Backing up onto an external hard drive

I just purchased a 120 GB external hard drive. I wish to back up my iTunes library there, but everytime I try to do this, I am only give the option of a CD or DVD. Any suggestions?
Also, is it worth trying to run iTunes exclusively from the Ex. HD and free up space on my computer. Thanks for the help.

iTunes automatic back-up feature is only applicable for CD's or DVD's.
If you want to back up to an external drive you have to either use another program for your back-ups or do it the old fashioned way: copy the necessary files and folders yourself. What are the necessary files and folders?
If you haven't changed iTunes default settings, everything will be in the iTunes folder: the iTunes Music , Album Artwork and Previous iTunes Libraries folders and the iTunes Library files . You will find this at C:\Documents and Settings\ user name \My Documents\My Music\iTunes .
If you have changed iTunes default settings, it can be a bit trickier.
Also, is it worth trying to run iTunes exclusively from the Ex. HD and free up space on my computer.
That will depend on your personal circumstances. If you decide it give that a try, have a look at this article in the Apple Knowledge Base
Post back and let us know if you need any further information.

Similar Messages

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up. I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.
I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?
When I bought the new (used) iMac, I also bought an external hard drive for backups. It worked fine, but my husband stole it.
Then I bought a new external hard drive (Seagate) and it worked fine for three weeks, then died.
So I just got a new external hard drive, which was put together from an internal hard drive and a hard drive enclosure.
Time machine did the first backup today, and it should have taken 9 hours like it did on the previous first time full back up. Instead, it took 30 minutes. That can't be right. I want to start over and do a full backup to make sure everything gets onto my new external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to do that. Please help.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil compare -E
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

HT1766 How do I back up onto an external Hard drive?

I am trying to back up my iphone 4 but my computer does not have enough space. I need to back up onto an external hard drive. How do I do that?

Have you considered using iCloud 5GB free
How to set up
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4436
See here for guidance on how to use
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4859
and how iTunes backs up your iPhone
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4946

Do i have to select what i back up onto my external hard drive, or does it back up everything automatically?

do i have to select what i back up onto my external hard drive, or does it back up everything automatically?

It depends on the app you want to use to make backups.
If you are going to use Time Machine (recommended because it's the easiest), you just have to set it up and it will back up the whole OS X partition on the external drive, so don't worry. However, you can exclude items if you want. Read > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427 Also, have a look at Pondini's site > http://pondini.org
Another option are the cloning apps, like Carbon Copy Cloner. These apps also clone the whole hard drive, but you can manually select the things you want to back up. The advantage of the clones is that you can start up your computer from them

How do I access photos that were backed up onto an external hard drive using Time Machine?

I used to own a PC. When my computer got too full, I would back up some of my photo albums onto an external hard drive (simply by copying and pasting what I wanted to save on the hard drive) and then delete them on my computer to free up space. Occassionally, I would still plug in my hard drive to access and use those photos when needed. I now own a Macbook Pro and after having issues with my old hard drive, I bought a hard drive compatiable with Macs. I plugged in the hard drive and backed up my entire computer using Time Machine. Now I would like to delete some of my photo albums to free up space on my computer. Before I do that, I would like to double check that they are indeed on the hard drive, but every time I try to open my iPhoto Library from the hard drive I get this error message: "The iPhoto library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Reopen iPhoto with the Option key held down to choose another library." So I tried doing that, but the only option that comes up is my main iPhoto library on my computer. I can't seem to access what is on my hard drive.
I don't plan on deleting ALL of my photo albums, just a few. So I also want to make sure that the next time I plug in my hard drive to back stuff up, it won't copy just what is on my computer and override the last backup, because that would mean losing missing albums I had already deleted. I just want to be able to access photos on my hard drive when I want and occassionally manually add a few more albums to it. I don't intend to keep backing up my entire computer. My main concern are my photos.
Can anyone help?

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.

Why won't Time Machine back up onto this external hard drive?

I re-formatted a SimpleTech 320gb hard drive so it would erase the music and videos on it and format it for use with Time Machine. I thought it all went smoothly but then the initial back up which is about 91gb stops after it backs up about 22gb and says an error occured. No matter how many times I restart everything and try to back up more, it doesn't work. I've even tried using disk utility to erase it and that didn't work either. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

First, deselect the drive as your TM backup drive, then turn off TM. Now try this:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must 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. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. 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 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.
Be sure to re-select the drive for the TM backup drive.

How do I save iMovies onto an external hard drive?

I have several hours of home movies on i movie that i would like to now back up onto my external hard drive, but when I am on the desktop and try to drag the movies into the hard drive they bounce back & cut and paste does not work either.... what am I missing??

And assuming dwb is right and the drive IS formatted with NTFS (which is my suspicion as well) you have several options. You could reformat the drive with FAT or Mac OS Extended, which the Mac could write to, but would also erase all files currently on the external drive. OR you could download an NTFS driver such as Paragon which should enable your Mac to write to an NTFS drive without reformatting.

How can i back up my itunes library onto an external hard drive?

I can seem to figure out how to back up my Itunes library onto my external hard drive. Any advise?

A quick search provides the answer, see the following:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1751 for backing up to an external drive.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1382 for backing up to optical media.

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

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

If I were to drag and drop files from an OSX 9 onto an external hard drive (1 TB), assuming there is still plenty of space left, will I be able to use this same external hard drive to back up my iMac (Mountain Lion)?

If I were to drag and drop files from an OSX 9 onto an external hard drive (1 TB), assuming there is still plenty of space left, will I be able to use this same external hard drive to back up my iMac (Mountain Lion)? And would it ask me if I want to initialize (thus erasing it) or eject the hard drive like the OSX 9 did?

I was trying to follow this thread because I was curious about the OS 9 installation - until I realized you have another thread going about the very same subject, albeit with a different subject line.
FWIW: it is best not to double post - things get far too confusing after a while.
@ Kappy (in case you hadn't seen the other one):
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5054178?tstart=0

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?

Back up just some music from iTunes onto an external hard drive

I want to move just some of my music from my iTunes library onto an external hard drive (reason? the music cannot be got again but right now I am not sure if I need it all or not).
So I want to move, say, 50 albums from the main iTunes libraray to an external drive and then be able to move some or all of them back again at later date.
Do I have to copy the whole library over to the external drive and then delete the albums there that I did not want to copy over? Or is there a better way?
And how will I copy back just some of the back-up albums at a later date - is it the normal "Add folder/file to [main] library command from the File menu?

I want to move just some of my music from my iTunes library onto an external hard drive (reason? the music cannot be got again but right now I am not sure if I need it all or not).
So I want to move, say, 50 albums from the main iTunes libraray to an external drive and then be able to move some or all of them back again at later date.
Do I have to copy the whole library over to the external drive and then delete the albums there that I did not want to copy over? Or is there a better way?
And how will I copy back just some of the back-up albums at a later date - is it the normal "Add folder/file to [main] library command from the File menu?

Did my first back up today using external hard drive and time machine now i can't drag and drop

Hi, i did my first back up today using time machine it all went onto my external hard drive fine. Now i cant drag and drop anyhting. I assume ive cahnged some settings in time machine but cant figure it out what to do can some one help ?
thanks

Brandbasher wrote:
Thanks Pondini but i have closed time machine, removed external hard drive.
Did you eject it first?
Now i cant drag and drop anything on my desk top, or mail or any other application. Ive tried moving folders, documents none of it works. Even moving around documents within a folder, it wont let me chnage the position of files.
That shouldn't be related to Time Machine (especially if the backups aren't mounted).
What happens when you try those things? Do you get any messages? Anything you can post a screenshot of?
Have you tried a Restart?
Does it happen in another user account? (If you don't have one, create one via System Prefs > Users & Groups.)

I am trying to backup my Itunes onto my external hard drive. I am at the step where I on Itunes, click on File - Library - Organize library. I am suppose to check mark both boxes there, It won't allow me to check mark the second box, why? How to fix this.

I am trying to backup my Itunes onto my external hard drive. I am at the step where I on Itunes, click on File ->Library ->Organize library. I am suppose to check mark both boxes there, the first being "Consolidate Files" & the second being "Reorganize files in the folder 'Itunes Media'. I am able to checkmark the first box but It won't allow me to check mark the second box, why? How can i fix this? Please help!

Well you must have made a mistake somewhere. The last instruction of step four reads:
When you've found your iTunes library folder, drag that folder to your external hard drive. This will begin the iTunes backup. The amount of time the backup will take depends on the size of your library. When the transfer is done, your backup is complete and your external hard drive can be disconnected.
Normally dragging content from to a new location on a different drive will result in a copy action which is what you were supposed to do. At a guess you somehow managed to move the iTunes folder. Then when you started iTunes it created a new blank library for you assuming it had just been installed rather that raising a warning.
Close iTunes. Rename the iTunes folder on the internal drive as iTunes (Empty) then copy the iTunes folder from the external back into the User's Music folder. Start iTunes. All should be well.
When you've made sure it all works please read my User Tip and use that method to backup in future. Since you already have a folder with the backup in place you can skip the "Make New" operation in the fourth step and simply choose the external folder.
tt2

Backing up onto an external hard drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for