External hard disk "cannot be modified"

[Wajeeha]

I am getting the message saying that the external hard disk "cannot be modified". I am trying to copy some files and I am not able to do the same. Even the drag and drop of files is not supported. I am having a new Mac PC and the drive was working fine with the system, that had Windows Vista in it and it is still working in it without problems. As I am new to Mac OS, I do not know what is happening because of which I need the people on this forums to help me with this issue.

[Maxforu]

Hello there, you have mentioned that the external hard disk is used with the Windows Vista operating system. So, this means that it is a totally different file system, that is the NTFS format. This is the main cause that you are getting the message that the external hard disk "cannot be modified". So, you will have to change the file system of the hard disk to fix the issue.

[Rawko]

The external hard disk "cannot be modified" problem can be solved by changing the file format and here is how you can do it:

1. You will have to go to the Disk Utility, that is in Applications and then, Utilities.
2. After that, the drive has to be selected on the left side.
3. Now, the erase tab has to be selected and the format has to be changed here.

[RoninBlade]

Hello there, the solution given in the above post will fix the issue that the external hard disk "cannot be modified". Just make sure that the FAT32 file format is selected, so that you can use it with both the Windows and Mac operating systems. So, it is better, than to use the hard disk with only one operating system. I hope that my suggestion will be helpful.

[Fabian]

If you are not able to do the above mentioned setting for the FAT32 file format, then you can use the software mentioned below. It will do the required settings for the hard disk to be used in the NTFS file format itself. Here is the software:
NTFS-3G 2010.1.16
So, just let me know if your problem is solved with the help of this software or not.

[spilihp]

i have the same problem, except the difference is that i am a windows xp user..im runnin out of space on my D drive so i want to transfer all the movies onto the external hard disk (320 GB)..every time i try to do so the transfer stops abruptly and then a msg appears sayin somethin like "..read only disk..cannot be modified.." and then the PC reboots..this happens all the time. help needed ASAP!! thnx