Can one network hard drive back up both a Mac and a PC? What file system?

We have both a Mac and a PC on our home network. I would like to use a network external drive to back them both up, instead of connecting each to its own external drive for backups. Iomega makes one, for example.
The external drives I see advertised say that they are both Mac and PC compatible, but don't explicitly say that you can connect both at the same time. Can you?
If so, what file system does the network drive use? Does it have a partition, one side with HFS for Mac and the other with NTFS for Windows? Is this really workable?
And most importantly, will such a network drive work with TM?
Confused,
Barb

I have a late 08 MackBook Pro and several Vista & XP machines. I currently backup the MBP and the primary Vista machine to a 1 TB drive attached via USB to an Airport Extreme router. No problems backing both up through the APE to the USB drive.
The one thing I read when getting ready to set this up is that I should format the drive with the Apple file system, not one of the Microsoft file systems. I did (did it as an external drive off the MBP), and had no subsequent problems with Time Machine backups or Vista backups (using Acronis True Image).

Similar Messages

When I reboot my mac it automatically launches disk utilities. i have run the utility. all clear. but each time i reboot i get the disk utility. how do i override so i can have my hard drive back?

When I reboot my mac it automatically launches disk utilities. i have run the utility. all clear. but each time i reboot i get the disk utility. how do i override so i can have my hard drive back?

What OSX version is it?
Does holding alt key at bootup show any boot choices?
Does holding Shift key at bootup to boot in Safe mode do the same thing?

How do I restore data from an external hard drive back to a restored mac?

how do I restore data from an external hard drive back to a restored mac?

Hello, Esmin77.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
I see you want to restore your MacBook Pro from an external drive. Here is an article that may help you with this process if you used Time Machine to backup these files.
OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system
Cheers,
Jason H.

I Mini with an i7 processor. I would like to use Boot Camp to install windows based CAD software on my MAC. Would it be better to use a plugin external hard drive to load my software on and if so what hard drive would you recommend?

I Mini with an i7 processor. I would like to use Boot Camp to install windows based CAD software on my MAC. Would it be better to use a plugin external hard drive to load my software on and if so what hard drive would you recommend?

Thank you for your quick response. I can then use a ZIP drive for data storage. I want to keep as much of my hard drive free of data as possible.

Is it possible to have two hard drives connected to my airport extreme and use one to store my itunes library/iphoto and the other to backup via time machine? Will the second (larger) drive back-up both my mac HD and my other external airport drive?

For the past year I've been using an external hard drive (HD1) connected to my airport extreme as the back-up location for time machine. This has worked fine without any issues. What I would like to do now is to move my itunes and iphoto libraries off of my laptop (space constraints) and store them on a second external hard drive (HD2) connected to the airport extreme. I have successfully connected the second hard drive using a Belkin powered USB hub. What I am wondering is if I direct my time machine back-ups to HD1 will it back-up both my mac HD as well as HD2? I apologize if this has already been answered but i've read conflicting responses on various message boards and a number of responses were dated so I wanted to make sure I received the latest information.
thank you

kosty wrote:
For the past year I've been using an external hard drive (HD1) connected to my airport extreme as the back-up location for time machine. This has worked fine without any issues.
That may be true, but you need to know that backing-up that way is unreliable and not supported by Apple. See: Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk. Do not be surprised if those backups suddenly turn up corrupted.
What I am wondering is if I direct my time machine back-ups to HD1 will it back-up both my mac HD as well as HD2?
No. Time Machine cannot back up from any network location. The 3rd-party utilities CarbonCopyCloner and ChronoSync may be workable alternatives.

If i back up my mac using Time Machine and an external hard-drive, can that same hard-drive be used on another computer and on a PC?

Hi!
I hav just got a macbook pro and am used to using a HP pc and am a newbie! I have backed up my macbook with my elements external hardrive and was wondering if i can transfer the music i have purchased and is now on my external hard-drive back onto my other laptop purely because i use both laptops for different things and want to use my music on both. how do i do this? and do i need a particular software to do so?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated
thanks
alex xxx

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
You can do it, but it's not recommended to use a Time Machine volume to store other files. In this case, you can create a second volume on the external drive, so you will be able to use it to store data and transfer it to other PCs.
As you are going to use the external drive with other PCs, you can make the volume and format it in "MS-DOS (FAT)" with Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html Finally, you will be able to copy files to the external drive.
If you copy files to a Time Machine disk, you may damage the Time Machine file structure, so you shouldn't do it. It may not happen, but it's better not to try that. Also, you won't be able to read the Time Machine drive in a PC

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)

CAN'T GET HARD DRIVE BACK ON LINE!

I made the mistake of opening up a FCP4 file without the SCSI drive that contained the media and when it went looking for the hard drive it couldn't find it. So I shut down and rebooted with the hard drive on. NOW whenever I try to open the file it's says "access to that drive has been denied or failed." The drive clearly is NOT off line as far as the computer is concerned (appears in the desktop and functions fine). I can't get through "Check again" or "reset scratch disk" to open my blasted file. Any suggestions? Am I screwed? This seems ridiculous.

I can't even get FPC to open because it wants to open the last project by default. Even when trying to open it through the desk top it's still looking for my hard drive and won't let me get by the "quit" "check again" or "reset scratch disks" screen.
I can't believe simply not having the hard drive on would cause such a MAJOR problem. Still trying you're other suggestions.

Formatting a lacie hard drive to work on a Mac and Pc

I'm trying to get a lacie hard drive to run with both a Mac and PC. I'm formatting the drive using FAT32 on the PC but it's limiting me to 32Gb partitions. I do have another Maxtor drive with a 111Gb Fat32 partition and the Mac allows me to read and write to it, so I know it's possible. Any ideas how to format the drive with just one large partition. Thanks
G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Hi MC,
Connect the hard drive to your Mac and format it as MS-DOS. It will work with both Mac and Windows.
Jrsy

HT1386 I have had to have a new hard drive fitted to my Apple Mac and now I can't sync my music with my iPhone, it thinks it's a new computer. Please help, What do I do?

I have had to have a new hard drive fitted and now I cannot sync my Iphone with my Apple Mac, thinks it's a new computer. Any ideas Please?
Alan C

I keep this as a copy and paste. It's the same process for Mac as it is for a PC. Read it over and see what you think. Post back if you have questions.
The following was copied from this thread. This is essentially what you want to accomplish.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/11527071#11527071
1) Without connecting your iPad to your laptop, start iTunes. Click on Preferences. Click on Devices. Check the box next to "Prevent your iPod etc. from automatically syncing." Click OK.
2) Now connect your iPad to your Mac and start iTunes.
3) When iTunes starts, right click on your iPad under Devices in the left column. Select Transfer purchases etc.
4) After it finishes transferring all your apps to your new laptop, right click on your iPad and select Backup your iPad.
5) After it finishes backing up your iPad, right click on your iPad and select Restore etc.
6) After it finishes restoring, left click on your iPad , then click on the Apps tab on top, and check the box next to Sync Apps, then click on Apply below.
If everything on your iPad looks good after the sync, go back and click on iTunes / Preferences / Devices and UN-check the box next to Prevent your iPod etc. The only other thing you may want to check is if your contacts, bookmarks, etc. are syncing correctly now. If not, go to the Info tab after connecting and make sure you indicate which features you want to sync with what sources.
Read this thread and the support links as well. There are apps that you can purchase that will allow you to transfer photos from the iPad to your PC. Look at Photo Transfer App in the App store and you can search for others as well.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/13016026#13016026
This support site will help you with transferring iTunes music to your new computer.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527

I can't get my new samsung hard drive to work with my mac and tv

I bought my first ever hard drive today. It is a Smasung M3 Portable 1.5 TB.
At first I plugged it in and it wouldn't let me drag anything from finder over to the hard drive. I did some research (googling) and followed the steps to change the format to 'Mac OS extended (Journaled)' which allowed me start dragging files across.
I then put a movie on the hard drive, waited for it to copy then plugged it into my TV (hoping to sit back and watch said movie). However the TV would not let me even open the hard drive.
I did some more "research" and read that if I changed the format to 'MS-DOS FAT' it would let me use the hard drive on Mac and PC. I tried that but still had the same trouble of the hard drive not working on the TV.
Basically, I want to use the hard drive as storage/ back up for my files BUT ALSO to put all of my movies on it and plug it into my TV.
Can someone please help me.
PS- I am not very tech savvy. I won't be able to do anything too technical.
Thanks you in advance (:

maybe this link will help http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/play-media-files-mac-formatted-external-hard-dr ive-hdtv/ unfortunately its for file up to 4 GB size, otherwise try to connect your mac directly to your Tv or I suggest contacting SAMSUNG about this issue, maybe the have assigned softwares for this formatting issues like in western digital for example.

Can I swap hard drives from a 13.3" MBP and a 15" MBP?

Hello,
I have a 13.3" MacBook Pro with a 500Gb HD in it. Tomorrow I'm upgrading to a 15" MacBook Pro. Can I just swap the HD's round? If I can't do that, whats the best way of moving the data?
Thanks
Mark

If the drives both have the same version of OS on them (ie, both are 10.6.2 for example) then I doubt you will have problems (though in some cases where different "builds" of the same OS version occur, difficulties can arise) . If the drive from the old computer has a newer version of the OS installed than the new computer (quite common to find if you update your OS software whenever new releases come out) then it will probably work without problems.
If the drive you are trying to install has an older version of the OS on it, though, it probably will not work at all, and, if it does, you are likely to have other problems along the way.
Other quirks can occur when doing this, however. You may find that you run into networking issues, for example, because after the swap, depending on how you have gone about dealing with account info etc., both your old and new Macs may have the same "network identity" for some purposes.
With two current model computers like yours simply using Migration assistant, with the computers connected either by a firewire cable or an ethernet cable, should probably work fine as an alternative.
Cheers
Rod

HT1296 when syncing I have changed the contacts on my pc and then used the advance setting to replace on my phone and all the ones I changed come back to both the pc and the phone. any help

I have just installed ms outlook 2010 and am trying to sync my contacts and calendars and it is not working. I have delited the contacts on my pc that I wish to change and then went to the advance tab and said replace the contacts on my i phone and it does not it brings back all the ones i just deleted. I even deleted on both the phone and the pc and magically they all re appeared. Help!!!
Also i cannot get my calendar to import or sync to my phone at all. it does not show up in the sync cycle so it can bring it in, but it is in my outlook

Hi there,
You may find the troubleshooting steps in the article below helpful.
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Troubleshooting contact and calendar syncing via USB on Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1692
-Griff W.

Can an external hard drive be used for two Mac compters each using for Time Machine or must I have two hard drives?

I'm upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard and need to provide system back-up. Are there any especially good drives?

I like, and use, external hard drives that OWC sells, as many of them use Oxford chipsets, which work well with macs.
Also, the BackPack is handy to use with an iMac to get a drive off the desktop.

Best external hard drive format for use with mac and windows?

This is more of an apple operating system combined with windows operating system question, but being that my OS will upgrade an fluctuate there is not option to choose in the operating system section.
Anyways to the question(s)
This whole prbolem came about when my computer started having issues, I want to back it up and whether I can continue to use my laptop or not I will still be owning an apple in the future. I went to buy a hard for back up and got told that it is not as easy as one would think to transfer files from mac OS to windows OS and vice versa. I have a mac, my boyfriend has a windows computer; we share files. Mostly I just copy his files, but once in a while I give him files too. I have read up and talked to people and only found one solution so far to format the external drive to fat 32 or exfat. I think only mac has the exfat option, but works well between both OSs, correct me if I am wrong.
What is the difference between fat 32 and exfat?
A user posted some good info about formatting. More specifically .Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3044
If I do not want to use fat32 or exfat is there a format type that works great for mac saving that I can still at least save files to that were originally on a windows computer? Such as I copy his files from his external drive to my computer and then save them to my external drive.
Is there a better format for file sharing between mac and windows that does not set a 4GB limit?
And a silly question, Can you dual format a hard drive?
Note: This format is for an external hard drive.

I still do not know which format would be the best. That is so that I can use it easily between mac OSX and windows. Is FAT32 the only true option? How limited is it? I heard it is limited to 4GB file size for windows and 32 GB for Mac. Are there other sources I have not found with more concrete information on the limitations of this format?
I really do still need this information and I need to back up my drive before I can take the computer in for service.

Can one network hard drive back up both a Mac and a PC? What file system?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for