Backing up Everything onto External Hard Drive

I've just bought a Western Digital My Book external hard drive to back up everything on my iMac. How do I go about doing this? Can I just drag and drop?

Time Machine may not provide a bootable backup, but it does provide a backup process that is automatic and up-to-date to within ONE HOUR of active use. A clone is only as good as the last time you bothered to run a backup, which is a time-consuming process that you initiate manually. Although you cannot boot off the Time Machine backup disk, you can boot off your Mac OS X installation disc (for Leopard or Snow Leopard) and run the utility to do a complete startup volume restore. Unlike a clone, which can only be restored to the +last look+ (that may be a few weeks old), you can restore the complete volume using Time Machine to within the last hour before failure or to ANY past archived state.
Although I did not trust Time Machine initially as my only backup, I now treat it as my only backup for most of my personal data. I would trade the automatic +set it and forget it+ background process and the +restore to within one hour+ recency of the backup, to the backup being "bootable," any day. I do keep a separate backup (on a separate drive) of my most critical files, not because I don't trust Time Machine, but because it is possible for the primary drive and backup drive to both fail at the same time.

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I trying to backup movies that I have purchase from Iturnes onto a cd and my Macbook pro does not recognize any of the CD or DVDs that I tried, nothing seems to work can I back up to a external hard drive?

I am trying to backup the movies and TV show that I purchase from Itunes onto a cd or DVD, and nothing seems to work. I tried using CD-R, CD+R, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW and they all failed. Is it possible to back up to an external hard drive instead of a CD?
Tyler

I know this isn't a complete answer because I am not sure why or if your backups to CD/DVD are not working, but one thing I do know is yes you indeed can backup any of your iTunes Media (music, movies, tv shows, podcasts, etc.) to an external hard drive. In fact, it's recommended that you do this anyway (in case of a hard drive crash, computer being stolen, etc.)
You can manually back up your movies by finding them in your iTunes Media folder, or since you have a Mac you can just use Time Machine, which will automatically back up either your entire computer (or only certain folders and items if you want). It's pretty handy. I use a 1TB external and Time Machine to keep everything backed up including my iTunes

I had to erase my hard drive and then reinstall everything back from my passport external hard drive. Now my iPhoto edit is not working. I get a blank screen when I want to edit. The photos show up in the library but I cannot edit them. Help?

I had to erase my hard drive and then reinstall everything back from my passport external hard drive. Now my iPhoto edit is not working. I get a blank screen when I want to edit. The photos show up in the library but I cannot edit them. Help?

There are several possible causes for the Black Screen issue
*1. Permissions in the Library* : Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Include the option to check and repair permissions.
*2. Minor Database corruption*: Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild.
*3. A Damaged Photo*: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and right click on it. From the resulting menu select 'Show File (or 'Show Original File' if that's available). Will the file open in Preview? If not then the file is damaged. Time to restore from your back up.
*4. A corrupted iPhoto Cache*: Trash the com.apple.iPhoto folder from HD/Users/Your Name/Library/ Caches...
*5. A corrupted preference file*: Trash the com.apple.iPhoto.plist file from the HD/Users/ Your Name / library / preferences folder. (Remember you'll need to reset your User options afterwards. These include minor settings like the window colour and so on. Note: If you've moved your library you'll need to point iPhoto at it again.)
If none of these help:
As a Test:
Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Create Library'
Import a few pics into this new, blank library. Is the Problem repeated there?
Regards
TD

Have copied my iTunes library back-up from my external hard drive (saved from my iTunes on my pc) onto my new Macbook and loads of the tracks have been duplicated, some four times some not at all?? any ideas guys?

Have copied my iTunes library back-up from my external hard drive (saved from my iTunes on my pc) onto my new Macbook and loads of the tracks have been duplicated, some four times some not at all?? any ideas guys?

Have copied my iTunes library back-up from my external hard drive (saved from my iTunes on my pc) onto my new Macbook and loads of the tracks have been duplicated, some four times some not at all?? any ideas guys?

HT201250 I have thousands of pictures on my Mac. If something happens to my Mac I don't want them lost. I do time machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week. Is this good enough for making sure my pictures don't ever get lost?

I have thousands of photos on my Mac. If something happens to my Mac obviously, I don't want to lose the photos. I do Time Machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week. Is this good enough to make sure my pictures don't get lost?

tgs6164 wrote:
I have thousands of photos on my Mac. If something happens to my Mac obviously, I don't want to lose the photos. I do Time Machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week. Is this good enough to make sure my pictures don't get lost?
Purchase a couple of these when they go on sale.
Start burning all the photos onto DVDs.
At least you'll have all your photos if your computer, time machine or any other backup you use goes bonkers.

Computer died though all is backed up on an external hard drive, I got a new one, now how do I migrate my bookmarks?

My computer died. I have everything backed up on an external hard drive. Is there any way to recover my firefox bookmarks?

See [[Recovering important data from an old profile]]

Backing up photos to external hard drive,and exporting back to CF card on camera

iPhoto 5 on Mac Power PC G4, OS 10.4.11
backing up photos to external hard drive (LaCie) My iPhoto Library contains a number of files (such as 'Library.iPhoto' 'iPhoto.db' 'ThumbJPG.data' etc) and a number of folders with dates such as 2005 etc, containing folders within folders, none of which with any contents.
Is there a way I can organise just the photos on their own so that I can select just those to be backed up on my LaCie hard drive, without all those distracting and (apparently) unnecessary extra files and folders ?
exporting edited photos back to CF card on camera I have tried everything I can think of to export photos from iPhoto back to the CF card on the camera, without success. It must be possible to do ?

Edit: Note: It's been a while but the Export command may be in the Share menu on older versions...
1. To back up an iPhoto Library
Most Simple Back Up
Drag the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to another Disk. This will make a copy on that disk.
Slightly more complex:
Use an app that will do incremental back ups. This is a very good way to work. The first time you run the back up the app will make a complete copy of the Library. Thereafter it will update the back up with the changes you have made. That makes subsequent back ups much faster. Many of these apps also have scheduling capabilities: So set it up and it will do the back up automatically. Examples of such apps: Chronosync or DejaVu . But are many others. Search on MacUpdate
2. To Back up Just the Photos
Use the File -> Export command to export the images to where you want them.
BTW: there are no user-serviceable parts in the iPhoto Library Folder. Rooting around in there can cause damage.
3. Edited Photos to CF Card is a two part process:
Exporting is just File -> Export. Choosing any setting except 'Original' and you'll get the Edited version.
The CF Card? Just drag and drop there.
But a couple of possible problems: Canon Cameras don't show up in the Finder. So you'll need to stick the card into a USB Card Reader for get them on there
Camera Cards are all formatted FAT. That means there's a limit to the number of items on the top level of the card: Workaround: Export the shots to a folder and drag that over
And, of course, if you want to see the shots in the camera, you'll need to put them in whatever specific folder it uses for the photos.
Regards
TD

I have an older macbook pro and the hard drive is starting to go (making loud noises). i tried to back up to an external hard drive (my passport essential se) using time machine and the computer keeps shutting down. suggestions to complete backup please?

I have an older macbook pro and the hard drive is starting to go (making loud noises). i tried to back up to an external hard drive (my passport essential se) using time machine and the computer keeps shutting down. the same thing happens when just trying to save my pictures from iphoto to a flash drive. suggestions to complete backup please?

Sounds like you'll need to access that drive while it is not booted. You need to replace it anyway, so do that, then one way or another (ext enclusure, et), access it and copy files.
If you keep trying to boot it, you might kill it for good and not get your files, so just swap it out first.

How to Back up iPhone to External Hard Drive on Mac/Windows

How are you to Back up iPhone to External Hard Drive on Mac/Windows?I need to Back up iPhone to my External Hard Drive on Mac computer,Whether have you more method to help me quickly to Back up iPhone to External Hard Drive on my Mac?If you have more method to solve this question,I will thank you very much,I'm looking forward to your answer.Best wish: Merry Christmas !

How are you to Back up iPhone to External Hard Drive on Mac/Windows?I need to Back up iPhone to my External Hard Drive on Mac computer,Whether have you more method to help me quickly to Back up iPhone to External Hard Drive on my Mac?If you have more method to solve this question,I will thank you very much,I'm looking forward to your answer.Best wish: Merry Christmas !

If i have Time Machine backed up on an external hard drive, do i just plug the drive into another macbook pro and all my stuff is in the new computer? also, does it matter if the new computer is running Lion when the backed up info came from Snow Leopard

If i have Time Machine backed up on an external hard drive, do i just plug the drive into another macbook pro and all my stuff is in the new computer? Also, does it matter if the new computer is running Lion when the backed up info came from Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

No and Yes
Don't use TM for this purpose, clone your drive to an external, plug the external into another MBP and reboot from it. Please note that booting a machine that came with Lion may not be possible from a drive with Snow Leopard.

I am struggling! Help! I need to move 3500 pics-in TIFF format in 175 folders and sub folders from my old PSE6, Windows XP to my new PSE13, Windows8.1. I have the PSE6 backed up on an external hard drive. What is the safe way to do this? Can anyone at Ado

I am struggling! Help! I need to move 3500 pics-in TIFF format in 175 folders and sub folders from my old PSE6, Windows XP to my new PSE13, Windows8.1. I have the PSE6 backed up on an external hard drive. What is the safe way to do this? Can anyone at Adobe help me? Please?

Use the Organizer backup & restore method, starting the restore from the TLY file. Probably best to use a custom location as the XP file structure will be different. See this link for further help:
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/backup-restore-move-catalog-photoshop.html

I back up with an external hard drive using time machine. I am trying to reload my iphoto library from an earlier date then it will let me. How do I get to an earlier date in time machine?

I back up with an external hard drive using time machine. I am trying to reload my iphoto library but it won't let me get back to a date that I need to. How do I do this?

Try Pondini's articles;
http://pondini.org/TM/15.html - scroll down to the pink box for iPhoto restoation.
Also http://pondini.org/TM/15A.html to clarify how to use the timeline.

I deleted all the music from my itunes library because I thought I had it backed up on an external hard drive. Can I restore the library from my ipod touch?

I deleted all the music from my itunes library because I mistakenly thought I had it backed up on an external hard drive. Can I restore the library from my ipod touch?

Maybe here:
iCloud: Troubleshooting creating backups

HT201250 Time machine back up using a external hard drive connected to the Airport extreme

How can I setup a time machine back up using a external hard drive connected to the Airport extreme? Even better for time managment purposes I want to use the Eithernet Thunderbolt connection for the first back up and then through the wifi there after for daily routine Time Machine back ups.

You can attach a hard drive, but Time Machine backups to a drive at the USB port at the AirPort Extreme are not supported by Apple, so it's not possible to say what your actual results might be.
If you decide to try this, it would be wise to have a secondary backup plan in place as well.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html

Can Time Machine back up a second external hard drive that is attached via usb to a Time Capsule?

Can Time Machine back up a second external hard drive that is attached via usb to a Time Capsule?
I have a iMac with 10.7.4

I want to back up the data on the external Hard Drive that is attached to the Time Capsule to the Tim Capsule using Time Machine.
Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, that will not work. You will need to connect the drive directly to your Mac if you want Time Machine to backup the drive to the Time Capsule.

Backing up Everything onto External Hard Drive

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