Help With Mac OS 10.5 Permissions

[Feynman]

So, I am the administrator on the machine but for some reason my external drive says "You can only read" but then it says I can Read & Write but then at the bottom it says "Ignore ownership on this volume" and it's checked and grayed out. How do I change these settings to have complete Read & Write privileges?

[Feynman]

I should also mention that this just started happening as of the last few days.

[Gregg]

If a different account does not have these problems, then your account is corrupt somewhere. Read Mac Help > Accounts about transferring your important files from an existing account while (or before) deleting it.

[Feynman]

Originally Posted by Gregg

If a different account does not have these problems, then your account is corrupt somewhere. Read Mac Help > Accounts about transferring your important files from an existing account while (or before) deleting it.

So basically what you're saying is I will need to reformat the drive?

[Endymion]

Originally Posted by Feynman

How do I change these settings to have complete Read & Write privileges?

Click the lock icon at the lower right and then you can make whatever changes you like.

[Gregg]

Originally Posted by Feynman

... my external drive says "You can only read" but then it says I can Read & Write but then at the bottom it says "Ignore ownership on this volume" and it's checked and grayed out.

Where? Maybe the next poster knows, but I need a clue. What kind of window are you seeing these messages in? If that's unclear, how does this window make it's appearance? You mentioned settings. Are you invoking this window yourself, or does it pop up out of nowhere?

Originally Posted by Endymion

Click the lock icon at the lower right and then you can make whatever changes you like.

How did you know the answers to my questions above?

Originally Posted by Feynman

So basically what you're saying is I will need to reformat the drive?

No. Creating a new account and reformatting the drive are not the same thing at all. Read the Help info on User Accounts. If you still have questions, then fire away.

[Endymion]

Originally Posted by Gregg

Where? Maybe the next poster knows, but I need a clue. What kind of window are you seeing these messages in? If that's unclear, how does this window make it's appearance? You mentioned settings. Are you invoking this window yourself, or does it pop up out of nowhere?

How did you know the answers to my questions above?

What is being described is what is written in the "Sharing & Permissions" section of a Get Info window. To see the same, pick a drive and Command-I and widget open that section.

[Gregg]

Oh. Thanks. I've seen that before, but never focused on it for any reason. You have a good memory!