Need help reinstalling Yosemite/Question about external hard drive

I have an early MacBook Pro and I have to reinstall Yosemite because I've been getting nothing but spinning beach balls, slow loading, lag in type showing up, and wi-fi issues. I took the laptop to the Genius Bar at the Apple store last week and they ran diagnostics on everything and all was perfectly OK. No hardware issues, no memory issue and he said my laptop was very clean. He saw the spinning beach ball many times while he was working on my laptop and suggested that I turn off File Vault as that could be causing the slowdown. He said if that didn't work (it didn't) to buy an external hard drive (which I received today) and to back up everything through Time Machine then reinstall Yosemite. I specifically bought an external HD that says "for Mac" and as soon as I connected it Time Machine opened and did the backup.
Now these are my questions. Are all my photos on iPhoto, and my Word for Mac documents backed up so that when I reinstall Yosemite, everything is going to be right where I left it? Will I lose Word for Mac and have to reinstall it? Isn't Word for Mac a one time use/install and will I have trouble and have to call Microsoft to input my authentication key in again and will they let me? I know silly questions but I'm really worried about losing stuff.
Also step-by-step detailed instruction on how to reinstall Yosemite would really be appreciated. Thank you!

YoJoLo wrote:
Are all my photos on iPhoto, and my Word for Mac documents backed up so that when I reinstall Yosemite, everything is going to be right where I left it?
If you have taken the backup using the Time machine then there is nothing to worry as all your photos from iPhotos and Word for mac documents are backup safely by your time machine.
Only keep one thing in mind that the external HDD which you use for the time machine backup should have the capacity size of about 3-4 times that of your backup data size. Or else, the time machine external drive will start deleting the files if the external drive is about to be full.
YoJoLo wrote:
Will I lose Word for Mac and have to reinstall it? Isn't Word for Mac a one time use/install and will I have trouble and have to call Microsoft to input my authentication key in again and will they let me?
You absolutely don’t have to reinstall the Word for mac if its install in the first place because Time machine will backup the system installed files of your MS Word which you had installed.
Word for mac is a one time install and you don’t have to call Microsoft for any authentication key after you have restored your Word backup files from the time machine drive. As I said before the time machine will backup your Word system installed files leaving you no chance to reinstall it again.
YoJoLo wrote:
Also step-by-step detailed instruction on how to reinstall Yosemite would really be appreciated. Thank you!
Here, Yosemite reinstall procedure......
Important: To reinstall OS X, you must be connected to the Internet. Make sure your power adapter is plugged in. Reinstall OS X using the built-in recovery disk.
In the menu bar, choose Apple menu > Restart. Once your Mac restarts (and the gray screen appears), hold down the Command and R keys.
Select Disk Utility, then click Continue.
Select your startup disk on the left, then click the Erase tab.
Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the Format menu, enter a name, then click Erase.
Important: Erasing the disk removes all the information from the disk. Be sure to back up the information you want to keep to an external device.
After the disk is erased, choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility.
Select Reinstall OS X, click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Hope this helps.....

Similar Messages

Need help moving music collection from external hard drive to Macbook Pro

     I just bought a Macbook Pro today after my Windows desktop was bricked a few weeks ago. Luckily, I didn't lose the most important files on my pc, my music, because it was all on my Zune, as well. So, I borrowed an external hard drive, copied all of the music from my zune onto a friend's pc, and then copied it again from their pc to the external. Finally, I just plugged the external into my new mac, copied the folder within it holding my music, and hit "paste item" in the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder. Initially, everything seemed to work perfectly, however, after transferring a little over 7 of my 54gb of music, an error message appeared saying that the operation was ending because it could not transfer all files.
     I then tried playing a file off of the hard drive, a wma, and received a prompt that the file was incompatible with Quicktime player, the default for no apparent reason. I tried then opening it with iTunes, and nothing happened, as far as I could see. Naturally, my next step was to google how one would transfer wma files to a mac, and, to make matters even more confusing, all of the results seemed to tell me that iTunes should automatically convert wma files to mp3, which does not seem to be happening in my case.
     I'm still not sure why this isn't working, as I'm sure more than 7gb of my music collection is non-wma, so that doesn't even seem to be the sole issue. Any help with importing my collection would be hugely appreciated, as I'm enjoying my mac so far, but will have to return it if I can't get music on here.
     Thanks.

One problem is that iTunes for Mac can't handle WMA files, iTunes for Windows will convert them, but not iTunes for Mac. When you add unprotected WMA files to your iTunes library (Windows only), iTunes converts them to new files that iTunes can play, based on your import settings. See if you can use your friend's PC to do this. If the borrowed PC has iTunes, create an alternate iTunes library so you don't mess up your friend's library. This explains how: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
This support document might be helpful: iTunes: About the Add to Library, Import, and Convert functions, http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1347

Need help using music library on external hard drive

Here is my scenario. I am hoping some one can help me as I have been having a heck of time trying to figure this out. I am what you would call newbie to Mac(I just purchased macBook) so bear with me).
I have a iTunes library on an external hard drive that was created using Windows PC machine. I now would like to use the same library on my Mac. How can I get the Mac to connect to the iTunes Music on the external hard drive?
This is what I have done so far. I have been able to network the Mac with my current network so it does see the external hard drive.
BTW, I would like to achieve this without having iTunes open on Windows machine. I know about the sharing option in iTunes but I have discovered that it only works if I have iTunes open on the Windows machine. This may not always be the case so this is why i am hoping their is an alternative to get the mac to connect to the library on the external hard drive.
I look forward to help on this one.
...Bruce

Maybe I did not explain myself clearly. All I want to do is be able to listen to the music in my itunes library on external hard drive on my new MacBook. I am thinking all I will have to do is create the itunes database file on my Mac using the music in my library(on external HD).

A simple question about external hard drives.

hi. this may be a stupid question but i kinda need to know the answer.
can you use any external hard drive on a mac mini?
also does the mac mini come with a wireless card?

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
can you use any external hard drive on a mac mini?
Nearly any, but not necessarily all. Some bus-powered hard drives will not function at all, or may function inconsistently, and not all external drives will satisfactorily daisy chain, but by and large any mains-powered USB or Firewire drive will work. If intended for use to boot an Intel-based Mac (or to be bootable for such a system in case of problems with the internal), it will need to be partitioned in the GUID scheme (achieved easily via Disk Utility).
Firewire is better than USB if you have the option, simply because FW is more consistent in data transfer performance. USB drives are typically cheaper if cost is a significant factor.
In some ways, choice of drive may be affected by intended use. For example, if you intend to boot the system with it, a fast (meaning 7200rpm) drive with Firewire interface would be a good choice, while if being used for storing an iTunes library, a slower 5400 rpm drive with USB2.0 interface would be perfectly adequate.
also does the mac mini come with a wireless card?
All current Mac minis come with 'Airport' wifi already installed, though the original entry-level mini did not have wifi as standard. If your mini is one of these earlier ones, wifi can be added in a number of ways. If it's a later model, an Airport icon is normally set to show on the menu bar. It looks like a fan and if switched off, the fan will be blank, in on but not connected to a network, it'll show 4 grey arcs, and if on and connected, the arcs will be black.

Need help importing HD footage from external hard drive

I have an external hard drive with some footage from a friend. I cannot view the footage either in QT or through importing to FCP. I have version 4.5 of FCP HD. The audio works on the clips, but the video does not. Im guessing it might be a format issue, as the footage is HD footage shot at 24P. I've tried opening a separate timeline and changing the settings there, but that didnt seem to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm guessing that the footage is HDV, and FCP 4.5 cannot work with HDV. That format came out over a year after FCP 4.5 was released. FCP 4.5 was dubbed FCP HD because it worked with DVCPRO HD footage natively. HDV support didn't hit FCP until 5.0.
You have options. Because HDV came out when FCP 4.5 was in use and didn't work with it, a couple companies made solutions to import this footage. www.lumierehd.com and www.hdvxdv.com.
BUT...that will get you the HDV footage at 29.97...60i. HDV 24p support didn't arrive until FCP 5.1.2. So you can try those solutions and see what happens, but most likely you'll have to upgrade to the latest version of FCP...6.0.2
Shane

Need help on connecting USB: 300GB external hard drive to wireless router

Hello,
I am trying to connect USB2.0 Maxtor 300GB external hard drive to my wireless router. Tried using Linksys new product NSLU2 which allows any USB cable external hard drive to NSLU2 device/network storage hub and then connect this NSLU2 directly to wireless router with the help of 10/100 Ethernet cable which allows to access external hard drive wirelessly.
Unfortunately Linksys NSLU2 is designed to supports USB external drives up to 250GB only.
Can any one advice me if there is any device I can use to connect my external hard drive to wireless router and access files without connecting/carrying USB external drive?
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Arvind

Have a look at http://www.ximeta.com and their solutions. Especially
http://www.ximeta.com/web/products/ndenclosure1_en.php might be interesting, as you already have a HD.
Regards, Martin

Questions about external hard drive

I'm running out of space on my macbook and am going to get an external hard drive, at least 500Gb. I see all kinds of different prices here and at places like circuit city, best buy, etc. I was wondering if just any external drive that uses USB will be fine, in which case I'd look for the best deal. But I play a lot of video files on my macbook, which is what the new drive will mostly hold. Will accessing/playing video files on the external drive be slower than it is on the macbook itself?

Any external drive would likely be OK. Firewire would be faster than USB, so preferable. You can also make your own external drive.
Although you can buy a complete FireWire or USB drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
Cool Drives
OWC
WiebeTech
Firewire Direct
California Drives
NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.

Yet Another Question About External Hard Drives

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone could recommend any good external hard drives. I'm confused on what to get considering there never seems to ever be a good one from reviews I've read! Western Digital and Lacie being probably the main culprits.
I'm looking for at least a 500gb with a fire wire connection (as I'll probably do some editing with it too).
Cheers!

Let's demystify external hard drives. It consist of two parts- hard drive itself, which is called internal hard drive- either 2.5 (available for laptops as an internal ) or 3.5 inch. There some other for factor, but these 2 are most common. 2.5 inch (external hard drive) usually doesn't require power source (draws power from usb), so it is very good for using on the go. However they are available only till 320GB (there will be 500GB version soon on a market). 3.5 on the other hand are less portable, but available in bigger sizes- 1TB so far (correct me if I am wrong and there is bigger internal HD than 1TB). If you put in enclosure more than one internal hard drive, then you get more than 1TB. There are some enclosures with fan and without. Ones with fan inside tends to run more loud, because you hear not only spinning hard drive, but also fan. Advantage is that your fan is cooler and supposedly you get better performance. There are only one commonly used internal connection inside external hard drive- SATA( others are less common because they tend to cost more and hd cost more too). There are much more connections to a computer FROM a HD. Firewire 400/800, usb, e-sata. There are hd enclosures with one or two or even all connections on them. Most common is usb, but it is the slowest.
Things to consider are these- buy brand name enclosure or assemble one by yourself. Brand name external hard drives might be cheaper, but carry only 1-(2?) year warranty. Also you don't know WHAT brand hard drive is inside. Especially it is notable for no brand hard drives (seagate, western digital, maxtor probably would shoot themselves before they will put some other brand hard drive).
When you assemble enclosure yourself you know what you get- what components you used and what warranty you will get. There is bigger choice of external enclosures than external hard drives. I used brand name external hard drives and assembled myself and can say that there is no difference in performance- hard drives doesn't last because they are brand name or they don't fail if you assembled yourself (assuming that you used antistatic band and assembled correctly).

Need help with iMovie storage on external Hard drive

Is there any external HD that is fast enough to run iMovie? I just bought an 80gig ext. hard drive trying to solve that nasty memory problem that iMovie HD has... Well iMovie will not run because it's not fast enough, and the video clips play slow and choppy.. My question is does anyone know of a brand type or speed of ext. hd that is fast enough.. HELP!!! I need to finish this video pronto!
Thanks
ps.. the HD i bought was an iomega 80gig HD with usb 2 and 7200 rpm

Eric, for a few dollars/Euros more (..or whatever your currency is..) you could buy a FireWire enclosure ..that's just a box with a socket or two on the back. It's not a drive, but just a box to put the disc drive inside, and it's complete with FireWire connections.
Then unscrew the Iomega 80GB USB box, remove the 7200rpm 80GB disc drive, and insert it into the FireWire box, and connect up the multi-pin connector and power connector between the FW box and the hard drive. Connecting the drive is pretty simple. Look at "Mounting the drive into the bay", about halfway down this page.
Hey Presto! ..You've now got a working 80GB 7200rpm drive ..plenty fast enough for iMovie.. which can be connected to your iMac via FireWire!
Your disc drive is fast enough ..it's just your USB connection which is too slow; so just change the way that your drive is attached to the Mac, so that it uses FireWire.
Suitable boxes are this kind of thing.
It's simple: I have half a dozen assorted drives I've slotted into new bare-bones 'enclosures', and they all work fine by just plugging the enclosure (box) into a Mac FireWire port.
Quick 'n' simple, and cheap!
NOTE: Open up your Iomega box first, so that you can check what size of drive is inside, and thus what size of FireWire enclosure you need. A small 2.5" drive will certainly fit into a 5" enclosure, but a 5" drive obviously won't fit in a 2.5" enclosure! Though something like a WiebeTech DriveDock ..or the bigger and pricier ComboDock.. are open-ended, so they'll take any physical size of drive.

Itunes wont open need help backing up music on external hard drive

My itunes wont open after upgraded to 8 , ive uninstalled and reinstalled itunes and quicktime and still wont work. i found a topic to possibly help me but i dont know how to tranfer my music to an external disk drive without being able to open itunes. i am getting so frustrated. please help

A usb hard drive that Windows sees doesn't need software for a simple back up.
Format the hard drive Disk Management, if it doesn't come already formatted, and then drag and drop the iTunes folder and whatever other data you want to back up to it.
What you're describing doesn't sound like something iTunes did. If you're having general install troubles you have another problem with your system and it's time for a little troubleshooting to find out what's really going on.

Newbie to MacBook needs help with using Itunes with external hard drive...

I got a MacBook yesterday. I am trying set my Itunes up but having a big problem. When I try to sync music from my external TB hard drive into Itunes, the music is apparently being copied into the laptop HD and is being synced from there, instead of straight from my TB HD. I WANT the music to sync straight from the external HD and NOT being copied in the Mac HD first and then synced like it is doing right now. I don't want to use the Mac's hard drive because I have limited HD space on my Mac and unlimited external capacity. Can anyone help me in setting this up. i've looked for answers but can't seem to find on here. Thanks for all the help. I love this Mac and this is the only real bump I've had. Thanks again.

Turn off the option to "copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" is set in the iTunes -> Advanced preferences". iTunes will then just link to the tracks on the external drive rather than copying them to the internal. If you also want future imports and purchases to be saved to the external drive, change the location for the iTunes Music folder in the iTunes -> Advanced -> iTunes Music Folder location preference.
Regards.

Help needed. I have a 3TB external hard drive partitioned into 1TB's. I used one partition as backup for the main computer hard drive. But now it is greyed out as shown in the disk utility and its name changed, i dont know how that happened, i tried verif

Help needed. I have a 3TB external hard drive partitioned into 1TB's. I used one partition as backup for the main computer hard drive. But now it is greyed out as shown in the disk utility and its name changed, i dont know how that happened, i tried verifying and repairing it but had no luck. I also tried mounting and unmounting it but still no solution. Anyone to help please?

Looks bad. I would strongly advise backing up the stuff on the other two partitions as soon as possible in case the rest of the drive goes wrong.
Beyond that, Disk Utility has limited abilities to repair disks, DiskWarrior uses a different approach and might, emphasis might be more successful. It has certainly done the job for me in the past when Disk Utility could not.
See http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/

Helping iTunes find music on external hard drive

Issue on a PC with Windows XP.
I need to reinstall iTunes on a new hard drive but all of my music is stored on an external drive. My daughter's music is on the new drive so when I start up my iTunes page I want iTunes to locate my music on the external drive without loading my daughter's music (in my iTunes library) first. Also, I don't want to load my music on the new drive. I want it to remain on the external drive. Any suggestions?

I run iTunes entirely from an external hard drive... What I did at first was consolidated my Library to that drive and made a new folder for "my tunes" When I had to format my drive, due to a virus, I then installed iTunes on my external drive, and ran from there. It's great, I don't worry about space, I always know where my files are, and it is so easy to use!

Where do the MEDIA FILES live after I import them from camera to iMovie (Mac Mini OS X 10.9.2)? I need to MOVE MEDIA FILES to external hard drive.

Where do the MEDIA FILES live after I import them from camera to iMovie (Mac Mini OS X 10.9.2)? I need to MOVE MEDIA FILES to external hard drive.

Hello bbryson68,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
From your post I understand you're wanting to move iMovie project and event data to another drive. I found the following information in the iMovie help that answers your question.
Copy or move projects, events, or clips between libraries or storage devices
Connect a storage device that contains the target library to your Mac, or copy the target library to your Mac.
Choose File > Open Library, and choose an option from the submenu.You can choose from recently opened libraries, locate an existing library on your Mac, or create a new library.The selected library is opened in the Libraries list, with the first event selected and its contents displayed in the browser.
In the Libraries list, select the event that contains the item you want to move or copy.
In the browser, select the item you want to move or copy.Tip: To select multiple clips or projects in the same library, hold down the Command key as you click the items you want to select, or drag a selection rectangle around the items.
Do one of the following:
To move items between events or libraries: Drag the clip or project to another event or library.
To copy items between events or libraries: Option-drag the clip or project to another event or library by first starting to drag and then holding down the Option key as you drag.
Work with multiple libraries
http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.0/#mov3fa25bae7
Take care,
Alex H.

Advice about external hard drive recovery

Does anyone have experience or advice about external hard drive recovery?
I have a USB external drive that crashed during a power brownout, I couldn't mount the image at first but used Diskwarrior to rebuild it. Now I can see and navigate the drive but I am unable to pull many files off without the finder crashing. It would transfer about 130mb of 10gb then stay at that number and not progress past that amount.
Should I try a different recovery program or would removing the drive and placing it in another external drive enclosure solve something like this?
any help appreciated

When in DW there is a Preview to see the old and new volume.
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/topic4557.html#d10aug2010
Data Rescue 3 demo will show you what it's scan finds, costs $99
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
you need to have another drive to recover your files to.
Yes I would try another case, maybe the power brick was all that is now half-dead also
And you really need a UPS - never be w/o
http://pondini.org/OSX/UPS.html
MacBook Pro:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro

Need help reinstalling Yosemite/Question about external hard drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for