External HDD use under OS14

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Level 1

13 points

External HDD use under OS14

I recently shifted from a macbookpro OS12.5 to a macbookair OS14.6. I have 2 external HDD both of which are in the WD Elements series. One is in the Extended Journal format and one in the APFS format. Under OS 12.5, I used to copy files and folders from my laptop into the external HDDs directly, and move files and folders around within those HDD freely. Now, under OS14.6, when I want to copy a file or folder into one of those HDDs, I must enter my mac password, and if I want to move files within those HDD (for instance combine a number of files into one folder) not only do I need to enter my mac password but the files are not "moved" they are "copied." So, if I need to combine 3 folders that are 1GB each into a new folder, the system tries to copy 3GB of data.

Any idea what has changed between OS12 and OS14 to cause this to happen?

MacBook Air 15″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Nov 25, 2024 4:38 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 25, 2024 6:51 PM in response to mpk-apple

If you had formatted the drives as encrypted, you would need to enter a password to access them.

Encrypt and protect a storage device with a password in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

But I'm assuming that they were originally unencrypted, and that you didn't reformat and encrypt them when you moved from Monterey to Sonoma.

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Answer 2

mpk-apple Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 25, 2024 8:33 PM in response to Servant of Cats

I right-clicked one of the external HDDs and chose Get Info (see attached). There were three permission levels: System, Wheel, Everyone. The first two were "read & write" but the third was "read only." I unlocked the computer and changed the "everyone" level to "read & write" and the problem went away.

Questions:

1) What are the meanings of System and Wheel (I understand Everyone)

2) Why am I, as owner of the computer, not in control of System. Why am I considered to be Everyone?

3) How can I change the ownership of the HDD so that I (i.e. System) is the owner? I would prefer to have it set up so that I can Read & Write but Everyone can only Read.

screenshot after changing "everyone" permissions

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Answer 3

mpk-apple Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 25, 2024 8:18 PM in response to Servant of Cats

When I go to Finder > Go > Computer and right-click the 2 HDDs there is a selection for "encrypt" not "decrypt" so I guess these are not encrypted.

What else could explain the need to use a password each time, and the issue of files not "moving" but "copying?"

I also find, with this new macbookair and OS14 that I need to enter my computer's password each time the computer needs to autofill an internet password. That never happened before. Has some kind of security level changed between OS12 and OS14?

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Answer 4

mpk-apple Author

Level 1

13 points

Nov 25, 2024 7:06 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Is there a way to tell if the HDDs are encrypted? Through Disk Utility perhaps?

If they are encrypted, is there a way to decrypt them?

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Answer 5

Nov 25, 2024 7:31 PM in response to mpk-apple

If they are encrypted, it would be because you turned encryption on.

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