Can I use a thunderbolt storage haqrd drive with my late 2009 iMac?

You do have Firewire 800 and it seems plenty fast for most use. Easy to install and the cradles allow for multiple disks swapping or daisey chain for multiple cradles.

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Can I use a sata3 hard drive with a late 2009 imac

Looks liker the hard drive in my five year old iMac is about to go belly up. Was getting hardware errors, very slow startup and Carbon Copy Cloner reported bad blocks during the backup. I want to buy a new HD at a local store and have the Apple store install it. Will they do that and can I use a SATA 3 drive with my older iMac?

YEs you can use a SATA III drive but the Apple Store will not install it for you. Find an AASP and see if they'll install a drive for you.

Time Machine: Can I use a smaller external hard drive with larger internal?

Can I use a 250G external hard drive with and 500G unfilled internal drive with time machine? Or will time machine require I a 500G? I don't plan on filling the internal drive for a long time and don't want to buy a new external drive right now.

Yes, but you are very likely to get in trouble very quickly.
The problem is that TimeMachine saves multiple versions of any file modified, and if that file happens to be large, you can quickly fill up your TimeMachine drive such that it is throwing away older versions faster than you would desire.
Also if your boot drive's storage usage gets even close to the 250GB external drive's capacity, TimeMachine is likely to stop working.
If possible, I would suggest an external drive that is twice as large as your boot drive, or at least 1.5 times larger.
I guess you could repartition your boot drive so it is smaller than your external disk so you would be less likely to use more space than could fit on the external.
Personally, my opinion about backups is that much of my data is impossible to replace (family pictures, etc...), and spending money on backup hardware is a small price to pay for securing those memories. I also try to have it backup in more than one location in more than one way.

Can i use ANY external CD/DVD drive with the NEW mac mini?

We just got the newest Mac Mini and want to get an external drive for importing and burning CD's and DVD's.
Can we use ANY external CD/DVD drive or do we NEED to use the "Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive."
Thanks
Eliot

Maybe.
I've had some situations where a non-Apple DVD drive would not do a particular job. When I tried the same project with the Apple SuperDrive everything worked perfectly.
This is an area where I would not try to save money.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC684ZM/A

Connection speed of optical drive connection in late 2009 imac 21.5"

Howdy,
I have the 21.5" late 2009 imac. I am wondering what the speed of the I/O of the hard drive if I replaced the optical drive? Is it sata 3? I thought I read the early 2009 changed the optical connection to sata. I just swapped out the 500 gb sata 3 drive for a 500 gb ssd and am thinking I might like to simply put the old one back in as an internal time machine.
Thanks.

The HD interface in late 2009 iMacs is SATA-2 (3 Gbps), not SATA-3 (6 Gbps).
I can't find any definitive info about the optical drive interface but I am fairly sure is SATA, although I don't know if it is SATA 1 or SATA 2. Since you have already taken apart your iMac, you might check the connector on the optical drive -- it is most likely a non-standard 'mini' version, so finding an appropriate adaptor/replacement cable may be your biggest problem.
You might want to check out OWC's Data Doubler to see if it looks like something you could use.

Can i use my ipod as hard-drive with pc and mac??

hi
ive been using new classic ipod with pc for a while.
now i have a new macbook.
can i use the ipod as a hard drive to transfer files to macbook??
like say if i download some software onto pc, i put that onto ipod,
and then transfer to macbook via ipod hard drive........
is this ok?
can i use my ipod on macbook and pc? or is it just one of the other?
thanks
(transfering my pc itunes library to macbook is not urgent yet....but would it be as easy as just copying the song files across? something like itornado usb wire....)

*can i use the ipod as a hard drive to transfer files to macbook??*
Macs can read Windows formatting so if your iPod was first used and formatted on a PC you should have no issue with using it as a removable hard drive on the Mac: How to determine your iPod's disk format
Just for reference, iPods formatted for Mac it won't run natively on a PC because Windows operating systems don't recognize Mac OS-formatted disks (HFS or HFS Plus formats). Mac formatted iPods can only be used on a PC that has a third party helper program such as XPlay or MacDrive installed.

Can I use Time Capsule as external drive with a Time Capsule?

I have a Time Capsule set up with AirPort and it works well for backups. Can I buy a second Time Capsule and plug it into this TC with ethernet and use it as an external drive?

jshafer wrote:
So, you are recommending using a USB drive into the TC or using an NAS plugged into the ethernet port...is that correct?
Yes, correct. USB drive is not fast but it is still mostly going to be faster than wireless.. it is of course slower than ethernet.. so what you are using on your clients dictates what is the rate determining step of the network.
Am I correct in thinking that an NAS using ethernet connection would be faster than USB?
Does a true NAS have its own internal backup system?
Yes, to both.. but remembering the client has to be able to make use of it. ie is also ethernet.
True NAS is faster than TC as they use RAID systems.. more reliable.. you can replace disks in the raid.. TC is sealed.. and all decent NAS will be able to back themselves up to a USB drive.. on incremental basis.. which is major shortcoming when people try and use the TC in this role.

Can I use a "Click Free" backup drive with Time Machine

Can I connect my Click Free portable hard drive backup to my Intel IMac running Lion, and use time machine and not the Click Free backup software? I'm guessing I might have to erase the software from the ClickFree drive. This ClickFree hard drive is for Mac as well as Windows.

telwell wrote:
Can I connect my Click Free portable hard drive backup to my Intel IMac running Lion, and use time machine and not the Click Free backup software? I'm guessing I might have to erase the software from the ClickFree drive. This ClickFree hard drive is for Mac as well as Windows.
Then it is likely formatted as FAT32 and can not be used with TM until reformatted to HFS+.
It should work after reformatting, use disk utility to erase the drive and set the format as MAC OSX Extended (journaled)

Can I use a 30" Apple Cinema display with a new 27" iMac?

I have a brand new iMac(27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), i7 3.5 GHz, 32MB RAM, 4GB NVIDIA. I will soon be upgrading it to Mavericks, if that makes a difference. My understanding is that the resolution on it is 2560 x 1440.
I'm looking at buying a used 30" Apple Cinema display. I'd like to use it with my new iMac. The only advantage for me would be that the 30" screen is larger and things on it easier to see (or so I'm guessing).
I need to know if the 30" Cinema display would work with my new iMac, and if it would, as I'm guessing, give me a larger, easier-to-see screen.
I currently have my new iMac connected to my old mid-2010 iMac as a target display (that old iMac has a minidisplay port--no Thunderbolt), and that works great. I just want a larger screen.
I called Apple support, and the tech rep wasn't sure it would work. He seemed to think that the 30" Cinema displays were made with different connections. Some had minidisplay ports (which he thought would work), and some a cord built into them that provided some other type of connection (that I guess would not work as far as he knew).
Can anyone tell me if this would work? Would my new iMac and its video card support the 30" Cinema display? Would the result be as sharp and good-looking as my iMac's built-in 27" display, but only bigger (which is what I'm hoping for)? Any advice is appreciated.
I don't yet know many of the specifics of the 30" Cinema display I'm considering. I know it is about 3 years old. And here is a picture of the back of it:

Yes, you should be able use the 30" Cinema Display with your new iMac without problems. You'll need a mini-DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A/mini-displayport-to-dual-link-dvi-ada pter
I haven't had the 30" myself to test so I don't know if there any caveats. Perhaps someone else here will have personal experience.
Regards.

Can I use more than 1 backup drive with Time machine?

I wanted to run this proposed setup by this board, before I ordered HDs:
For my Mac which is located at the office:
I want to use 2 internal 500GB HDs.
Drive 1: System Disk & main File storage
Drive 2: Primary Time Machine Backup Volume. Backing up Daily.
I would also like to have an external HD, that I can keep at home, but bring into the office, say once a month to have an additional backup that I can take home with me in case of a catastrophic event such as if the office would burn down. Sort of a backup of the backup, just in case.
Can Time machine switch back and forth between 2 backup drives, or will I have to do manual backup to the external drive. It would be nice to have Time machine do it, since it will only be copying modified files.

I believe TM can do it. you'll have to go to system preferences and click on "change TM drive" every time you switch. However, I would recommend a different type of backup for your less frequent backups. use CCCloner or Superduper! to make a bootable clone of your system once a month. I'm not sure about CCCloner but superduper can do it by updating only the files that have been changed so it shouldn't take too long.

Can I use an old Windows hard drive with Boot Camp?

I have an old windows desktop that has FL Studio files I want to transfer to Logic Pro. I'm working on a Mac Pro with 4 hard drive bays and only 3 hard drives.
I understand that Boot Camp lets you boot Wndows, but can I install Boot Camp without erasing the hard drive? I just want to be able to plug my PC drive in, hold the option key, and choose to boot the Windows drive from time to time.
Alternately, could I make a disc image of my PC hard drive, reformat it to FAT and reattach the disc image?
Thanks,
Jon

You can, but it's illegal. A OEM version is designed to be installed on a new computer, not on a computer with an existing operating system, so you can install Windows from there but you should know that's illegal, so Apple doesn't support it. To do this legally, you have to get a full Windows 7 disc version and use it to install Windows.
If you need the steps to install Windows on the MacBook, read > http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.8.pdf

Can I use an NTFS external hard drive with my mac?

I am running version 10.6.8 and the operating software is Snow Leapord. I want to upgrade to Lion but firstly I want to back-up my files just incase s*** happens. I've bought a used 500gb external hard drive and I understand it's in the NTFS (Windows NT File System) format. Although I am able to view what's on the hard drive as well as use it, for example, open photos, watch movies, I cannot delete anything on it. I could get a mac compatible hard drive but that's going to be at an extra cost! Any help much appreciated.

You can format it for Mac compatibility with Disk Utility. However, you will likely lose your files. Here's the options you have:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003

Can I use an Early 2011 cloned drive into a Late 2011 MBP A1278?

Will be upgrading and selling the early 2011 A1278 MBP 13". Instead of reinstalling everything, I have created a clone of the older drive onto a spare 320GB drive. Can I just pop the clone drive into the new MBP 13" when I get it?

No boot from the old drive that you cloned Lion to connected to the New system by USB. What program are you using to clone?
Then run the cloning software and clone from externalk to the internal. Also if you used Dusk Utility to do the cloning you can boot the new system from the included Recovery HD partition, hold down Command+r keys, and run Disk Utility from there to clone from external to internal.
I wouldn't boot from the SL disc to clone Lion. Use the Recovery HD.
Did that system come with Lion or Snow Leopard? If Snow Leopard you should not include Lion on the drive when selling it. Also you should give the new owner the SL and Applications discs that came with that system (BUT FIRST make a copy or DMG file of both of them).
Apple will not recognize the new owner with Lion installed. It is tied to your Apple ID. It is up to the new owner to update to Lion if he want to use that OS. Yes you just lost $29.

Can I use an Iomega external hard drive with USB 3.0 on my iMac?

I ordered a 1T Iomega hard drive because Time Machine tells me that my Verbatim drive is full. I see that it is USB 3.0. Will it work on my Mac?

Gloria Haebich wrote:
I ordered a 1T Iomega hard drive because Time Machine tells me that my Verbatim drive is full.
How much data is it backing-up? If the current drive can keep enough old backups for you, Time Machine will just delete the oldest ones when it needs room for new ones.

Can one use an Audigy 1 Platinum drive with an Audigy 2 soundca

I'm thinking of upgrading from an Audigy soundcard to an Audigy 2 or greater, but I don't want to lose the functionality of my Audigy Platinum dri've, nor have to buy an Audigy 2 with a Platinum dri've, if I can avoid doing so.
Is it possible to just upgrade my Audigy soundcard to an Audigy 2 card and be able to continue using the same Audigy Platinum dri've with it's I've looked at a picture of the Audigy 2 Platinum dri've, and I can't tell a difference between that one and the Audigy version.

Pulseczar,
Those I/O dri've from Audigy series isn't compatible with Audigy 2 series card.
Jason

Can I use a thunderbolt storage haqrd drive with my late 2009 iMac?

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