BACK UP THOSE MACBOOK HARD DRIVES!

The hard drive on my MacBook FAILED! There were no warning signs!! It is currently in for the installation of new hard drive (via extended warranty). When talking to my repair technician he said this is not the first MacBook he has seen come his way with a failed hard drive. I did have my data backed up but I will need to reinstall all my apps. This is the second major problem I have had with this MB. I was a victim of the "random shut down" some time ago (lost all my hard drive data that time too!). Please be warned - BACKUP - BACKUP - BACKUP!

Hard drives do fail. The particular problem with the Apple OEM Seagate drives is a bit frustrating, but I'm guessing that they're trying to sort things out for some sort of compensation before making the resolution public. Even without a serious manufacturing defect like the Seagate Momentus 5400.2 Firmware 7.01 drives, random hard drive crashes happen enough.
In any case, hard drive failures are the most common way for things to go bad easily and possibly the easiest to recover from with a decent backup strategy. The MacBook hard drive is ridiculously easy to replace compared to the iBooks that it replaced in Apple's lineup.

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I would like to know if you have to back up a macbook hard drive, can I use a external hard drive that has been previously used to back up several pc 's, or is it best to have a separate external drive for the Mac?

I would like to know if you have to back up a macbook hard drive, can I use a external hard drive that has been previously used to back up several pc 's, or is it best to have a separate external drive for the Mac?

In the Mac side of things, backups usually come in two flavors: clones or incrementals.
A bootable clone is a bit-for-bit copy of all essential files in the startup volume. If using the Lions, clones can be made using CarbonCopyCloner or just plain old Disk Utility. These backups represent the safest protection of your info, but take the longest to do. Recovery is an inverse process: you copy the clone back into the internal drive.
Incremental backups start with a complete backup of the startup volume and only copy whatever changed from the previous run. OS X includes the fully integrated Time Machine backup utility to do this. It is extremely easy to do and takes the least amount of time. Recovery is another matter altogether since you have to start with a freshly installed instance of the OS and have to apply all intervening backups to bring the result to the latest saved version.
As for where the backup takes place, the recommended media is an external dedicated drive or drives connected via the fastest interface available on your Mac: Thunderbolt, USB3, Firewire, or USB2. Network-based backups, wired or wireless, are attractive but may not offer the same performance and hence take longer. Also important to note that the entire drive need not be completely dedicated to a single backup. The Mac's EFI firmware infrastructure allows for an unlimited number of partitions on a hard drive and each can be used for either type of backups.
Holler if you need specifics on how to do each. This was just an executive summary.

How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

Once you have the drive connected to your Mac, click System Preferences (gear icon) on the dock
Click Time Machine
Click Options
Be default, the hard drive will be Excluded from backups. Click the drive to highlight it, then click the "-" (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from Excluded items.
The drive will be backed up on the next Time Machine pass
Everything above assumes that the hard drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as Time Machine will only backup drives in that format.

Can somebody please advise urgently... I backed up my entire hard-drive of my macbook pro - just prior to installing osx mountain lion. I put everything into a folder on my desktop - then backed it up onto an external drive. Once this was done - i deleted

Can somebody please advise urgently...
I backed up my entire hard-drive of my macbook pro - just prior to installing osx mountain lion.
I put everything into a folder on my desktop - then backed it up onto an external drive. Once this was done - i deleted the folder off my desktop - and following this - things started to go all weird...pages hanging, the coloured 'wheel of death' appeared for ages. So i had to employ a 'hard-boot' restart - as i had not other options.
I'm pretty sure i made copies of of files/apps/folders etc - however not so sure now as i cant even start up my laptop!!!
Can somebosy please help me urgently??!!!

Got the exact same problem, and I also did this operation many times before, from 500Gb to 750Gb, and then from 750Gb to 1 Gb. Not My HD got a little such complaining about bad sectors when in windows bootcamp, but still runs fine though.
So I bought a new 1Gb drive exactly same drive as the one thats getting sick. I did the clone thing, with super duper, CCC, DU, but no matter it will not boot when i move the new drive inside the macbook…….**** thing exuse me, but wasted so much time.
Now I get this strange feeling that something must have changed in the macbook itself. Just wondering if this could be a EFI "mac bios" prevention thing, they made just to sell more new computers, when you can't improve or fix your old one.
If so, then its pretty scary. If not then I simply can't figure out why this suddenly becomes a problem for so many people, as I see so many posts about this!!
BR Pete

I am trying to open space in my macbook hard drive, so I deleted files and after emptying the trash bin the amount of Gigs didn't increase, why? Where can I go and delete those files?

I am trying to open space in my macbook hard drive, so I deleted files and after emptying the trash bin the amount of Gigs didn't increase, why? Where can I go and delete those files?

Did you do a secure empty trash? SHIFT COMMAND DELETE, they will be over wriiten. Are you deleting docs as they aren't much space, videos,pictures,music use much more space.
You can move those fiels to an external "archive" drive to save them then delete them from your internal drive.

Expand my Macbook hard drive using WiFI?

My MacBook hard drive was full so I moved some photos onto an external drive. This has created additional space but to access those photos, I now need to plug the external drive back into the MacBook and change the iphoto library.
Is there a better way to expand my MacBook hard drive? I'd like to set up a external hard drive which I could access (upload and download) over WiFi (I have an airport express at the moment) and potentially also be able to access from any of the other devices in my home (macbook, iphone, and soon apple TV too).
Is there also a way I could then access that hard drive from outside of my WiFi network?
Would iCloud be an alternate option?
Thanks!

A bootable clone is easy:
download an app called Carbon Copy Cloner, download the free version, it will do the trick: www.bombich.com. Or download SuperDuper (free).
Make a bootable clone.
Buy a harddisk (I advise the simple, straight and quality Toshiba (see above)) and buy a simple holder that will connect to your USB port, on the OWC site
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock
(I bought another such holder that was a bit cheaper, but not at OWC).
Start CCC and set the clone spec, in the left field choose your internal disk, in the right field choose the external disk. Clone, etc see above.
About RAM: it is imperative that you choose the EXACT specification for your MB, you will find it on OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade
it should do by replacing the two Apple chips with a pair 2GB chips.

What All Do I Need If I Want To Upgrade My Macbook Hard Drive?

hey guys.
i've tried reading up a little but i was hoping someone (or a few people) could give me some straight up answers.
if i want to upgrade my macbook hard drive what all do i need? just the hard drive? or are there other pieces?
also.. whats a good 250GB one? i found this one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-2-5-Western-Digital-250GB-SATA-Harddrive_W0QQitemZ220271 134397QQihZ012QQcategoryZ158853QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
is that one any good? i just know the name (Western Digital) and have heard good things about them...
any comments are welcome.
thanks!
beau

I got a 320GB sata 2.5" hard drive and installed it myself, its easy. I also got a caddy so I can use my old 120GB drive as a back up. Make sure u have everything backed up! Seagate and western digital drives are most popular. I asked similar q and got this answer"
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
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 Options 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.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.
If your backup is bootable, then boot from the external drive and use SuperDuper to clone it back to the newly installed drive.
Mac Pro 2.66 Ghz; MacBook Pro C2D 2.33 Ghz; MacBook Pro 2.16 Ghz Mac OS X (10.5.4) Intel iMac C2D 17 "; MacBook 2.0 Ghz.
And
Now, to install the hard drive, follow http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Core-Duo/Hard-Drive-Replacement/86/5/

How do I back up one External Hard Drive to another?

I have two identical partitioned WD External Drives. Drive 1, Partition 1 is a Macbook Pro Time Machine backup. Drive 1, Partition 2 is for photo & video storage uploaded directly from the camera or disk (so I don't overload my internal storage). How do I backup Drive 1, Partition 1 & Partition 2 onto the partitioned External Drive 2?

I should back up my Internal Hard Drive directly to each of the 2 external Hard Drives, right?
Yes.
Since the External HD's are typically not plugged into the computer, should I not use Time Machine?
When the drives are connected, the backups will take place. If you rarely connect the drives, then you should also back up over the network to a Time Capsule, a hard drive connected to a current-model AirPort base station, or another Mac via File Sharing.
See also:
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
iPhoto: How to move the Library folder to a new location
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder

MacBook hard drive is full again. Replaced original hard drive with a Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB hard drive about 18 mo. ago, but my MacBook is now already saying that my hard drive is full again. 13in. Alum. Late 2008 MacBook

My MacBook hard drive is full again. I have a 13in. Aluminum, Late 2008 MacBook, and about 18 months ago (in October 2013), I replaced the original hard drive with a Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB hard drive. However, my MacBook is now already saying that my hard drive is full again. When I check "System Information," under "Storage," it states the following: Audio 52.02 GB; Movies 33.68GB; Photos 43.13GB; Apps 14.76 GB; Backups 174.4 MB; and Other 96.39GB.
Also, at home, I have an Apple Time Capsule 4th Generation 2TB that I use as my wireless router, and I also use it for automatic backup via Time Machine. And when I first purchased Time Capsule, the first time I connected Time Capsule, Time Machine asked if I would like to use it to back up my files, and I clicked, "Use as Backup Disk." And that's really all I've ever done with Time Capsule.
In addition, I also have a LaCie Porsche Design P'9223 1TB external hard drive. I have copied my MacBook's hard drive onto my LaCie external hard drive.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Obviously the Audio, Movies, Photos, and Apps are taking up a lot of space... Any suggestions re: what I can do with Audio, Movies, Photos, and Apps? And what about the Other? Other is taking up 96.39 GB. What is Other, and what can I do about it?
And what about partitioning my hard drive... Is that something I should do? Should I partition, or configure, my MacBook's internal hard drive differently? And should I partition, or configure, my external hard drive? And if I need to partition, or configure, my MacBook's internal hard drive differently, how do I setup Time Machine to backup per any such changes? Same thing for my external hard drive?
13in. Aluminum, Late 2008 MacBook, 250 GB (with upgraded Samsung SSD 840 Pro Series 256GB hard drive)
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
OS X 10.9.5
plus
Apple Time Capsule 4th Generation 2TB
LaCie Porsche Design P'9223 1TB external hard drive
Thank you for your help.

Partitioning makes no sense. You have a drawer full of stuff. Split it into two smaller drawers and you have two smaller drawers full of stuff.
Decide what you can store on external storage - your iPhoto/Aperture/Lightroom libraries can all be stored on externals, as can your iTunes Libraries and so on. Do you need to carry 30 gigs of movies with you all the time? You can get portable drives the size of an iPhone these days.

Will Time Capsule back-up an external hard drive that is connected to it directly via USB?

I'm considering a macbook air, but I have ~200GB of music and photos that currently lives on another laptop (and is manually backed up to a 500GB ext. hard drive). Ideal set-up would be as follows:
1. MBA (128GB) with just the OS, applications and ~ 5GB of .doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.
2. The 500GB hard drive (loaded w/ music and jpegs' and permanently connected to Time Capsule so that I don't have to plug it into the MBA everytime I want to use music/jpegs)
3. Time capsule (constantly backing up the MBA and hard drive via time machine).
Does anybody know if this is possible (i.e. will the TC back up an external hard drive that is permanently attached to it, rather than attached to a Mac?)
Does anybody have other suggestions (without having to buy any more gear) for storage/back-up that don't require that I plug that external HD to a computer every time I want to access the data?

sixschlitzes wrote:
Does anybody know if this is possible (i.e. will the TC back up an external hard drive that is permanently attached to it,
No, sorry, Time Machine cannot back up from a network location.
Does anybody have other suggestions (without having to buy any more gear) for storage/back-up that don't require that I plug that external HD to a computer every time I want to access the data?
The 3rd-party apps CarbonCopyCloner and ChronoSync (and probably others) can back up from a network location.

Is it possible to back up an external hard drive to Time Machine from two different computers without creating two different records?

I have an external hard drive that I do my work on. I use it on my office MacPro and on my MacBook Pro. I have Time Machine setup on both computers to back up the external hard drive to a remote backup drive, but when it backs it up, the backup goes into either the MacPro record of it, or the MacBook Pro record. The effect of this is that if I'm at my laptop and I need to access an earlier version of a file that existed when I was working on my MacPro, I can't access it.
Is it at all possible to create a universal record (or Sparse Disk Image Bundle to use Apple lingo) for my external hard drive?

Hi BDAqua,
Thanks for your help as always, sorry I never thanked you earlier, finally got some time to attend this.
I'm in the mail folder in the library of my user name. Just to make sure I get all my mail boxes I'm going to archive simply the whole 'Mail' folder after going in to the library of my unsername.
I notice you mentioned about importing there .... I've seen the .emix files you mention .... i have 30,000+ of them.
What I find helpful in mail is that if I type a client's second name, in this case 'Lopez' I can pull up all the mails relating to him in an instant, around 450. Obviously it would be impossible to pick through 30K .emix files to find the right ones .... so could I easily import them in to my Mail on my new computer?
Could I select the whole lot of them, then drag and drop them in to my new Mail on the new computer, and then use the search function on Mail? ... the normal desktop search function doesn't seem to look through the emix files, or emails for that matter.
Also, just as an extra precaution, could I make a smart folder in Mail with the name of said client for example for, then archive that folder separately?
TY
Message was edited by: Scottishengineer

Accessing back-ups on external hard-drive with Time Machine.

Hi guys,
I hope someone can help me with this problem. I am a novice at this so please be patient and forgive my ignorance.
I backed up the internal hard-drive of my '06 iMac onto an external Iomega 500GB hard-drive using Time Machine.
A couple of weeks later the internal hard-drive of my iMac fried and I got the " grey screen of death ".
Now I have the external hard-drive connected to my '06 MacBook.
There is 300GB of data on the external hard-drive. There is only 50GB of space available on my MacBook.
I would like to access my iPhoto on the external hard-drive but when I click on the iPhoto icon in Time Machine, I get "error code 10657 ".
I am NOT trying to do a full restore of the back-up onto the MacBook because :
1. There is not enough space available on the MacBook and
2. I will do a full restore when I have bought and installed a new bigger hard-drive into the iMac.
So, I guess my question is this : Is it possible for me to access my iPhoto on the external hard-drive using my MacBook without doing a complete transfer and if so, how ?
Thanking you in advance,
Sean.

If this is a network device, you can't back it up with Time Machine. If it's directly attached, and in Mac OS format, delete it from the exclusion list in the Time Machine preference pane.

How do I get time machine/time capsule to back up my external hard drive?

I have been trying to find a way to back up my external hard drive (a Hitachi G-Drive from the Apple store) with time machine and my time capsule. I left it plugged in so it was visible on my MacBook Pro when I did the initial backup yesterday, but it's not showing when I enter time machine. Anyone have any ideas?

A few things to check.....
The external drive attached to your Mac must be formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Check Time Machine Options to make sure that the drive is not excluded from Time Machine backups

A while back my computer crashed (hard drive and motherboard:/) im a DJ so its kinda a big thing. my mom has a computer whith itunes on it, i signed on with my account but how do i get the music back. i dont have it on any device, just the hard drive that

a while back my computer crashed (hard drive and motherboard:/) im a DJ so its kinda a big thing. my mom has a computer whith itunes on it, i signed on with my account but how do i get the music back. i dont have it on any device, just the hard drive that crashed. can someone please helped i put soooooo much money into those songs a good 4,000 $
please someone help

Hi Glenn,
You need to Authorize your Mom's computer to your iTunes sign on. Sign on to iTunes, then go to Store at the top of the screen, and select Authorize this Computer.
Then you can download your purchases from your iTunes library by going to the iTunes Store (the one in the sidebar), Music, and then under Quick Links, Purchased.
Once the Purchased window comes up, select "Not on this Computer", and then select All Songs. Your purchased songs will display with a cloud next to them, and you can download them selectively or "Download All" (lower right-hand corner).
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
GB

Set up to save directly to external Hard Drive so cannot have separate 'back up'I now want to reverse i.e save to internal Hard Drive and 'back up' on external 'hard Drive'. Please advise me how to do this.

Macbook Air 13 inch purchased October 2013. set up to save [mainly photos] to external 'hard drive' i.e. not saved to internal hard drive. Cannot find easy way to create 'back up'. Please advise how I can reverse i.e save directly to internal 'hard drive' and 'back up on external 'hard drive'

For backing up your data I recommend that you use Time machine:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
rob at the orchard wrote:
save directly to internal 'hard drive'
When you import images or create other data files, file them in the appropriate places on your internal drive, don't delete them and let Time machine back them up.
Ciao.

BACK UP THOSE MACBOOK HARD DRIVES!

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