Can you use an external hard drive (G-Tech 1 TB) as both a time machine and for storing extra files?

I just got a new external hard drive and will be getting my macbook pro next week. I was wondering if the external hard drive could be used as both a time machine and to have extra files on it? And if so how would you do that?

Time Machine requires a drive that is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled), so you will need to check to make sure that this requirement is met.
A drive that the manufacturer says will work with both Mac and Windows will not work with Time Machine.

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Can you use a external hard drive to keep all your iTunes info on it

Can you use a external hard drive to keep all your iTunes info on it

Yes.
The easiest way is to copy the whole iTunes folder out to the external drive, then press and hold down shift as you click the icon to start iTunes. Keep holding shift until asked to "Create or choose a library". Choose the library on the external drive.
tt2

HT1766 Can you use an external hard drive to back up my movies in iTunes but still be able to access them or is there a device so I don't have to use a pc ??

Can you use an external hard drive to back up my movies in iTunes but still be able to access them or is there a device so I don't have to use a pc ??

You can store them on a separate hard drive, you don't need to keep them on your laptop's hard drive. On your computer's iTunes on the Advanced tab in Edit > Preferences there is a 'copy files to iTunes media file when adding to library' tickbox - if you untick that, you should be able to copy the films to a separate drive and add them back to your iTunes library (File > Add To Library) and it should then point to them on that separate drive and not copy them to your hard drive. When you are happy that it is what is happening and that they are safely on your external drive you can delete the films from your laptop's hard drive.
If you plug the external drive into a different USB port next time (assuming that your laptop has more than one) then it might get a different drive letter, so you might need to always use it with the same port.

Can you use an external hard drive on ipad 2

i'm going away in a few weeks and have a 14 hour trip and need to know if i can use an external hard drive with films on it on my ipad 2 if not does anyone know a cheep ish way to power my macbook for that long
cheers guys

I tried that earlier this month: https://discussions.apple.com/message/15867558#15867558
The camera connection kit only copies content into the Photos app and not into the Videos app, and I could copy a personal video (MP4) via the kit and play it in Photos there, but a film that I'd bought from iTunes (M4V) would copy into Photos but wouldn't play.
Also Photos expects content from the kit to be in a particular format : DCIM directory off the root of the card, with the photos/videos underneath it with filenames exactly 8 characters long (no spaces) plus their file extension i.e. in the same format as if a digital camera had written them to the card.

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.

Can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine

can you unplug the external hard drive you are using for time machine and then plug it back in and it work normals because i have a mac book and don't want to always be carrieing the external hard drive every where i go so can you ?

Yes, that will work fine. It will back up normally once you plug it in again. I do this with my MacBook.

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 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

Hello, I have two questions on time capsule I can only have it on my external hd files and free up my internal memory to my mac I can use an external hard drive, in my case a lacie rugged as shared memory for my two computers

Hello, I have two questions on time capsule I can only have it on my external hd files and free up my internal memory to my mac I can use an external hard drive, in my case a lacie rugged as shared memory for my two computers

I have a mackbook pro and an iMac if I buy a time capsule 2tb airport, I can use it with time machine and what would be the best way to use it.
There is no particular setup required for TM.. both computers will create their own backup sparsebundle which is like a virtual disk.. Pondini explains the whole thing if you read the reference I gave you.
and how to use time capsule airport whit other external hd to use my old lacie airport with the new time capsule
Up to you.. you can plug the external drive into the TC and enjoy really slow file transfers or you can plug it into your computer and use it as external drive.. which is faster than the TC.. and TM can include it in the backup.
Again everything is explained in the reference.. you are not reading it.

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.

Can I use an external hard drive with my ipad 2

can I use an external hard drive with my ipad 2

There are WiFi enabled portable hard drives available that can stream media, such as music or video, to your iPad, but no external hard drive in the sense of how you would use one with a computer.

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.

I have 1 gb of memory with10.6.8 and want to upgrade my OS can i use an external hard drive to solve this

I am running 10.6.8 and have 1gb of memory and want to upgrade can i use an external hard drive to solve this problem

You are confusing RAM (Ramdom Access Memory) with hard drive storage space.
You need to install more RAM, not an additonal hard drive.
You can purchase an external hard drive, if you like, if you want to install the new OS X upgrade onto an external drive. If you want to run the new OS X Mavericks from the external drive, depending on your Mac model, you need a fast protocol external hard drive.
Either a USB 3.0, Thunderbolt or FireWire 800 connected external hard drive.
To start, if you are running your Mac on 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, this is the barest of RAM to run Snow Leopard.
Without knowing any of your Macs specs, you realistically should be running your current OS with, at least 4 GBs of RAM.
Newer versions of OS X need, at least, 4 GBs of RAM or more as these newer OS X versions use more Mac computer resources than earlier OS X versions.
What year, screen size, CPU speed and amount of RAM installed in your Mac?
Be aware, if your Mac is running any older software that used to run under older PowerPC model Macs, those software apps will no longer will work under newer versions of OS X.
The emulation software that allows older PowerPC apps to run under OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, called, Rosetta, no longer exists in newer versions of OS X and is long dead.
Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
Good Luck!

Can I use an external hard drive to download and store my iTunes library?

Can I use an external hard drive to download and store my iTunes library?

Yes - in most cases you can just copy your entire library (by default C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes) to your external drive, with the result being a iTunes folder in the root of that drive with a structure like this:
Then hold down SHIFT when you start iTunes, and when you see this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the iTunes folder on your external drive, and click Open. See turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable for more information, including steps you may need to take to align your library structure before moving it to an external drive - this applies if you currently have some/all of the media in your library stored outside the standard iTunes Media folders.

Can you use an external hard drive (G-Tech 1 TB) as both a time machine and for storing extra files?

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