Backing up 5th Generation iPod to External Hard Drive

I use a Western Digital external hard drive coupled with the "Backup and Restore Center" feature present in my Vista's systems. When I connect the WD hard drive to my computer to do my weekly file backup, my iPod is occasionally also connected, and the Backup and Restore Center asks me if I'd like to back up the files located on "External Hard Drive" (the iPod in question).
Which brings me to my question: Is it possible to back up files -directly- from my 5th Generation iPod to my external hard drive, just in case my iPod unexpectedly goes to Apple Heaven, or is that a breach of the Apple Terms of Use? If it is in fact possible, is there anything I should watch out for in the process?

A lot of what is stored on your iPod is stored in hidden folders and files. If your backup software does not normally back up the hidden files and folder on your computer, then it likely won't really be backing up the iPod either.
Your iTunes library should be your iPod backup and your Western Digital should be your iTunes library backup.
Of course the flip side of your question, which I do not know the answer to is, if the backup software does indeed backup the iPod's hidden stuff, is it able to restore it to the iPod directly? You could plug in your iPod and let the software back it up, then test it and see if you can find a way to restore the iPod and see if it works or not. If it doesn't, then you can always just resync it back with iTunes like normal.
Patrick

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Can I syn my new iphone to my itunes library on my PC even if it is already registered to my ipod? If so will it delete the library on my computer? And can I back my library up to my external hard drive instead of CDs?

Can I add my iphone to an exising itunes account which is registered to my ipod without wiping my computer library? Also is it poss to back up my library onto a external hard drive instead of CDs?

"am I still able to register another phone to the same ID?"
Yes.
") that I do end up creating a new apple ID "
This will cause complications. i do not recommend this.

Troubles with making iPod an external hard drive. Very frustrated. Please help..

I need to make my iPod an external hard drive, and the “enable disk use” option does not appear for me. I've gone through all the settings, reverted back to 10.7 and gone through all of those settings too. I've watched a million ****ing tutorials and I still can't find it. The reason I ask is because I want to switch to Winamp media player, which also has the ability to manage music on mobile devices (including iPod), but Winamp wont recognize my iPod unless it's an external hard drive. I'm going to go insane, if I can't get my music back for school work. Thanks for anyone that helps.
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Here's another one:
You need iOS 7.0 and Mac OS X 10.8. I have an Ipod Touch 4. I tried to update iOS from 6.1.6 to 7.0. I got no error message, but I checked "software update" in the ipod settings. The iOS version is still 6.1.6 and it says that "my software is up to date". So go figure!
You need to install it on both your Mac and your iOS device. The screenshot above is from: http://www.beyondf.com/airbridge/. The page contains links to both the Mac and the iOS versions.

HT1351 I have just reformatted my hard drive and re-installed iTunes; how do I connect back to my library on an external hard drive?

I have just refromatted my hard drive and reinstalled itunes; how do tie it back to my library on an external hard drive?

If the whole library was on the external drive then press and hold down shift as you start iTunes, then use the Choose option to reconnect to it.
If it was only the media folder, but you backed up the library folder then restore that to <User's Music> in your rebuilt machine and you're good to go.
If you forgot to backup the library folder, but you don't care about ratings, play counts, playlists etc. then shift-start-iTunes, Create a new empty library at the root of the external drive, e.g. at X:\iTunes, move the media folder inside that as X:\iTunes\iTunes Media, then use File > Add Folder to Library to import the media.
Otherwise see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?

I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?
What I am ultimately wanting to do is make more room on my computer by backing up all of my files onto the external hard drive and then deleting them off of my computer. However, neededing to be able to retrieve them from the external hard drive later down the road.
From what I have read and am trying to understand, is that I probably shouldn't have used time machine. I need to use the external hard drive like a basic flash drive where I can put things on and get things off without having it automatically update through time machine everytime I connect it to my computer.
Not tech savvy at all and barely understand basics. I need very simple and easy to understand explanations.

sydababy wrote:
and then deleting them off of my computer.
BIG BIG MISTAKE ..... youre making a linchpin deathtrap for your data trying to shove everything on a single fragile HD.
Dont suffer the tragedy other people make, buy another or 2 more HD, theyre cheap as dust.
The number of people who have experienced terror by having a single external HD backup is enormous. One failure that WILL HAPPEN, and kaput,......all gone!
Dont do it, its all about redundancy, redundancy, redundancy.
follow here:
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Deleting them off your computer is fine....having only ONE copy is extremely BAD.
The Tragedy that will be, the tragedy that never should be
Always presume correctly that your data is priceless and takes a very long time to create and often is irreplaceable. Always presume accurately that hard drives are extremely cheap, and you have no excuse not to have multiple redundant copies of your data copied on hard drives and squirreled away several places, lockboxes, safes, fireboxes, offsite and otherwise.
Hard drives aren't prone to failure…hard drives are guaranteed to fail (the very same is true of SSD). Hard drives dont die when aged, hard drives die at any age, and peak in death when young and slowly increase in risk as they age.
Never practice at any time for any reason the false premise and unreal sense of security in thinking your data is safe on any single external hard drive. This is never the case and has proven to be the single most common horrible tragedy of data loss that exists.
Many 100s of millions of hours of lost work and data are lost each year due to this single common false security. This is an unnatural disaster that can avoid by making all data redundant and then redundant again. If you let a $60 additional redundant hard drive and 3 hours of copying stand between you and years of work, then you've made a fundamental mistake countless 1000s of people each year have come to regret.

Problems backing up I-tunes library to external hard drive.

Help - I'm having problems backing up I-tunes library to external hard drive. The drive appears on the desktop but when I try to drag in my i-tunes music folder I just get the circle with a line through it symbol. I can drag items from my mac to a different 4 gig memory stick with no problems. I put some music onto the hard drive from a windows p.c. and that dragged into my i-tunes fine. Any help would be much appreciated.

i'm guessing the external HD is NTFS formatted, which your Mac cannot write to (read only).
you will either have to reformat it (FAT32 or, better yet, for Mac) or install the _*NTFS 3G*_ driver.
JGG

My hard drive that is sync to my ipad crashed! Good thing is all my photos were transferred to my ipad for viewing - now my quesiton is how do I back up my ipad on another computer without losing my pictures? can I back up my ipad on a external hard drive

My hard drive on my computer crashed! This is the computer my ipad was sync with! All my photos of my three girls are on the ipad, but how do I get them transferred to either an external hard drive or to another computer - or just have them all printed - nearly 1000 photos!
Also, can I back up my ipad with an external hard drive? If I try to sync to a new computer it will erase everything I currently have on the ipad , correct?
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Right. You didn't read the post, you only read the title.
The title came from an earlier step in the process when I was posing a question to the systen.
The pertinent part of the question is "How to I back up documents that are stored in iCloud"
That the destination for the backup is NOT my internal HDD should be clear from the rest of the post.
And frankly, even if that is where I want to back up to, that would at least give me two copies, at least giving me one duplicate of the stuff on iCloud.
So please stop wasting my time if you can't answer the actual question: How do I backup content that is stored in iCloud. The destination of the backup is irrelevant.
--P

I recently had to back up itunes play lists to external hard drive, how do I restore the library from the external hard drive to the new computer

I recently had to back up itunes play lists to external hard drive whilst computer was fixed. reinstalled itunes but dont know how to reinstall my music from external hard drive. help?

The same way the library was copied/moved to the external drive.
Copy it from location A to location B.
Then point iTunes to the correct library.

Hi, ive been backing up my computer to an external hard drive (with time machine). When i buy a new macbook will that hard drive put all my info on to the new computer?

hi, ive been backing up my computer to an external hard drive (with time machine). When i buy a new macbook will that hard drive put all my info on to the new computer?

When you boot the new machine for the first time, you'll be prompted to import your data from a Time Machine backup.

Can time machine back up an imac and an external hard drive?

I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
Regards
Toekoms

toekoms wrote:
I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
yes, given enough space on the destination drive (your library may grow over time). also, the drive needs to be connected directly to your Mac.
you might want to make sure the drive is not excluded from TM backups by checking in system preferences > time machine > options.
also, as for moving your iTunes library, see this read for tips/instructions.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

If i backed up my iPhotos on an external hard drive can i delete them off my mac?

I recently backed up my Macbook pro on to an external hard drive. I was wodnering if i could delete my photos from my iphoto library to save space, and if so can i then get them back on my computer from my external hard drive?

Depends on exactly what you did
And if you delete the information from your main computer then you do not have a backup - to have a backup you need hte original on your computer and an exact copy on another disk
What format is the external drive? It must be Mac OS extended (journaled) to have your iPhoto library on ti
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LN

How do I restore all of my itunes content onto my newly installed computer drive? All my purchase are no longer in my account but I did back up the files onto an external hard drive. Now how do I get them back? Please

how do I restore all of my itunes content onto my newly installed computer drive? All my purchase are no longer in my account but I did back up the files onto an external hard drive. Now how do I get them back? Please

Ummals wrote:
...I did back up the files onto an external hard drive. ...
Did you follow all the steps as detailed here...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1751

How do i back up my iphone to an external hard drive and not my computer

How do I back up my iphone to an external hard drive attached to my pc and not my pc? My disk on my pc is almost full and even though I selected the external hard drive it still seems to try to back it up to my computer, then says I don't have sufficient storage. I cahnged my folder under preferences to the External Drive folder.

This is where iTunes stores backups for different operating systems: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946
I do not use a Windows machine, have a Windows Vista Dell I rarely startup now. But, from what I remember with Win boxes is, you will have to create on the external hard drive a file system like that one iTunes normally uses, and then in the iTunes preferences or control panel edit the location for the storage to specify the name of the external hard drive, or its letter code, with the name of that file system you created on the exernal drive.
I would also move all of the files from the internal file system to the external since you have now told iTunes that is where they are...before deleting from the internal drive, test iTunes to see that it goes where you want it to go.

IMac 10.5.8 is stuck on Apple logo loading screen , how can I back up my files with an external hard drive ?

so my iMac (10.5.8 its pretty old ) got stuck on the apple logo loading screen (as I call it lol) and it will not go beyond that .I've already made and appointment for the genius bar but now would I back up my files with an external hard drive ? No unfortunately I don't have any other laptop or computer just the external hard drive. how would I back it up? Does it have something to do with "target disc mode"?

Hi,
Thank you for great advice re SuperDuper.
You wasnt to know we didnt live in USA. We will try to get the full retail version of Leopard off the net. We will also phone round the apple resellers.
In the meantime, we are happy running Tiger with the knowledge that SuperDuper has cloned our hard drive in case of a disaster.
SuperDuper recommended backing up the hard drive with a new user account if we were using filevault on the master account. We backed up our hard drive without creating a new user with filevault as we could not read the pdf `Instuctions as preview was not responding.
Is this copy safe to use as a bootable drive or should we copy our entire HD again using a new user account without filevault?
Keith & Shem

I am backing up my computer to an external hard drive using Time Machine. It has been at 288.91 "used" for a while... should I just let it ride? It's been going for about 7 hours now.

I am backing up my computer to an external hard drive using Time Machine. It has been at 288.91 "used" for a while... should I just let it ride? It's been going for about 7 hours now

It does not immediately delete the files that are missing.. it merely tries to backup the new files it has discovered on the external drive. Since you moved the files there, the backup at least for a while will contain both copies.. and that is why it doesn't have enough space to backup.
Fixing the problem.. hmm pondini is the expert.. you should be able to delete the backup of the photos in existing backup.. there are instructions to do it.. but it is a very poor way to do things.
Much better. .archive off the existing backup.. this is long and slow but worth it. you need a usb drive of the same size as the TC drive. Then erase the TC and start a fresh set of backups.
The alternative is to use the USB drive as a new target.. but it is much slower than the TC internal drive.
http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

Backing up 5th Generation iPod to External Hard Drive

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