External Hard Drive Partitioning Options

I recently purchased a new external portable hard drive for my mac. It is the WD My Passport Ultra 2 TB version. I looked up online how to reformat it for Mac's and read through the instructions. Essentially, when reaching the part about partioning the disk within the Disk Utility app I want to select the Mac OS Extended option. However, it is not there. Along with a few other options that I don't want to use, it shows Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and Mac OS Extended (Journaled; case sensitive). I understand that journaled offers more protection, but it is noted by a lot of the community that for photos and videos (and other media) the regular Mac OS Extended is much better (and that is what my use will be for). Do you know where this option has gone and what I can do to get it back?
Thanks, please let me know, any help is appreciated!

1. Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) unless you have a reason to choose a different format.
2. Yes.
(38764)

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Help needed. I have a 3TB external hard drive partitioned into 1TB's. I used one partition as backup for the main computer hard drive. But now it is greyed out as shown in the disk utility and its name changed, i dont know how that happened, i tried verif

Help needed. I have a 3TB external hard drive partitioned into 1TB's. I used one partition as backup for the main computer hard drive. But now it is greyed out as shown in the disk utility and its name changed, i dont know how that happened, i tried verifying and repairing it but had no luck. I also tried mounting and unmounting it but still no solution. Anyone to help please?

Looks bad. I would strongly advise backing up the stuff on the other two partitions as soon as possible in case the rest of the drive goes wrong.
Beyond that, Disk Utility has limited abilities to repair disks, DiskWarrior uses a different approach and might, emphasis might be more successful. It has certainly done the job for me in the past when Disk Utility could not.
See http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/

I have a Seagate 2TB external hard drive partitioned with one partition of Snow Leopard (my computer is running Lion). Can't seem to reboot using the option key. Any ideas as to what's wrong?

I have a Seagate 2TB external hard drive with 3 partitions, one for Snow Leopard - my computer has Lion. I cannot seem to boot from this hard drive but I could yesterday. Any ideas?

Didnt help. The night I asked this question I was able to reboot from the external hard drive after running Disk repair (which said everything was fine). Tonight I have tried again and cannot boot from the external. So I tried the Safe Mode restart and then chose restart with the option key held down as well as shutting down and trying holding down the option key while turning on the power. I have never been able to reboot just choosing restart and holding down the option key. Whenever the reboot from the external has worked I've had to shut down and hold the option key while turning the power on. Now that is not working. My computer is brand new as is the hard drive. I don't know where to go from here.
I can access the drive just fine while I'm in Lion. I just can't boot up using it. Help!

Time Machine Back Up for External Hard Drive Partition

Hey guys,
I have had my imac connected to an external hard drive which runs time machine for some time now (about a year and a half).
I now wish to partition the external hard drive with a Fat 32 section so that I can load data (vidoe's, music etc.) from my windows laptop onto it.
The external hard drive is currently not partitioned in anyway so I will have to create a new partition. Is there anyway of doing this without losing the time machine data already saved?
If not is there anyway of saving the time machine data onto the imac so that when the partition process is complete it can simply be 're-loaded' onto the external hard drive?
Thanks for your help!
Philippe

Hi, I've been trying to do that: using Disk Utility to create a partition on my EHD that already has Time Machine running on it. My EHD is 2TB and I have deleted last year's TM backups so now I have over 900GB available space on the EHD (previously was 750GB) but when I ran the Partition, after hours of processing ("modifying partition map...") - and I mean like 12 hours no kidding, it resulted in "There is no more space" error! What a waste of time!
Is there any way to find out how much space is needed for partitioning beforehand? I wished DU could tell me that before the "modifying partition map" process begun.
FYI I am running on 10.5.8 and the partition I want to add is to be in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, the same with the current format.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

External Hard Drive Partition, Erased Files. HELPPPP!

Something went wrong and has now "erased" all my files on my external hard drive (used for backing up with TM), after adding a partition second partition. I did not install anything onto the newly created partition as my focus was then distracted by the fact that all my data had now been erased.
This should not have happened as I followed every step carefully and thoroughly from this link: http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU3.html
I wanted to boot Snow Leopard from my external hard drive. So I used Disk Utility to add a partition on my external hard drive (clicking the + sign). The drive had around 264 GB (shaded in blue), with approximately 34GB free. So I type the newly desired partition of 8GB. Disk Utility was saying explicitly that "this partition will not be erased", referring to the original partition of 264GB that will become approximately 272GB, the one that contains all my files. I say to myself, okay, that is safe as it is telling me my files will not be erased.
With the partitions split and my original data of 264GB still shaded in blue, I click apply.
A box prompts me to confirm partition, reading:
"Partitioning this disk will change some of the partitions. No partitions will be erased"
This partition will be added:
"Snow Leopard HD"
This Partition will be resized:
"My Passport"
So obviously I confirm and click Partition...
It took about 30 seconds or under to partition and then I noticed my original partition was no longer shaded in blue but was completely empty
I open my external hard drive in Finder and none of my files are visible.
I open Time Machine and it is not displaying any of my back ups and will no longer back up. Its says Latest Backup: Failed i
So I click on the i button and it says:
Time Machine Error
The backup volume could not be found.
At this point I am panicking! I followed every step correctly and it clearly stated no files would be erased.
What has happened here? and how can I retrieve my lost files?
Disk Description : WD My Passport 071A Media
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partion Table.

JOHN YOU ARE A GENIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM USING DISK DRILL RIGHT NOW AND IT IS SCANNING AND LISTINIG ALL MY FILES! EXCUSE THE CAPITALS BUT I AM SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR HELP! AHHH
NEXT STEP IS TO RECOVER IT ONCE SCANNING IS DONE! IT IS LOOKING PROMISING AS I AM LISTENING TO THE MUSIC FOUND ON MY HARD DRIVE WHILE SCANNING IS TAKING PLACE
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

External Hard drive partitioning for Windows

Hi I have a MacBook Pro and I am trying to download Windows via a Seagate 1 TB external Hard Drive. I have already used this external hard drive for backups and have it partitioned as an MSDOS with 500 GB and OSEJ also with 500 GB. When I use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 8 it says I need a single drive as FAT partition. How do I keep the memory on my OSEJ while still installing Windows 8. Thank you!
John

I don't know what OSEF is, but as far as Boot Camp is concerned only two partitions may exist - the original OS X partition and the Windows partition made by Boot Camp.
I don't know what you are downloading to the external drive. If it is the Windows drivers for Windows on Boot Camp then those you can put on an external drive. But the driver disk can only be used after Windows has been installed and running.

External Hard Drive - Best Option

Anyone have any suggestions on the best solution for a 1TB external hard drive? I've been looking at either getting a Lacie Big Disk Extreme+ or buying an Icydock enclusure with a Seagate Barracuda Internal Drive. Both priced out about the same. Any thoughts on which would be better or another suggestion?

Reliability costs extra, because it requires redundancy. There's basically two options in the consumer price range: RAID (a technique requiring expertise and maintenance) or Drobo (a product designed to do what RAID 5 does without so much hassle).
Here's what Apple says about RAID, but it's much more trouble than it sounds:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1013.html
Here's what Apple says about Drobo, with a few reviews:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?s=price HL&fnode=home/shopmac/macaccessories/storage&nplm=TQ277LL/A&mco=A2F7CDA2
Here's Drobo's Time Machine page:
http://www.drobo.com/productstimemachine.aspx
The cheapest way to get a Drobo is with a $50 discount from podcasts like Tekzilla ( http://revision3.com/tekzilla/ ) or GeekBrief ( http://geekbrief.tv/ ). Otherwise, retail price only fluctuates by a few bucks:
http://www.pricewatch.com/brands/tapedrives/datarobotics-1.htm

Need more space! Is external hard drive an option??

New to atv. Bought 40g model. Now going on vacation and need more space for more stuff. Can external hard drive be hooked up via USB and accessed through atv??

Can external hard drive be hooked up via USB and accessed through atv?
Not without voiding the warranty. No publicly available device is officially supported by that USB port.
(39095)

External Hard Drive - Partition or Not?

Ok, I have looked everywhere for the answer and everyone has a different opinion. So, I'd like to get opinions on my situation because the Discussions have always been the most helpful.
I recently had a post about whether I should upgrade my Powerbook's hard drive or just get an external Firewire drive to transport files here and there. In the end, I decided to get a 400GB internal drive (for storage) and bought an enclosure for it, since my hard drives only seem to be shrinking. I got an amazing price so I went for it - the other thing will just have to wait. I decided to keep my iPhoto Library on it, backup of important files (also burned to cds)... you get the point.
Up until now, I have only been backing up my user folder because I was only interested in keeping those files. After visiting the Discussions, I've learned a lot (what can I say, I'm young and I know my way around a computer, but I still have A LOT MORE to learn). Ok, so now I guess it's time to make a bootable copy of my hard drive (at least the Mini, because that's where all of the files are).
To the point... Should I partition my 400GB drive into 2 sections: one for a backup and one for all the other storage? Can I boot from this if my Mini's hard drive fails? Or is it best to leave the 400GB as storage and get an 80GB solely for bootable backup?
The problem is I don't have a lot of money to spend on this. I was looking forward to getting the new 30GB iPod (for music and files), but protecting my files is more important. There are so many options, but they are expensive options (to me, at least). I would be so grateful if anyone has suggestions on the best way to go about this. Thank you!!
12" Powerbook G4, Intel Mac Mini, iPod Nano Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Personally I would choose no. 2 primarily because I like to keep backups separate from regular working drives to minimise risks of mishaps, problems, theft etc.
If something happens to the single 400GB drive you could, potentially, lose both stored data as well as the backup. Ultimately it might cost more to have two drives but when it comes to backups I prefer not to cut too many corners.
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Can't modify external hard drive partition with Disk Utility

Hi,
I have an external 750GB hard drive that I previously formatted as FAT 32 because I wanted to be able to plug it into Windows computers as well. I was not very thoughtful at the beginning and I just created one big 750GB partition. I currently have 450GB used and about 300GB free.
I would like to create a new partition in the free space without losing the data I have in the disk, and format the new partition as Mac OS Extended to use it for Time Machine backups. Presumably Disk Utility can do it, but when I go to the "Partition" tab it says "This partition cannot be modified" and the "+" sign below it is grayed. Can anybody help me repartitioning my drive without losing my data?
Thanks!!!

That would likely be because the drive is partitioned MBR and not GUID. You cannot repartition an MBR partitioned drive on the fly. What you need is a drive that is partitioned using GUID (GPT) with on partition formatted for the Mac and the other formatted FAT32. But to do that you must start the drive from scratch:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the entire partition in the rectangle by clicking on it (the lines will turn darker blue) and click on the [+] Add button. The volume will be divided in two. Select each volume and resize as your require.
5. Select one of the volumes you just created. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Erase button.
6. Repeat Step 5 using MSDOS as the format type.
This will work with any PC that understands the GPT partition scheme which is Vista and Windows 7. Otherwise, you should just leave the drive as it is and forgo using Time Machine or purchase another drive for Time Machine.

How Much External Hard Drive Partition Recommended for Audio Recording?

Hi,
I have a glyph 300 gigabyte drive. Does anyone have thoughts on how to partition it? I was thinking 200 gb for samples, etc and 100gig for recording audio? Is that too much or too little for recording audio? Or should I use all 300 gigs for audio recording. I also want to do video editing in FCP eventually.
Thanks

Okay...There are 3 guys and each has a basket full of marbles. The 1st guy has a basket full of red marbles, the second guy has a basket full of blue marbles, and you have a basket full of red and blue marbles. All three of you have your left hand tied behind your back. You are in competition with the other two guys, you are on your own and they work as a team. Someone starts shouting give me 3 reds and 2 blue marbles. You reach in your basket and grab 3 reds and 2 blues as fast as you can, but the other guys are way ahead of you because there are 2 of them and they each only have to worry about grabbing one color of marble at a time. So you lose the contest badly... that is why you need at least
2 hard drives instead of just one (whether partitioned or not). Buy an external firewire drive. you'll be glad you did.
RealDave

External Hard Drive Partitioned to boot both Intel and PowerPC -and backup

Have been remiss backing up drives, do it sporadically and have had a few close calls and am now trying to upgrade my skills.
I work with 3 computers - 2 intel MBP Core Duo (one Leopard, one Tiger, difference Ghz, screen size, generation) and PowerPC G4-running Tiger. I read recently you can partition a drive and format one as a bootable drive for an intel, the other for a powerPC.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2006061610374449
I'll have to read the instructions a couple more times before I get it. But what do people think - have any of you done it? Problems?
I have a further question or questions: I saw an external drive for the Mac 1000GB at OWC!!! Yikes, there is also one for 1500 GB!!!
I wondered how many partitions I could make - can I create a bootable drive in three separate partitions, and use those as a backup drive for each? Money is an issue, I can't afford a drive for each computer, so this would be the most economical.
Could I create a 4th partition, just to move photos, music libraries without their being computer specific (e.g., check share library?)
Is there any advantage in creating a boot drive that just starts the computer, but keep the backup files separate, or is cloning the drive then doing incremental backups the best so it is both a boot drive and a backup?
This is beyond my skill set and I am still fuzzy about backup software and boot drives and how they all interconnect - so far I have just been saving desktops and font folders to my oh so slow USB EXTERNAL HD (200 MB) periodically, or specific key files. Is there anyone who can walk me through this?
Thanks
Annexit

Partition the drive using Disk Utility, I'd recommend one bootable clone partition per machine, one partition for archiving (data you want to keep but not on a machine), and optionally one partition for a Time Machine backup for the Leopard system. Use the Apple Partition Map (under options in the Partition tab). Note that you'll read that Intel machines require GUID partition scheme, but that's only for installing the OS from a DVD, not relevant for cloning. You'll want APM to boot the PPC machines. Bootable clones can be sized equal to the internal HDDs being backed up, or slightly smaller. Partitions should be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Personally, I have two external drives set up identically, with partitions for bootable clones of a PPC machine with 10.4 and two Intel machines running 10.5, plus an extra partition where I store movie projects. I use SuperDuper to update the bootable clones. I have two drives because I store one offsite (at work). Every few days I bring an updated backup drive to work and the other one home.

External hard drive partition for Time Machine wont mount

I have an external HD that I've partitioned half for Time Machine, and half for external storage. Today the Time Machine partition wouldn't show up on the desktop. I checked Disk Utility and it recognizes both partitions, but the Time Machine partition is greyed out. When I selected it, in the stat list at the bottom it said "Mount Point: Not Mounted." I then clicked on "Mount" at the top, and after a bit a popup told me it couldn't mount and I should attempt to repar the disk. So I clicked "Repair Disk," and after a while, I finally got the message "Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files."
Why is only one partition affected? Can I reformat one petition but leave the other untouched? Are there any other options before I do this?
One other item that is probably related: I've been having an issue with a flash drive that seems to constantly unmount itself, giving me "error, disk ejected improperly" messages. Earlier today I believe I had the same thing with my external HD.

Why is only one partition affected?
The drive malfunction that caused the problem only affected that partition.
Can I reformat one petition but leave the other untouched?
Yes.
Are there any other options before I do this?
This is not an option, it's mandatory: start a new backup on another drive. The one you have has lost data once already. If it were mine, it would be in the recycling bin now. You need more than one backup to be safe anyway. Apparently you have no backups at all of the data on the other partition. That means you're going to lose that data, sooner or later.

Time Machine Partition Corrupted on External Hard drive

I have a external hard drive partitioned into 2 sections, one for storage and the other for time machine back up of my macbook original hard drive. One day the time machine partition stopped being recognized so I tried verifying and it told me it needed to be repaired. Now it says the disk cannot be repaired and to reformat my disk. I do not want to do this because I don't want to lose whats on the other partition and I have no where else to put the data. It won't allow me to just remove the time machine partition, when I try it comes back with "disk cannot be opened". I'm lost here, is there anything that I can do without reformating the whole external hard drive?
Oh and I'm fine with losing whatevers on my time machine back up

Erasing one partition should not affect another one; however, the drive has had at least one major malfunction already, and should be expected to have more. You should immediately back up all data to another drive, including the data on the non-backup partition of the problem drive. Then, and only then, you can try fixing the unmountable partition. If the drive ever malfunctions again, replace it.

HELP!!!!! How do I back up using Western Digital External Hard Drive

I just bought a western digital external hard drive dual option media center and combo external storage. It came with a Dantz Retrospect Express backup software. I can't seem to get it to work. It installs ok, but when I try to open up the software it opens and closes with an error message. What am I doing wrong? How do I back up my files, programs, iTunes and Movies? Is there an easy way to do this? I've ask a lot of people and know can seem to give me a straight answer. PLEASE HELP!!

Hi Marc and welcome!
It is possible that the version of Dantz Retrospect does not work with Tiger. You do not need to use that program. In fact, a lot of people feel it is rather clumsy and feature-crippled to the point that it is not really useful.
Is that drive a combo FireWire and USB drive? IF so, there is a phenominal program called SuperDuper that does much, much more than Retrospect. It will clone your hard drive which means it will make an exact copy of every last bit and byte and then make it bootable so you can actually boot your Mac from your external drive in the event of a hardware or software problem. It costs only $27.95, but it is well worth it and highly recommended.
There are other programs that do what SuperDuper does, but I like SD best. Carbon Copy Cloner, and LaCie's SilverKeeper are the others most often mention, but their support is not as good as SD's. Both required updates to work with Tiger while SD worked from Day 1.
Plug the drive in and open your Mac's Disk Utility and partition it if you want. One it is formatted in HFS it will work fine.

External Hard Drive Partitioning Options

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