How to use an external hard drive and copy files to the disk for mac and windows??

please tell me how to copy files to external hard disk and use it for both mac and windows. there is the fat32 formatting bt i dont wanna use formatting because i already have a lot of content on the exteral hard disk. thank you.

It is simplest to have the HDD formatted to noe common to both Mac an PC. ExFAT is one. But to do that will erase all data on the HDD.
If the HDD id formatted NTFS, Mac can read but not write to it. The solution then is to use a third party application such as Paragon or Tuxera which will overcome that obstacle. These applications do have mixed reviews.
Ciao.

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I recently used an external hard drive to back up photos etc from my mac, I didn't do a full system back up. Since then a finder window titled 'client node' keeps popping up every time i hit the spacebar. Can anyone help me please stop this happening?

I recently used an external hard drive to back up photos etc from my mac, I didn't do a full system back up. Since then a finder window titled 'client node' keeps popping up every time i hit the spacebar. Can anyone help me please stop this happening?

Click on it, choose Get Info from the File menu, and check the format.
If it's formatted as NTFS, reformat it as MS-DOS, exFAT, or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as desired, or install software such as Paragon NTFS on the computer.
If it's formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, use the Disk Utility's Repair Disk command on it; this may also happen for a flash drive which is about to fail.
If it's formatted as Mac OS Extended, click Authenticate and provide your administrator password, or change the permissions on that specific folder in its Get Info window.
(109318)

How to use an external hard drive for your music storage

How do I use my external hard drive as my storage for music? I have already saved my music on my external and I have my iTunes program on the computer just wondering what is the next step is? Also I want to make sure I do not use my computer's hard drive for any sizable storage.

sorry to butt in, but this appears to be the best thread to pose my question/problem.
i have successfully migrated my iTunes Library to my external hard drive. the last part of the instructions tell me to delete the iTunes music folder from my hard drive to free up space.
however, i've not done this because i would like to keep a reduced number of music files on my MacBook so that i can listen to music when i'm away from my external hard drive.
i've managed to delete the files i don't want stored on my hard drive, and when i open iTunes without the external hard drive, it defaults to the original location. i'm sure this is not good practise, because whilst i can now play music, the information in iTunes is not right.
what is the best way of storing and playing some of my iTunes library on my hard drive, whilst using the external drive as a 'master'? can it be done?
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, 2GHZ

How to use an external hard drive on a MacBook Air?

Hi there.
Recently I bought a portable USB external hard drive for my MacBook Air due to my full startup disk. I also bought multiple disks for the hard drive. I inserted the disk, hooked up the USB, and did everything properly. When I first hooked it up, I lost all internet files that I had saved. All images, videos and downloads (such as Minecraft and other gaming downloads) from the internet were gone and unable to find.
Now, I don't want to make the wrong move and lose all of my internet files again, so I am asking how to transfer files SAFELY to the USB without any files being deleted. I tranfered files before, but they were just short cuts to the original file, so I am also asking how to fix that as well. My Dad was a computer technician, although he didn't work for Apple, so he doesn't know how to use the USB.
I've tried everything to find my internet files, but nothing. If there is a way to get them back, I'd be glad if you shared that with me. My dock files aren't working due to this insanely full startup disk, so I'd appreciate it if you could tell me ASAP how to use the USB, how to SAFELY transfer files without them turning into shortcuts, and how to get my internet files back.
Thank you very much.
P.s My OS X version is 10.8.3 (Not with Mountain Lion)

You cannot format a drive so that files will be automatically put on that drive when you run out of room on another drive. Transferring the files must be done specifically by you. You will need to learn how to manage free space on the SSD because 64 GBs is a bit small for much more than OS X.
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

How to use my external hard drive?

this is most likely a pretty simple question. I just want to be sure I still have my pictures.. i've loaded almost all my library onto my external hard drive, yet i'm still seeing the pictures in my library.. is it safe for me to just erase them?? i want to be absolutely sure of this.. any suggestions would be nice!!
meg

Hi Meg, It really doesn't matter the size or if its USB or Firwire. If you can plug it into your iBook and the Drive icon
appears on the desktop your half way there. To check and see if you transfered the data correctly you could double click on the External Drive icon and search the folders for the files you copied. Just remember to check for the "Alias" arrow in the bottom...Right? corner...well the little "Alias" arrow.
If they are there you did not transfer them correctly.
Now, the other post was correct...If you have a Firewire External Drive and its large enough Clone your whole system.
I use SuperDuper
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
It's free.
If your external is not partitioned and there are other things that you do not want erased or you have a USB drive
you can make a copy of your system using Disk Utility and have it saved to you external...Again everything will be copied. Then delete Away....

How can I copy files from an external hard drive without creating copies on the disk?

I recently purchased a MacBook Air as part of a requirement for schoolwork. I decided to use it to sync music to my iPod and iPhone, and it worked perfectly well, however, i keep most of my music files on an external hard drive. Recently, it started sending me messages about the hard drive being almost full. I checked on the about this Mac screen, and it said that up to 95 gigabytes on the disk drive had been taken up by music. This was not my intention, as i had previously assumed the music was kept on my external hard drive as it had been on windows. I attempted to delete the folder, but it now said that my disk drive was taken up by "other" files. I want to still use my iTunes without these files copying. How?

Hi flyingroastchicken,
If the songs are being stored on your Mac, then make sure that the location of where the iTunes media is being store. Take a look at the article below to verify that you have it set up the way you want.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201562
Take it easy,
-Norm G.

Can I use an external hard drive on my iMac if the internal drive is dead?

The internal 1 TB hard drive on my 2009 w/Mavericks hard drive is failing. I clone that drive to an external hard drive as a backup and often boot from the external when I want to do some maintence (Disk Warrior) on the iMac drive. So far Disk Warrior has saved that iMac drive but eventually it won't be able to do so.
I looked into buying a new internal drive and replacing the old iMac drive but the procedures are not as easy as I hoped. So my question becomes: if/when that internal drive goes belly up will I be able to set the external drive as the main drive through System Preferences and automatically boot into it each time I need the machine? Or would I have to boot into a USB Maintenance drive then reset to reboot into the external drive each time I wanted to use the machine.
Of course I'll be looking into buying a new iMac but until then I want to use this older machine as much as possible.
Thanks.

Yes, you’ll be able to do that.
(116841)

HT201250 I have a brother who is paranoid. He is starting to use an external hard drive to back up his information on his Mac. He says he is afraid that this might erase information from his computer hard drive. What can I tell him to allay his fears?

I told him "The information only goes in one direction: from your computer on to the external hard drive. Like water coming out of a faucet. It doesn't go back in." But that's not very technical. I need a technical answer to satisfy his worried mind! Thanks!

Making a backup will NOT affect the original data.
In fact failure to backup his data is more likely to result in data lost sometime in the future.
Disk drives are mechanical devices, and subject to failure.
If he is really paranoid, then he should be using the 3-2-1 backup method.
3 copies of his data including the original
2 different backup formats as one format is a single point of failure.
1 copy should be off-site.
If he uses an on-line networking backup solution such as CrashPlan, Mozy, Carbonite, Arq, etc... that would satisfy both off-site as well as using a 2nd backup format from Time Machine. The off-site protects him from theft and natural disaster. If not going to use an on-line networked backup, then consider using a cloning utility such as SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to an external disk and then take the disk to a family member, friends, or work. Several disks for cloning means you can cycle through the disks always keeping at least one off-site at all times.
Also a backup is protection against his own mistakes in accidentially deleting or modifying a file he really needs.
If he is really paranoid, he should be backing up Big-Time, not thinking of reasons to avoid backup. That is just asking for trouble.

How to use a external hard drive?

I'll be using programs such as Maya, Mudbox, After Effects, and Final Cut this year in school and I was told it would be smart to get a external HD. I have one but I dont know how to make it default for the programs to save to it or even if that is the best option. Please help

Hi,
I can foresee several reasons you'll want an external drive---scratch space, storage, backup and transfer. The "scratch" space is your working space, where your applications will store files while they're being worked on (such as rendering, or applying effects). It's often better to use external storage for this because: it reduces wear and tear on your internal drive; and it'll probably be faster than your internal drive (assuming it's a 7200RPM device---maybe even a RAID). Your "storage" is obviously where you'll keep your files once you're satisfied with them, and consider them complete. "Backup" storage is probably going to be necessary unless all your output will comfortably fit on DVDs (or multiple DVDs). "Transfer", because: you may want to use school computers to perform certain operations on your files that you can't using your MacBook Pro; or you may want to share certain data with other people, and if you're using a Mac and they're using Windows, you'll have to put the files on a drive or partition that they can read, such as FAT32 or ExFAT.
Most of your software will have an option to specify a location for the "scratch" disk, so just find this in the application's preferences and set it to your external disk (or a partition on the external disk).
I hope this helps.
S.

How to use protable external Hard Drive to install software?

Hello,
I have 250 GB External Portable Hard Drive. When i install any software,in installation window it only show macintosh HD..Please tell me how to install software in External HDD.

Some developers write software installers that will only install the software on the running boot volume. You could try installing it on the running boot volume and then moving the installed app to the external drive with Finder. It may or it may not work.

What format do I ned to make my external hard drives to enable them to work with both Mac and PC?

I'd like to format several external hrd drives to work with both my Mac Book Pro and a PC in the house. Disk utility says ok for esFat to wrok with both but techies say format as FAT.
Also, does size of external have an influence on the formatting option?
Thanks. Being a relative newcomer to MAC, I am trying to learn the ropes. Thanks for any assistance you can give me.
TJ

hey
i agree with matt exFat is a hybrid with good compatibility between both windows and mac, but it has this problem with huge cluster size so it'll eat your hdd up.
if you are using it on a single windows pc you can install a HFS+ reader to that windows pc it'll enable you to read the hdd formatted HFS+ but you WON'T be able to write to it!!
anyway it's your choice since both are okay but personally i've formatted mine to HFS+ and installed a reader on the pc

Can some please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my Mac

Can someone please provide instructions on how to import an iPhoto library from an old Mac to a new Mac without getting a bunch of duplicates? I tried transferring my pictures using an external hard drive and then copying it to the Pictures folder on my new Mac. I ended up getting a bunch of duplicates. My old Mac has an older version of iPhoto while the new Mac has iPhoto '11. Is that the cause of the problem? Please advise. Thanks.

Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.
Regards
TD

How can I use my external hard drive on my mac and a windows computer?

Hello,
Can anyone help...I have recently purchased a new external hard drive for my macbook pro, it is a 1TB hard drive. I use it for time machine back ups which only takes up about 250gb of space so obviously I have a lot more to use. I'm at University and the computers there are Windows so I'm hoping to be able to drag my uni work to my external HD and connect it to the windows computers at my university so that I have my work there as well - however I'm not sure how I should format my HD???
Thanks

You will eventually use all of that 1TB external for the Time Machine backups, that is if you do regular Time Machine backups (It is NOT a One Time thing). So using that same external for anything else is not a good idea.
You would be much better off buying a large USB thumb drive, like 64GBs in size, and format that to one of the Windows formates that both Mac OS X and Windows can read from and write to. Those would be FAT32 and exFAT. If you are moving file less than 4GBs in size then format it FAT32. You can then copy files to it from your Mac and Read those files on the Windows PCs the school has and just stick that Thumb drive in your pocket.

How do you remove back up data from the memory storage? my storage data states that i have over 80gb of data used for back ups and i dont know why as i use a external hard drive as a time machine .now my 250gb flash storage is nearly full

how do you remove back up data from the memory storage? my storage data states that i have over 80gb of data used for back ups and i dont know why as i use a external hard drive as a time machine .now my 250gb flash storage is nearly full.. HELP!

When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.

I just got a new mac and use my external hard drive to save all my images to but whenever I go to save my photo to my hard drive it says I do not have write access....Whats wrong how do i fix this or do i need a new hard drive??

I just got a new mac and use my external hard drive to save all my images to but whenever I go to save my photo to my hard drive it says I do not have write access....Whats wrong how do i fix this or do i need a new hard drive??@

This is a Mac question not a Photoshop question, and I am a Windows users, but I can Google and this might be what you need to do:
http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/change-read-permision-external-hard-drive-mac/

How to use an external hard drive and copy files to the disk for mac and windows??

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