Can I use an External Hard Drive for both my Powerbook ad my PC?

I would like to purchase an external hard drive for safety reasons.
Can I store both information of my PC and my Powerbook on the same ext. hard drive? Probably a dumb question but I'd still like to know...
Thanks in advance.
Milli.

Any should do. Buy an external enclosure, purchase a bare drive of your choice, do your own installation. Takes 5 minutes. Save a little money. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
Cool Drives
OWC
WiebeTech
Firewire Direct
California Drives
NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.

Similar Messages

  • How can I use one external hard drive for both Time Machine and iPhoto Library?

    I have been using a 1 TG LaCie external hard drive for Time Machine backups.  My (older) Mac has 160 GB and is almost full.  I would like to move my iPhoto Library to the external hard drive, but I've heard Time Machine doesn't share one space well.  Should I
    1.  create another partition (but will this erase what I've already saved) with Disk Utility?  *I am running Snow Leopard*
    2.  create another volume to use for iPhoto, and if so, should the two volumes be of equal size?
    3.  leave it with one partition and move the iPhoto Library to the same partition with Time Machine back ups?
    I know I don't need the entire 1 TG for back up of 160 GBs.  Please advise the best path to take.  Thank you!

    You are getting incorrect information from your ASP. If you look at drive specifications the heat generated is no different for high vs low capacity drives.
    I have upgraded the internal drive in my iMac 2007 with a 3TB Hitachi drive without any heat issues or other problems.
    Larger hard drives have higher density platters so to access any given amount data the drives travel a shorter distance. Higher capacity drives should therefore run cooler than lower density drives because the drive spends less time spinning to access data.

  • How can I use my external hard drive for my iphoto instead of my mac book pro memory?

    i don't know if this question has been asked before: how can I use my external hard drive for my iphoto instead of my mac book pro memory? just like itunes all my song are save on my external hard drive. make sense?

    Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
    And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
    And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
    LN

  • Can I use an external hard drive for my ipad mini?

    Can I use an external hard drive for my ipad mini?

    There are some wireless external hard drives that can be used with the iPad.
    The Kingston Wi-Drive, which costs $50 for the 16 Gigabyte, and then $30 more for every 16 gigs more. It works by you turning it on and then accessing the files on it from an app that you download on your iDevice. You can access music, movies, and other stuff. No connections or anything, it works like a WiFi connection, you connect to it from the setting on the iPad under wireless networks.
    Then there is the Seagate GoFlex, which some would recommend over the Wi-Drive. But this one costs $199 and had 500 Gigabytes of storage. It works the sameway as the Kingston: no wires, runs over its wireless connection. You can actually fit up to 300 HD movies on it.
    Another option:
    Expand your iPad's storage capacity with HyperDrive
    http://www.macworld.com/article/1153935/hyperdrive.html
    On the road with a camera, an iPad, and a Hyperdrive
    http://www.macworld.com/article/1160231/ipadhyperdrive.html
     Cheers, Tom

  • Can I use my external hard drive for additional storage on my ipad?

    can I use my external hard drive for additional storage on my ipad

    With the Camera Connection Kit you can input data from an external USB device to the iPad, but you cannot write from the iPad to the connected drive.

  • Using an external hard drive for both TM backups

    I would like to use an external hard drive for both TM and as the main hard drive storage for my Macbook which is now approaching being full...how do I do this ??? or should I have 2 separate devices....want to free up space on Macbook

    Now that I've partitioned my I Terabyte external drive to two partitions using the disk utility with one partition for Time Machine and one partition as my new "hard drive"...my internal drive on the MacBook almost filled....I wanted to move...pix, movies, music..etc to the new drive and have all future storage pointed to that drive not the internal drive....need to have space available on the original drive on the MacBook....How do I move existing stored data and point ongoining saved music..files...etc to the new drive...???
    Thank you...Bob

  • Can I use one external hard drive for 3 of my Macs?

    I have a 2007 white MacBook, a 2011 MacBook Pro, and a 2013 MacBook Air.
    I want to be able to transfer all of my precious family photos off of my MacBook and Macbook Pro onto an external hard drive and then wipe those computers clean, and then I want to be able to backup and wipe clean my Macbook Air so that I can update it to Mavericks.
    Can I use one external hard drive to do this for three of my Macs? Will it be compatible with all of them? And will I still be able to use the hard drive with my Air once it is updated to Mavericks?
    Which hard drive do you recommend?

    1. Yes. Note that anything you want to keep should be on at least two drives in case one of them fails.
    2. Yes.
    3. Yes.
    (110959)

  • How can I use an external hard drive to both back up and free up storage on my macbook?

    I've used a hard drive to back up my 2012 Macbook Pro via Time Machine, but I'm not sure how to use it as external storage to move things like video and music off of my Mac to free up memory and then how to move the same things from the hard drive on to other devices like my iPad or iPhone.  For instance, I have a ton of movies and would like to store most of them on an external hard drive so that they aren't taking up all of my memory on my Mac, but want to be able to move them easily back onto my phone or iPad.  Also, can I use the same hard drive to both back up my computer and use it for external storage?  If so, how do I do that?

    Always use two drives for this: one for backup; the other for storage. Don't mix the two uses on one drive. There's a greater risk of data lost without that redundancy.
    If you plan to backup using Time Machine, then be sure the backup drive's capacity is at least twice that of the drive you are backing up.

  • How can I use an external hard drive for capturing? I don't have enough mem

    I'm new at this...I have a Powerbook G4 and not nearly enough memory for capturing a full size video. Is there some way to send it to an external hard drive- for capturing, then burn it in my laptop? Would that external hard drive have to have IDVD loaded on it?

    Hi artdrake
    Just to add to the already good advice posted above.
    Another possible approach which works for me, assuming the ext. FireWire HD is large and fast enough (I recommend at least 120GB and 7200rpm) is to format the the ext. HD as stated above (journaled) and then clone your existing startup volume (using Carbon Copy Cloner) to the ext. Hard Drive. This will circumvent installing a fresh OS as well as all the iLife apps to the ext. device. You will simply make an exact copy of your laptops HD to the ext. volume. It takes me all of 30-40 mins. on my G4 system to do this procedure whereas installing everything from scratch may take several hours.
    Click Here for example/s:
    Once this is completed and assuming the ext. drive is connected securely via Firewire, Restart the computer while holding down the option key. Select the ext. FW HD. Once your G4 laptop is booted to external drive, use it as you would the primary drive. The only difference is that you now have plenty of room to capture to or to burn a DVD. This saves you from consuming much needed HD space on the G4 laptop plus it also serves as a fully operative backup hard drive for your G4.
    Hope this suggestion works as well for you as it does for me. Feel free to post back with additional questions/concerns.
    (3) G4 PM's/(3) S-Drives/Sony TRV900/Nikons/6FWHD's/PS7/iLife06/FCPHD/DVDSP/etc. Mac OS X (10.4.8) My ichatav AIM account is: SDMacuser1 (Please use Text chat prior to video)

  • How can I use my external hard drive for storage?

    I just bought a new external hard drive, the My Book Premium Edition II. I have totally spent all of the memory on my hard drive and want to transfer my music to my new hard drive and use it as my iTunes directory, but everytime I try to move my music files, it tells me I cannot because the drive cannot be formatted. On the box it says Mac OSX compatible but when I open up the Get Info it says, Format: Windows NT Filesystem. It is 1Tb. How can I get this to work????? Help please.

    jbsilliman
    That's because Macs can read from NT FS drives, but can't write to them. Microsoft have maintained NTFS as a closed system. To use the drive you'll need to reformat it to something the Mac can read and write to.
    Regards
    TD

  • Can't use my external hard drive for the time machine

    I have a mac mini and i'm having a time trying to back data using the time machine to my external hard drive

    you need to format the external drive. To do that (if haven't got anything important on that external hard drive at the moment) select finder > Go menue > then utilities > open disk utility > then select you external hard drive and partition it to the size you want and format it the Mac os extened journaled.
    Once you have done the above, re open time machine from system preferences and brows the disk. Time Machine will then re format it to its own format and start backing up.....

  • How can I use my external hard drive on both pc and mac, but also being able to use it to back up my mac data?

    I want to be able to transfer some of my files from my laptop to my macbook, but not all of them. I have a NTFS external hard drive and I have heard about reformatting it so that it can read/write across both systems, but can I still use this hard drive to back up the data on my macbook? If I can, how should I go about reformatting the hard drive?

    FORMAT TYPES
    FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
    Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    Maximum file size: 4GB.
    Maximum volume size: 2TB
    You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
    NTFS (Windows NT File System)
    Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
    Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
    AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
    Maximum file size: 16 TB
    Maximum volume size: 256TB
    You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
    HFS+ ((((MAC FORMAT)))) (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
    Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
    Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
    To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
    Maximum file size: 8EiB
    Maximum volume size: 8EiB
    You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
    EXFAT (FAT64)
    Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
    Not all Windows versions support exFAT. 
    exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
    AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
    Maximum file size: 16 EiB
    Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
    You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive.  See "disadvantages" for details.

  • I would like to know if you have to back up a macbook hard drive, can I use a external hard drive that has been previously used to back up several pc 's, or is it best to have a separate external drive for the Mac?

    I would like to know if you have to back up a macbook hard drive, can I use a external hard drive that has been previously used to back up several pc 's, or is it best to have a separate external drive for the Mac?

    In the Mac side of things, backups usually come in two flavors: clones or incrementals.
    A bootable clone is a bit-for-bit copy of all essential files in the startup volume. If using the Lions, clones can be made using CarbonCopyCloner or just plain old Disk Utility. These backups represent the safest protection of your info, but take the longest to do. Recovery is an inverse process: you copy the clone back into the internal drive.
    Incremental backups start with a complete backup of the startup volume and only copy whatever changed from the previous run. OS X includes the fully integrated Time Machine backup utility to do this. It is extremely easy to do and takes the least amount of time. Recovery is another matter altogether since you have to start with a freshly installed instance of the OS and have to apply all intervening backups to bring the result to the latest saved version.
    As for where the backup takes place, the recommended media is an external dedicated drive or drives connected via the fastest interface available on your Mac: Thunderbolt, USB3, Firewire, or USB2. Network-based backups, wired or wireless, are attractive but may not offer the same performance and hence take longer. Also important to note that the entire drive need not be completely dedicated to a single backup. The Mac's EFI firmware infrastructure allows for an unlimited number of partitions on a hard drive and each can be used for either type of backups.
    Holler if you need specifics on how to do each. This was just an executive summary.

  • I use an external hard drive for my Lightroom library and I notice that all the images shown on there are DNG. On my MAC hard drive I have images shown as NEF. I desperately need to free up space on my hard drive, can I safely delete these NEFs?

    I use an external hard drive for my Lightroom library and I notice that all the images shown on there are DNG. On my MAC hard drive I have images shown as NEF. I desperately need to free up space on my hard drive, can I safely delete these NEFs?

    dj_paige wrote:
    however, I do point out that obtaining an additional hard drive and not throwing anything away seems a preferable solution to me.
    heidie22, dj_paige has a very good point there. I would not through away the NEF files; I would archive them to a external drive.
    By the way, I am assuming that converting RAW files to DNG is a decision you have made and not an accident.

  • Can I use an External hard drive and my computers hard drive for apple tv

    Can I use an External hard drive and my computers hard drive for apple tv

    If you mean to hold iTunes content to stream then the answer is yes.  Your iTunes library  folder and the media usually live in the same location, but media can be in a different or several different locations.  The external drive wuld have to e connected and powered to stream media to AppleTV.

Maybe you are looking for

  • Call log tab jabber client numbers listed as other

    Question about the call log for j4w All our users have 3 numbers in their Active Directory user object work number home number mobile number when user A calls from any of these 3 numbers user B can see the users name displayed with either work, mobil

  • About the performance of using shared variables

    Hi  My system has almost 200 I/O points,I want to the host communicates with PLC using OPC(I had create a OPC I/O Server). If I use shared variables bind to OPC data items, there must be almost 200 shared variables. And my puzzle is that what's the p

  • Updating to 10.5.1

    Hi, I upgraded to Leopard about 2 months ago now, and Software Update tells me there is an update to Leopard 10.5.1, and that it requires a restart. I download the update, and it appears blue screen with the dialogue box in them middle that shows the

  • Color shift printing from Lightroom 1.3

    Windows Vista, HP officejet Pro L7580 printer, Lightroom 1.3, Photoshop CS3. All that being said and having used Photoshop since ver 5 with a variety of printers I find myself stumped with my latest soup of hardware and software. Screen colors do not

  • Open PDF files with adobe acrobat

    Greetings, I need to open my PDF files in Adobe Acrobat NOT in Preview. How do I set my full version of Adobe Acrobat Pro X for Mac to open all PDF files by clicking on the icon without having to choose adobe acrobat to open each time? Thank you; the