacBook, which I believe was running 10.4. (Not sure of the exact specs.) Before I left the job I brought in an external to transfer files I wanted to keep on me. The external is a 2 gig drive that worked perfectly with my older MacBook.

When I first plugged it in to my 2011 Air, I couldn’t write to the drive, only read. I did a little research and found that it was because the external is formatted to NTFS, not FAT32 or exFAT.

What I’m trying to understand is this: How come my older MacBook could read and write to the drive, but my newer one can’t?

More about : older mac write drive newer

July 9, 2014 11:28:37 PM



Hi amdfangirl,

I saw that post when I registered, but it doesn't explain my specific question, which is why can an older MacBook read and write to that hard drive when my newer one can only read from it?
m
0
l
July 10, 2014 12:05:40 AM

It might have had some kind of software pre-installed to read NTFS.

You can look at the options presented in that thread if you want to read NTFS formatted drives in OSX.

Try MacFUSE, NTFS-3G or perhaps Paragon NTFS.

Personally I format my HDDs as HFS+ Journaled so I don't need to worry about this problem. That would wipe the drive though.
m
0
l
!