External hard drive: Can I use a USB 2.0 drive must it be Firewire?

I'm looking for the best way (most bang for the buck) to go on an external hard drive. I'm on a budget, but am a photographer and need as much storage as possible. I want two hard drives,(one as a back up), 500gb each, but would prefer 1TB each. I found a good price on a 1TB drive but it only had USB 2.0. Last I remember I had to use Firewire but maybe this isn't true. Advice/suggestions?

Only if user manual allows so.
I don't know about Seagate, but LaCie for example has many FW models that use FW power directly from the Mac. They also have an optional power cable with a brick, in case user prefers USB connection.
Some other models won't work without own power, even on FW.

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    I read in another post that the available firewire adapters don't work for external hard drives. So how can I get my music, etc. off my external hard drive and onto my new computer?

    Like the second or third one in this picture?
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/USBtypes2.jpg
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    Here's the deal.  Currently running SL 10.6.8 on a MAC Mini.  Planning for eventual upgrade to ML.  Have a 1TB external hard drive partitioned into two volumes, one volume for Time Machine and one volume for SL which I periodically update using Superduper.  Thus I always have a point-in-time bootable backup on the external hard drive.
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    You may have overloaded the port, following the instructions below it should reset:
    +1. Shut down the computer.+
    +2. Disconnect all devices and all other cables, except the keyboard and mouse cable(s).+
    +3. Disconnect the computer from the power outlet and wait for 3 to 5 minutes.+
    +4. Plug the computer back in and turn it on.+
    +5. Reconnect the device(s) (one at a time if there is more than one) and test. Test with each port if you have more than one.+
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1317?viewlocale=en_US

  • External Hard Diver Fromatting Preventing use with USB Airport Extreme ?

    I am putting together a network with my new MacBook and Airport Extreme and old XP Windows desktop and Seagate USB external hard dive. The drive is not recognized over the network from the Mac, butis available when the USB is plugged directly into the Mac. I called apple support and was told that this is because the Seagate drive is Windows NT formatted which is not recognized by the Airport Extreme, and that I will have to reformat the drive to a DOS or Mac format for this to work. I just want to see if anyone has any other ideas before reformating. Thanks.

    If you ever plan to read the drive directly plugged into the PC, you'll need to format it FAT/FAT32. If you ever plan to use it for Time Machine it needs to be formatted HFS+. You can re-format later (data removed) if you wish.

  • Installing  10.4.11 on  External Hard Drive  Needs to be Firewire Bootable

    I have a PB G4 1.67 ghz. 2 Gigs of Ram 100 Gig HD The main hard drive failed, the first hard drive to fail on me in 24 years. In the worst place at the worst time away from all my support, tools and software. It goes to Apple Care.
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    Ok my thinking on this has changed. To much time and too much trouble. Lets Just set up a new account set up the filters and boxes and get on with life.
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    So what is the recommendation for storing and being able to access in a similar manner large volumes of mail say 60,000 among 100 folders and then will grow.
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    Geoff

  • External Hard drive USB vs firewire

    I purchased a Western Digital external hard drive that has both firewire 800 and USB connections. I initialized the drive using the USB connection so my computer only mounts it when connected with USB. Using Disk Utility, I tried re-initializing but don't know how to switch so it mounts with firewire 800. How can I change this drive to mount connected with firewire?

    The connection used to format the drive should have no impact on using another type of connector. I suspect that the chip for the firewire connector is bad. I suggest you send it back to WD for repair.
    Allan

  • How do I use a seagate external hard drive with airport extreme?

    I have a 1tb Seagate external hard drive and I connected it to the USB port at the back of my Airport Extreme. I opened Airport Utility and am now lost. How do I access the hard drive?
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    The external hard drive must be formatted either in Apple's HFS+ or in Microsofts FAT32 in order for it to be recognized. You can format the drive by connecting it to your Mac and bringing up "Disk Utility".

  • Can anyone boot Leopard from an external hard drive on  an iMacPPC?

    Can anyone boot Leopard from an external hard drive on a G5 iMac PowerPC? How?

    Allan's answer is irrelevant as he refers to Snow Leopard. He must have isread your post!
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  • Any word on a firewire to thunderbolt cable?  Got a new MacBook Pro and can't do any work on it til I can get to my data that's stored on my firewire-accessible external hard drive!

    Any word on a firewire to thunderbolt cable?  Got a new MacBook Pro and no way to access my data because my data is stored on an external hard drive accessible only by firewire! 

    This is really starting to be annoying.  Apple said this adapter would be available in July. 
    Of course we could always buy the Thunderbolt Display.  For $999.  Complete with USB 2 ports.  That's not why we bought your MBP-Retina, Guys.  We expected connectivity -- high speed connectivity -- as you promised.
    I also had an Apple store rep tell me that the adapter would be availble in September.  Hate to say it but it feels like Apple is resorting to selling vaporware.  It's a page out of the Bill Gates play book.

  • External Hard Drive assistance?

    Hard drives is a vicious arena. Everybody makes the best and they all are trash at the same time.
    I am an average user and looking to upgrade by external hard drive. I want Firewire 800  and want a small compact 2nd drive with USB2.0 bus - that I can use to transfer iTunes/iPhoto to an older Mac Mini in a different part of the house.
    Been looking at G-Drive, LaCie and perhaps Seagate and OWC. I have seen so much good and bad that I have become thoroughly confused and would welcome any and all comments and/or suggestions. Having trouble deciding - have been told to make sure it has encription software for security, but just not sure anymore.
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    I usually roll my own. Six or eight Phillips screws and your finished. These are the three I currently have. The last is four years old:
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    w/Seagate 2TB ST32000542AS Barracuda® Green SATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive
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  • How do I remount a 'lost' external hard-drive?

    Apologies if the answer to this problem is straightforward - it's just that I've not experienced it before. I've just checked 'Software Update' on my G5 iMac and downloaded the latest security update not realising that a Lacie 500 Gb external hard-drive was connected via firewire and switched on.
    When I restarted the iMac, the external hard-drive wouldn't mount. I've tried shutting everything down and powering up and it still won't mount. I've tried searching for files I know are contained on the drive, but am unable to find anything. So I tried attaching it to my Intel MacBook but it won't mount here either. My portable Lacie drive (also a firewire connection) mounts fine on both iMac and MacBook, so I know it's nothing to do with the security update I'd downloaded.
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    Thanks both Miriam and Duane for your replies, but I've found out something that has put everything right. I don't quite understand it but thought I'd post it as a reply to my own question just in case anyone who has suffered something similar looks at this thread for some help.
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  • Connecting an external hard drive

    Hello,
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  • How do I fully import my itunes music from my external hard drive to my new HP computer so that I don't need the external HD attached to listen to my music? It won't promt me to fully import songs when I import the folder from the EHD.

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    I have a 2010 Macbook Pro 13.3.  I am trying to daisy chain my 2 external hard drive enclosures to my firewire 800 port.  The enclosures are manufactured by Vantec, model Nextar 3.  Both devices have 2 firewire 400/800 ports and they advertise that they are able to be daisy chained.
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