Best way to add external hard drives

Hi all! I have a fairly old iMac (2008). It only has 3 USB ports on the back. One is being used by my keyboard/mouse. One is plugged directly into an external hard drive. And the third is everything else... my digital camera cable, my printer, etc. I recently bought another external hard drive. I have found that when I use it through my hub, it's extremely slow. So... is that just a hub drawback? Or is there a better hub out there? I guess my question is... is there a way to expand the number of USB ports I have without having it be super slow? Thanks.
Julie

Disk drives should not be used in hubs. If you want to connect more than one then buy drives that can be properly daisy-chained and have separate power units because USB ports may not have sufficient power for more than one or two drives.

Similar Messages

  • I just bought a new Mac and I want to transfer some data (not all) from my old Mac.  Basically, I want to move my itunes library, iphoto library, and a few documents.  I have not even turned on my new Mac yet.  Is the best way by an external hard drive?

    I just bought a new Mac and I want to transfer some data (not all) from my old Mac.  Basically, I want to move my itunes library, iphoto library, and a few documents.  I have not even turned on my new Mac yet.  Is the best way by an external hard drive?

    If both have Firewire ports then you can accomplish your goal by using Target Disk Mode. If this is not possible then you can do using an external drive or if you have a local network connect both to your network and use filesharing between the two computers.
    File Sharing on Macs
    Mac 101- File Sharing

  • Best way to access external hard drives wirelessly using AX?

    I have an iBook G4 with an airport card and an iMac G3 with a D-link USB wireless adapter. Both work very well with my AX in networking, printing, using airtunes and accessing the internet. I can even see my external hard drive when it's plugged into either machine and mount that drive to the other computer over the network--however the file transfer is extremely slow of course.
    Here's what I'd like to do: I plan on getting another external hard drive and would like to be able to connect both computers to either drive wirelessly with good file transfer/access. From what I understand both Linksys and D-link make network storage devices that allow you to do this, but I'm wondering if I then also need a wireless bridge for the iMac?
    Can someone give me a run down as to how this all works and what the easiest way to go about doing this is?
    Thanks!

    These will allow you to do what you want to do.
    Wireless-G Media Storage Link Router with SpeedBooster
    All-in-one Internet-sharing Router, Access Point, and Network Storage Link! this is an all-in-one device.
    Buffalo Technology Link Station though this will also need an ethernet wireless bridge as well as would this Netgear Storage Device.
    This D-Link wireless storage device seems to meet your needs specifically. With this device you still need a wireless router such as the AX.

  • Best way to repartition external hard drive to give Time Machine more space

    I have my external 2 TB hard drive segmented into 2 equal 1 TB partitions. The first partition is my time machine back-ups. The second is media files.
    I also have approx 500GB of storage left on my 1 TB internal Mac HD. I keep receiving an error message that Time Machine cannot complete because it needs more file size. I have 185 GB available and it needs 225 GB.
    I realize TM needs additional space to process back-ups; but what is my best option for re-partitioning my external HD since my first partition is used for TM? Or can I make TM work without repartitioning? Any suggestions?

    Debonya1 wrote:
    I have my external 2 TB hard drive segmented into 2 equal 1 TB partitions. The first partition is my time machine back-ups. The second is media files.
    I also have approx 500GB of storage left on my 1 TB internal Mac HD. I keep receiving an error message that Time Machine cannot complete because it needs more file size. I have 185 GB available and it needs 225 GB.
    See the pink box in #C4 of [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    It sounds like there ought to be room on the TM partition, though. Are you sure there's nothing else there, besides the backups for that Mac? See #A1 in Troubleshooting for a handy widget that will display the backup messages from your logs. Navigate to the first time it failed, copy and post them here.
    Repartitioning will be tricky. How much stuff is on the second partition? It's possible you can split it, copy the data from it to the new partition, then delete the second one and expand the TM partition into the empty space. See #4 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Using Snow Leopard+ forum).

  • New MacBook pro how do I add external hard drive which has my entire iTunes library on it. Do I just drag external drive icon into iTunes preference box that shows where new itunes library is now located ie. On the MacBook pro.

    how do I add external hard drive which contains my entire iTunes library to new MacBook Pro. i want to keep iTunes library on external hard drive. But I want all my iTunes information:  artist, songs, albums, playlists on my new MacBook Pro.  I know about going to iTunes preferences- advanced-itunes media folder location.  At this point I don't know what to do   Do I drag external icon into iTunes media folder location box. I want to keep music files on external hard drive. I don't want to use macbook pro memory for my very large music files.

    I will request that your query be relocated to the iPhoto forum where knowledgeable iPhoto users will be able to assist you.
    Ciao.

  • HT201250 how do i add external hard drive to my time machine back up

    how do i add external hard drive to my time machine back up so that I may view the files independently on apple tv please?

    To elaborate on above.  I am looking to add about 300gig of photos on an external hard drive to TC. 
    Once I do this I believe I can then have itunes source its photos from TC without having them stored directly on my iMac? 
    Then I am assuming once I keep itunes on with home sharing I can stream these photos through Apple TV?
    My inital problem is getting the photos onto TC in an individual folder not just a backup folder....is that possible or what would you suggest please?

  • What is the best way to install & clone hard drives on macbooks? does apple do that?

    It is time for a new hard drive for my macbook - just doiubles the memory, but am still getting the spinning beach ball. The genius bar told me I need a new hard drive, but that I could buy it and out it in myself. But, I just heard that the best way to replace the hard drive is to clone it... and that is beyond my abilities.
    Does apple do that??? suggestions? thanks!

    Please note that "cloning" a hard drive is not the same as replacing it. You clone the drive to preserve its contents (usually on the drive that will be the replacement). You still have to get into the MB, physically, take out the old drive and install the new one. There are plenty of web sites that tell you how to do this replacement. This is one I like: http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130
    The details do vary depending on the vintage of your MB, so if that link is not for your model, try searching the web for instructions specific to your need. Or post back here with details about your Mac.
    If Apple did agree to do this for you it would probably cost almost as much as a new MB. (And if you do buy a new MB, my local Mac store will do the data transfer as a bonus!)

  • Best way to reformat/erase hard drive

    Situation:
    2007 iMac intel core duo was running Leopard
    Last BU was Nov 30, 2011 on external Time Machine
    Also have Carbonite BU..  last one dated April 2011 ( bought it, but turned it off because it seemed like overkill, especially when one of them was slowing      down bandwidth - or so I thought.)
    Upgraded to Snow Leopard   Dec 1, 2011
    started freezing every 15 - 20 minutes (mouse worked, computer unresponsive)  Hard resets necessary to restart
    Unplugged BU drive, Scanner and laser printer
    Backed up to external hard drive.  I didn't know I should have partitioned my external hd...  so I don't know if it's all scrambled.
    Bought Disk Warrior - it fixed several permissions, did repairs and all ok there..
    Freezing started again next day...
    partitioned hard drive into 2 parts - defunct Snow leopard has the majority of space (thought this freezing would have been be resolved by now)
    reinstalled Tiger to Leopard since Leopard was a CPU drop in CD on Partition#2   Only gave it a little room
    waiting on patch for snow leopard or some answers....  can't wait any longer
    There isn't enough free space on Leopard (#2) to add what I need to add to get up and going
    wanting to erase both partitions and start fresh.
    I also have a MacB Pro that I can put files on.. but here is my dilema..  The Carbonite files are old, but in tact. The external HD (Maxtor 750) MIGHT be scrambled because I didn't know to partition it. 
    All I ever wanted to do was have my calendar and my contacts sync...  This has cost me a fortune in time..
    2 mac computers  (iMac, MBP)
    2 ipad 2s
    2 iphone 4s
    iMad
    What is the best way to reformat the HD? 
    What would you do? 
    Do you think the external BU drive is one big mess with SL and Leopard both on there?  I unplugged it from all computers so it didn't mess anything up..
    At this point, I am so frustrated I don't care if I ever get any files back on the imac..  I do need to see if I can save my years and years of my business Quickbook files from the snow leopard side...if not.  Good lesson learned.  (Actually BAD lesson..)
    thank you,
    Helen

    I would back-up everything on another external HD with a full version of SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. I personally prefer SuperDuper!. I have several complete backups done on more than one external HD. These days Extra HD prices are quite cheap compared to loosing all your material and time. Then, if you really want to start fresh, Disk Utility works fine for me every time. I do go into the Options and zero out the drive completely. However, before "wiping out" your drive, I assume that you are fully upgraded in Leopard including all firmware and security updates. I actually go read about any update before I install it to make sure I really need it.
    Over the year I only had one internal HD fail on me but I backed up everything beforehand and my other ones are also backed up. In my opinion there is no such thing as overkill since my time and documents are precious. In the past I made one big mistake not backing up anything and lost between 3 and 5 years of stuff. It will not happen again. Back-up, back-up and back-up.
    I'm currently runing Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion on different drives for different uses and different Macs. Tiger has always seemed to be the most stable for now but I'm slowly adjusting to Snow Leopard and Lion will most likely follow.
    I'm not sure how to solve you "sync" issue since I'm in the process of trying to figure out the same thing trying to backup all content from Entourage 2008 within an old G4 PPC.
    Anyway, there must be a solution somewhere online for you and I hope you find it. It may help me too! ;-)

  • Proper way of mounting external hard drive - fstab rules?

    I have an external hard drive with all my music on it, and I want MPD to play this music. Now I was wondering how best to mount my external, such that MPD can actually access the music.
    I was told to create an fstab entry with the UUID of my external to have it being mounted to a fixed spot. But this only works during boot up, correct?
    What should I do, if I plug in the external after boot up? Is there a way to have it automounted to the same fixed spot as defined in fstab (maybe even using fstab)?

    As iBertus mentioned, you can use the automount features of different desktops. XFCE includes the Thunar file manager which can also be used in other lightweight desktops.
    If on the command line, pmount will let you mount the drive as a normal user, and without any fstab entries. This command will mount USB device sdb1  to /media/Stalafin.
    pmount /dev/sdb1 Stalafin]
    The cool thing about pmount is that if the drive/partition is encrypted with LUKS, you can throw other options at it and it will decrypt and mount at the same time.

  • Can I use airport time capsule 2tb the same way as an external hard drive

    I would like to know if I can use it as I would an external hard drive by dragging certain files or folders over to my Mac computer and not just as a backing up device. Where as I would only be able to completely add all files and folders without a choice of particular ones. Can anyone please help me. I would like to purchase it but don't know if I should just go with a simpler external hard drive. I do like the features of the airport but  I have noticed a few reviews of people claiming they were not able to select one folder to add or remove. Thanks for the help!

    Jmoto110 wrote:
    I would like to know if I can use it as I would an external hard drive by dragging certain files or folders over to my Mac computer and not just as a backing up device.
    Yes.

  • Should I add external hard drive so I can update to os10?

    I was trying to get a new printer for my 266 slot loading I mac. A mac nerd at Fry's said I could connect an external hard drive (USB) and move my applications to it which would free up room on the imac to load os10 (I assume Panther). Does this sound feasible? I have 256 ram. Do I need more ram than that??I'm not a techie but have a son who is a mac addict and could help. (new printers mostly want os10)

    Your iMac 266 has the old/slow USB 1.1 bus, and it doesn't provide a bootable option for an external hard drive. Even running applications from it would be slow, so I wouldn't advise doing that, just to free more space on the internal hard drive for an OS X installation. A larger internal hard drive is a more viable option, but does require mechanical aptitude for disassembly of the iMac. You'd need to install more RAM for OS X, and lacking onboard FireWire would rule out the current OS 10.4.x (Tiger). You'd probably have to settle for Jaguar or Panther. If you add the costs of the OS X installer CDs, more memory, and new hard drive, you could be applying the same $$ toward a newer (even used) Mac.
    What type of printer do you need/want - inkjet or laser? As an alternative to upgrading the iMac, have you considered purchasing a used printer, that would be compatible with the iMac and its pre-OS X software? As an example, the (now-discontinued) Epson Stylus Color 740 or 740i is a good, photo-quality inkjet printer, that's supported for use with Macs via USB and the older serial interface. It's also compatible with PCs via the parallel port interface or USB, so it can be shared between the two platforms. I've purchased 5 or 6 of these printers (used) at thrift stores, because I've always been satisfied with the one I purchased new in 2001. They're more than adequate for most print jobs - including very satisfactory color photo printing, and cost me less than the prices of the replacement ink tanks. If there are any thrift stores in your area that accept donated computers and related peripherals, you might want to check them out for one.

  • Best way to upgrade internal hard drive

    Hi,
    I have a 100gig hd in my laptop and it is pitifully small for the kind of work I'm doing (audio, video, animation and web work). I record things like audio and video to an external drive, but need to keep a certain number of instruments and tools on my system drive to travel lightweight and work on planes etc.
    So, my understanding is that there are limits to how big a hard drive you can put in a Macbook Pro depending on the model. I also understand that it is a real pain in the *** to do so yourself and that you void your warranty by not letting an Apple specialist do it for you. Are both of those assumptions true?
    If so, how would I find out how big a hard drive I can put in my MacBook Pro (system profiler details below), and can an Apple specialist do it for me?
    Thanks for any help:
    Model Name: MacBook Pro 15"
    Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,1
    Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
    Processor Speed: 2 GHz
    Number Of Processors: 1
    Total Number Of Cores: 2
    L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
    Memory: 2 GB
    Bus Speed: 667 MHz
    SMC Version: 1.2f10

    Thanks for your responses people.
    Normally, I'd go for an external FW hd, but I use the FW port for my sound card or for capturing video and I have an old MBP (the one that DOESN'T have a FW800 port - lame, I know). Also, it's not a good idea to daisy-chain FW devices when using it for audio work, so unfortunately that option is out.
    I have an eSATA card in my expresscard slot with two ports - one I use for an external eSATA Lacie D2 drive for my audio work when plugged in, but the other one is free. Only problem with that, is that I'd need to power any external hard drive to use it via the eSATA port which means I couldn't work on projects 'on-the-go'.
    Really, it would be ideal to have more space on my internal drive and not worry about carrying extra kit around.
    I saw this drive in the OWC shop: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST9320421AS/
    But what I need to know is whether that size drive will be compatible with my MBP (and if so, does anyone knows a good place to get that drive)? I'm based in the UK by the way.
    Thanks
    Message was edited by: onesizeup

  • Best way to connect ext. hard drive?

    For some reason one of my external hard drives is not working properly with programs like MPEG Streamclip and the Disk Utility so that I can load my video to it. It basically starts off loading it fine but then stops for long periods and I get impaient. My external is connected using USB 2.0 but I am thinkign about getting new drives that use FireWire. is this the right move or could this just be a problem with my hard drive(s)? I want to be able to store the DVD Mastercopies on a hard drive and be able to burn straight fom it, is firewire the way to go? thanks in advance...

    I use an Iomega Ultramax 640GB RAID drive that runs with two 320GB drives inside a metal chassis. I haven't had a great deal of experience with external hard-disks, but I like to think that the hefty price tag (which has probably come down by now) was worth it.
    The drive works via three interfaces - USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800. I haven't managed to yet use the 800 interface, but the 400 seems more than fast enough for working from. It can play games and edit video from it without any obvious lag.
    You might want to take note that the drive isn't exactly portable, however, and is damned heavy.
    Hope I've made a useful suggestion.

  • Best way to defragment my hard drive?... XD

    I use my mac to run ProTools and Logic. Because I have so many audio files on my hard drive and make edits all the time I need a way to defrag it. OSX takes care of most of the problems for the average user... too bad I don't fall into that category XD... DON'T TELL ME IT TAKES CARE OF ITSELF! An external drive with a is normally my way to solve this problem but i'm in a situation where that resource isn't available to me. All thoughts are appreciated. If theres a free way to do it I'd be smitten THANKS Y'ALL

    How To Defragment A Hard Drive
    This is the fastest and safest method for defragmenting a drive. Plus, it does not require third-party software, but it does require a spare hard drive.
    1. Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the external one.
    2. Boot from the external hard drive.
    3. Erase the internal hard drive.
    4. Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
    Clone the internal drive to the external drive
    1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
    2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
    3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
    4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
    5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
    6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
    7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
    Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears.  Select the icon for the external drive and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    After startup do the following:
    Erase internal hard drive
    1.  Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
    2. After DU loads select your internal 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. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.  Do not quit Disk Utility.
    Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
    1. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
    2. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
    3. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
    4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
    5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
    6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    Destination means the internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
    Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.

  • Trying to find the best format for an external hard drive

    I have a new iMac 20", and I am now converting an external hard drive I had on another computer to be compatible with this one. The ext. HD was formatted as NTFS, and I would like to make it much more easily read/write. I've tried using various tools to enable write support on the drive, but I'm giving up on that, instead opting that I just format the drive to something else.
    Disk Utility doesn't really offer me a comprehensive comparison of UFS and Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or any of the OS Extended derivatives.
    Since Everything is either:
    a) Mac OS Extended
    b) MS-DOS or
    c) Unix File System
    What are the differences between a) and c) and why would I choose UFS over the others? For the time being, I just want to set up the drive as a backup, but I may use it for more than that, since it has a Firewire connection to it, enabling much better performance than USB.
    Thanks in advance,
    Nick

    File system formats and partition map schemes are two different things.
    OS X requires the Mac OS Extended (HFS+) file system formatting scheme. Details on file format schemes are in http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Performance/Conceptual/FileSystem/Artic les/MacOSXAndFiles.html
    ICBMs (Intel-chip-based Macs) require the GUID Partition Table scheme. Details on partition mapping schemes are in http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/universalbinary/universal_binary_tips/chapter_5_section10.html and further information on GUID is in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUIDPartitionTable.
    Erasing. When you erase a volume, you delete the volume's file directory (when you erase a disk, you also destroy its partitions and directories); and, when you zero out the data, you write 0s and 1s to the disk and map out bad blocks.
    So, I suggest using Disk Utility and erasing, zeroing out data, Mac OS X Extended, and the GUID partition scheme.

Maybe you are looking for