Both apps require the drive to be set up using Disk Utility (or the Command Line in Terminal, if you like coding your way to hard drive redundancy). If you purchased a pre-configured RAID drive, you may not have any options here. LaCie offers a RAID Monitor app for Mac, but G-RAID does not offer a similar tool. These pre-configured enclosures. Change the Finder settings. One of the most common reasons for Mac not recognizing external.
An incompatible file system, faulty permission settings, and unexpected formatting error are all likely to cause your external hard drive to show up as 'Read Only' on your Mac. Luckily, there are solutions to these problems, either by formatting the device, changing settings, or repairing your device. Besides, if you get your data lost during the problem-solving process, you can retrieve your data with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. Try these tips without worries!
Don't worry when your external hard drive displays as read-only on Mac. This page includes 3 reliable solutions that can assist you in removing the 'read-only' error from your external hard drive, making it readable again on Mac. Pick up any method below to make your device accessible without losing any data now:
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Fix 1. Reformat External Hard Drive | Open 'Applications' > 'Utilities' > Launch 'Disk Utility' to 'Erase' external drive > Restore formatted data..Full steps |
Fix 2. Ignore Permissions | Right-click external drive > 'Get Info' > 'Sharing & Permissions' > Check 'Ignore ownership on..'..Full steps |
Fix 3. Repair Drive Errors | Open Disk Utility > Select the external hard drive and click 'First Aid' > Click 'Run'..Full steps |
SymptomsThe External Hard Drive Shows Up as 'Read Only' on Mac, Help!
'Hi there, do you know how to make the external hard drive accessible again when it shows as 'Read Only' on Mac computer? I'm having this problem that my Seagate external hard drive suddenly turned to read-only this morning when I connected it to Mac. I could only read and view saved data on the drive. But get no access to use the data on my external hard drive. If you have any clues to get permissions to access the read-only external hard drive on Mac, please tell me. Thanks very much.'
If you right-click your external storage device, select 'Get Info', and see 'You can only read' at the bottom of the info window, you are encountering one of the commonest problems with an external hard drive. When your external hard drive or other external storage devices show up as 'Read Only' on your Mac, you can:
- Open the drive and view the files
- copy files from the external storage drive
You can't:
- Copy files to the device
- Delete files from the external drive
When you can't use your external storage devices normally, it could be quite annoying and frustrating for the problem not only represents a threat to your work efficiency but also shows the possibility of data loss.
ReasonsWhy Is Your External Hard Drive Read-Only on Mac
Why can you only read the external hard drive that is connected to your Mac? Seagate slim mac driver for windows. There are three possible reasons.
The File System Is NTFS
Right-click your hard disk and select 'Get Info'. If you find your external hard drive is NTFS format, that's what the cause is. The incompatibility of the file system is the main cause of the error-external hard drive 'Read Only' on Mac. NTFS is a file system that is optimal for Windows-based computer. Although the Mac operating system allows you to read the files on external hard drive, you can't write files to it because the way that NTFS writes data to the device is incompatible with the way of macOS doing it. (Go to the Fix.)
The Permission Settings Is Not Ignored
An external hard drive is subject to the access permission set up by OS X for all files and folders on the system. When you use the device on another computer with a different OS, the permission settings with it may not be recognized or prevent access to the files on the hard disk. (Go to the Fix.)
The Hard Drive has Formatting Errors
Another common cause for the external hard drive 'Read Only' problem on Mac is the formatting errors of the storage device itself. If you see a warning says the device is only being mounted in read-only mode while connecting, your hard disk is diagnosed to have formatting errors that prevent you from writing files to it. (Go to the Fix.)
Identify the cause that leads to the 'Read Only' error on your Mac from the information above, then follow the corresponding solution to solve the problem with ease.
FixesHow Can You Solve the External Hard Drive 'Read-only' Problem on Your Mac
Based on different reasons, there are three solutions to the problem.
Fix 1: Reformat the External Hard Drive
If your external hard drive is read-only on your Mac due to its NTFS file system, you can easily fix it by reformatting the device to a Mac-compatible format with the built-in Disk Utility on Mac. Before that, remember to back up your external hard drive quickly with a highly-efficient data backup software since the formatting will erase all the files on the device.
Step 1: Launch 'Disk Utility'.
- Head to 'Applications' > 'Utilities'.
- Or tap 'Command + Space' and type Disk Utility.
Step 2: In the list of available drives on the left, choose the problematic external hard drive. Then click the 'Erase' option in the main window.
Step 3: Choose a proper file system and rename your hard disk. (Both APFS and Mac OS Extended file system are Mac-exclusive. Thus, if you want your external hard drive to be both Mac and PC compatible, choose MS-DOS, also known as FAT, or ExFAT instead.)
Step 4: Click Erase to reformatting your external hard drive.
Wait for the reformatting process to complete and then go to the information window, this time you will see the 'You can only read' has changed to 'You can read and write', which means you can read and write the drive on your Mac normally.
Generally speaking, when a storage device shows up as read-only, you can still copy files off of it. If you cannot view or see all saved data on the drive, don't worry. After you format it, you can use the Professional Mac hard drive recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to get back your lost data on the drive with simple clicks:
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover Now' button to have them back.
Fix 2: Ignore Permissions
If you are sure the problem is caused by the permission settings, you just need to ignore the permissions to solve the 'Read Only' external hard drive problem on your Mac.
Step 1: Right-click your external hard drive shown on your Mac and select 'Get Info'.
Step 2: Expand the 'Sharing & Permissions' section, then click the lock to authenticate.
Step 3: Check 'Ignore ownership on this volume'.
Fix 3: Check and Repair Hard Drive errors
If there is formatting error on your external hard drive that makes the device read-only, you can use Disk Utility to check the errors and repair the external storage device.
Step 1: Go to 'Disk Utility'.
- Head to 'Applications' > 'Utilities'.
- Or tap 'Command + Space' and type Disk Utility.
Step 2: Highlight the read-only external hard drive, click 'First Aid' in the top center, then click 'Run'.
Summary :
What are the advantages of making external hard drive bootable? The first one is that you can use a bootable external hard drive to boot the unbootable computer. The second one is that when you don't want to use the system that comes with the computer, you can use bootable drive to boot the computer.
Quick Navigation :
Why Do You Need to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10?
There are a number of important reasons for users to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10. I have listed some reasons below.
- When your Windows 10 fails to boot due to system corruption, hard drive failure, or a virus attack, you can easily boot your computer using the Windows 10 bootable external hard drive you created earlier to avoid being unable to use your computer at important times.
- If you need to use a computer, but the computer is not around, then you can use the bootable drive to start other computers and use your own operating system anytime, anywhere.
How to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10?
How to make a Windows 10 bootable external drive? There are four methods for you. And Windows provides two built-in features to make a bootable external hard drive. Another two solutions, you need to download MiniTool software to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.
Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10 with Windows To Go
Most people know that external hard drive bootable Windows 10 can be created by Windows To Go function that comes with Windows 10. Windows To Go can be used to copy all the system related files to the external hard drive so as to make it bootable. Therefore, you can plug the USB drive into your computer and start the computer from the external hard drive.
However, there are several limitations for users to use this way to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10:
- First, to use Windows To Go, your Windows 10 must be Enterprise or Education or Professional version. (In addition, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise Edition has this feature, and other versions or operating systems do not have Windows To Go feature.)
- Second, Windows To Go can only be run when the USB drive is certified and the storage space of it must be at least 32GB. If the USB drive does not have enough space or is not certified, Windows To Go cannot be used to create Windows bootable USB drive.
![Mac Mac](https://www.minitool.com/images/uploads/articles/2018/08/format-external-disk-for-mac-and-pc/format-external-disk-for-mac-and-pc-5.png)
Then how to use Windows To Go to make Windows 10 bootable USB drive? The method is below.
Step 1:You need to download Windows 10 ISO file in your computer and insert a larger than 32GB certified USB drive into the computer.
Step 2: Type control panel in the search box at first and click Control Panel to continue.
Step 3: You can set view by Small icons or enter Windows To Go in the right top search box, and click Windows To Go to continue.
Step 4: Choose the drive you want to use in Create a Windows To Go workspace window. Then click on it and click Next to continue.
Step 5: Click Add search location to search for the Windows 10 ISO file and choose the Windows 10 ISO image to continue.
Step 6: Choose whether to set a BitLocker password. If you want to set a password, then enter your password, but you need to type your password to unlock the drive in the future. If not, click Skip to continue.
Step 7: All the data on the USB drive will be deleted because the USB drive will be reformatted. Remember to back up important files before click Create.
Step 8: After finishing, select Yes or No to boot the computer from the new created Windows 10 bootable USB drive or not. If you want to test whether the USB drive is bootable, choose Yes and click Save and restart. If not, select No and click Save and close.
After these operations, you can make USB drive bootable Windows 10. But there are limitations that don’t suit everybody. Therefore, I highly recommend you try the second method to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.
Use MiniTool ShadowMaker to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10
MiniTool ShadowMaker is a piece of powerful and effective software to back up the operating system, disk and partitions, files and folders. What’s more, you can use it to sync files and folders quickly and safely. It can also clone disk making external hard drive bootable Windows 10. So why don’t you just download it and have a try?
Step 1: Please launch MiniTool ShadowMaker first, then choose Local or Remote to get the main interface by clicking Connect.
Note: If you want to manage a remote computer, computers need to be on the same LAN.
Step 2: Please click Clone Disk on the Tools page to continue.
Step 3: Please click Source to choose the clone source, then choose system disk and click Finish to continue.
Step 4: Please click Destination to select the external hard disk to save the copy and click Finish to continue.
Tip: If your external hard disk is too small, then you cannot continue.
Step 5: After you have selected the source disk and the target disk, please click OK to continue.
Step 6: Please read the warning and click Yes.
Note: Please make sure that there is no important data on the target disk because all the data will be destroyed. If there is, please back up data at first.
Step 7: Please read the information in the pop-up window carefully: If both disks are connected to the computer, one will be marked as offline. Then click Yes and Finish to finish cloning disk.
Tip: If the Remaining Time is so long that you don’t want to wait, you can check Shut down the computer when the operation is completed.
After you have read the steps above, you can clearly draw that this method is much easier and more convenient than the first method. Besides, you can transfer OS from one computer to another as long as they are in the same LAN.
Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10 with Windows Command Prompt
If you are good at using Command Prompt, then you can also use Command Prompt to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10. But you also need to pay attention not to enter wrong command in case that you lose data or damage system files.
There are two things you need to do to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.
Format external hard drive
In order to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10, you need to format external hard drive at first.
Step 1: Insert the external hard drive into your computer. Type cmd in the search box and right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator to continue.
Step 2: You need to format the external hard drive first. Then type the following instructions one by one, and remember to press Enter every time after you typed instruction.
Diskpart > list disk > select disk n (n represents the drive letter of external hard drive) > clean > create partition primary > format fs=ntfs quick > assign letter=H (you can also choose other letter to assign primary partition) > exit
Copy files from a DVD to bootable USB using CMD
External Hard Drive For Imac Pro
Above you have assigned the letter H to the external hard drive, and you have inserted a DVD inside the DVD drive to copy data from it to create a bootable USB drive. By default, the active directory of the Command Prompt's administrative permissions is located at C:WindowsSystem32>, so you need to set the DVD (G) as active directory using CMD.
Tip: Make sure that you have already inserted a DVD inside the DVD drive.
Step 1: Type G and press Enter in Command Prompt window at first, then enter cd boot and press Enter. (If the drive letter of the mounted DVD drive in the File Explorer is not G, you can change it.)
Step 2: Enter bootsect /nt60 H and press Enter. Then type exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.
As you can see, this method is too troublesome. And if you enter the wrong instructions, your computer could get in trouble. You may even lose your data, but you can use third-party software to recover data.
Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10
MiniTool Partition Wizard is also a piece of efficient software for you to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10. Besides, you can convert MBR disk to GPT disk and migrate OS to SSD/HD. So come to download MiniTool Partition Wizard and have a try.
Now follow the following steps and make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.
Step 1. Please download MiniTool Partition Wizard and launch it to open its main interface to continue.
Step 2. There are two options you can choose.
Option A: Select the disk which has OS installed and right-click it, then click Copy to continue.
Option B: Please click on the Copy Disk Wizard on the left action panel and click Next to continue.
Step 3. Please choose the external hard as the target disk, and click Next, then click Yes to continue.
Note: Please make sure you have backed up all important data on the target disk because the data on it will be destroyed. If you accidentally click Yes before you have backed up the data, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover data.
Step 4. Please choose copy options and click Next to continue.
Step 5. Please read the notification on the interface and know how to use the external hard disk to boot the computer and then click Finish to continue.
Step 6. Please click Apply to copy the operating system to the external hard disk.
Step 7. Please click Yes, then click Restart Now to copy system files to the external hard drive. After that, you can use your external hard disk to boot the computer.
This method is also much more convenient than using Windows built features. So you can also use this method to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.
Bottom Line
This article has introduced four solutions to make external hard drive bootable, which offers you different choices. But using Windows 10 built-in features not only has several limitations but also may cause data loss and operating system damaged. Using third-party software is safer and can save a lot of time for you. In addition, there are plenty of useful functions with MiniTool ShadowMaker and MiniTool Partition Wizard.
If you have any better advice or confusion, please leave comments below or send an email to [email protected].
Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10 FAQ
- Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker, then click Connect.
- Click Clone Disk on the Tools page, then choose the system disk as the source and choose the external hard disk as the destination.
- Click OK and Yes to begin making an external hard drive bootable.
- Click Yes and Finish.
If you want to make a USB drive bootable, then you should make sure that there is no important data in it because all the data will be erased. Read this post to create a bootable USB drive - How Do You Make A Bootable USB Drive – Easy Tutorial.
Can you install Windows from an external hard drive?
Apple Mac External Hard Drive
Of course, you can install Windows from an external hard drive. And if you want to know detailed instructions to do that, then you should read this post carefully - How to Install Windows 10 on a New Hard Drive (with Pictures).
You should create Windows 10 installation media at first, then boot your computer with the installation media. Then choose the Language to install, Time and currency format, and Keyboard or input method. Click Install now and then follow the instructions to finish installing.