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Just bought a brand new external to back up my windows from ubuntu... since my windows isnt' accessible anymore... The hard drive is read only? I don't understand how it could be if it's brand new? Is there anyway to get the OS to let me into my new external... Also, I'm new to Ubuntu and am hoping you'll have simple instructions to get it to work. C: thank you~

Update: Bad news has come to the windows OS. It seems to be stuck in the start up repair loop... The hard drive is fried at this point.

Mila Hurricanes
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1 Answers1

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It maybe that the root file system is currently mounted read-only.

Try This. just press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the command(s) below:

sudo mount -n -o remount,rw /
Mitch
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  • It's asking for a device name or label... I'm unsure of what that means either... ICK! Now it's another error Mount: Warning: Etc/mtab is not writable eg read only file system it is possible that information reported by mount8 is not up to date. For actual information about system mount points check the /proc/mounts file – Mila Hurricanes Aug 03 '13 at 19:57
  • Add the output of `sudo fdisk -l` to your question with the drive plugged in. – Mitch Aug 03 '13 at 19:59
  • Unable to open var/lib/sudo/username/1: Readonly file system – Mila Hurricanes Aug 03 '13 at 20:04
  • How did you format the drive? Does it have any data on it? Did you use it with windows prior to using it in Ubuntu? – Mitch Aug 03 '13 at 20:08
  • It has data on it that the drive needs to install on windows... I didn't format it at all, it's out of the box. Should I just format the drive, would it still work if I did that? More importantly, would my windows 7 still recognize it if I formatted it. – Mila Hurricanes Aug 03 '13 at 20:11
  • What make and model drive is it? – Mitch Aug 03 '13 at 20:13
  • Western Digital My Passport... It's 1 tb. If I could access windows to get everything I would... but avast won't allow me to even get in... One bad update corrupted my 7 install – Mila Hurricanes Aug 03 '13 at 20:15
  • Try `sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /media/external` – Mitch Aug 03 '13 at 20:21
  • mount point /media/external does not exist... wonder what's going on with it... I tried another attempt, it keeps coming off with read-only file system – Mila Hurricanes Aug 03 '13 at 20:23
  • Take a look at this [Post](http://askubuntu.com/questions/150813/problem-mounting-external-usb-drive-in-ubuntu-12-04). – Mitch Aug 03 '13 at 20:24
  • Attempted that post: Permission Denied? – Mila Hurricanes Aug 03 '13 at 21:06