External Hard Drive Storage suggestions

Hi
I have an Imac and want to buy some media storage device. I am using it for video editing etc so transfer speed is pretty important. This machine does not have thunderbolt from what I can see. looks like I am stuck with an expensive machine with only USB2.0 and I know nothing about firewire.
is there a external hard drive you can recommend that will give me fast transfer?
some suggestions would be great and thank you very much

If your machine has Firewire 800 that is substantially faster than USB 2. In that case what I'd recommend is OWC Mercury Elite Pro (www.macsales.com), if you are not aware of OWC they specialize in Macs and what they sell is well supported, thoroughly tested and high quality. They are also well thought of in general on these forums.
Other good drives are Lacie and G-Tech, however of the 3 I tend to like the OWC due to their build quality and support.

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External hard drive /storage for use with mini and XP (bootcamp)

Never purchased an external hard drive (storage) before so not sure if this is possible.
Basically I have an intel mini with 60gb hard drive, which I have now allocated 20 to xp via boot camp. I'm quickly using up the 20gb with a few games so I want to purchase an external storage device that will work with both osx and windows - is this possible?
My mini hasnt 'seen' a few USB devices, can anyone recommend one which is compatible with the intel mini?
would any external drive have to be partinioned as well?

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.

I just purchased a macbook air, and because of the limited memory (256 gb) and my HUGE music library, I need aomne form of external storage. i am considering either using iCloud for iTunes, or purchasing an external hard drive. suggestions or opinions?

hi! just purchased a macbook air, and because of the limited storage (256 gb) and my massive music library, I am going to find an alternative storage method. I am debating between an external hard drive and utilizing iCloud. icloud makes me a little nervous....having my entire library in "the cloud" and deleted off of my desktop - do most of you who use icloud for music and photos have a backup on external hard drive anyway? So....iCloud vs. external hard drive for storage. Thoughts? opinions? thanks!

iTunes Match allows you to put 25,000 songs in the Cloud. At present it isn't possible to add more storage but I wouldn be surprised if that isn't an option offered in the future. With iTunes Match you allow Apple to match your songs (purchased from Apple, ripped from your own CDs are purchased elsewhere). When Apple cannot match a song a copy of yours is uploaded.
Once the match process is complete (for my 24,000+ collection it took a couple days) the fun begins. Since my MBA can't hanle all my music, I use iTunes Match to download a small selection of my music every couple of weeks. My music remains in the cloud even when I delete them from my computer and if I have WiFi accesss I can get new songs. It is a great service and much more convenient than keeping your MBA's music on an external drive.

Looking to purchased a external hard drive, any suggestions?????

Hello My name is john...
I got a powerbook G4(500 Mhz) 15-inch screen, 30GB internal hard drive. I`m looking for an external hard drive to store my files( and to add more storage space)I looking for external hard drive like no more than $69.99 dollars....Something else....could anybody tell me the difference in getting a USB 2.0 port & FireWire????
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Passport-External-WDXMS600TN/dp/tech-data/ B000HZD2XK/ref=deasmtd/105-4949246-1849227?ie=UTF8&qid=1181576487&sr=8-6 Could anybody advised me If this is a good external HDD...pelase I would like it..If a lot of people could participate in this forum/discussion....to bring new ideas and suggestions and comments....
Cheers,
John

I know, that when it comes for asking the same questionnaire in all my forums all over again..its get a little bothersome, right???
Yes it does. Once is enough.
Your Tibook only has USB 1.1 ports, not USB 2 ports. You would be insane to buy a USB drive to use with it, unless you also buy a USB 2 adapter card for your CardBus slot. But we've already been all through that with you, in one of the dozen or more threads you've started while spinning your wheels and repeating yourself for the last three weeks.
If you can only find one drive for $69.99, and $69.99 is the most you're willing to spend, then your choice is already made, and you don't need any other recommendations.
There aren't a lot of people reading or responding to questions in the Tibook Discussions any more. If you look through the forums, you'll see that it's fairly unusual for more than three or four different people to post in any given thread lately. The likelihood that you will get a wide variety of responses to any question posted here is pretty small. That's too bad, perhaps, but that's the way it is.

External Hard Drive--Storage Device/Time Machine

I recently purchased an external hard drive compatible with Time Machine. I understand this application serves as a backup system. I am beginning my first year of teaching this fall and also need to keep a few copies of all of my teaching materials. Can I still use the external hard drive as a storage device (more like a flash drive)? How do I go about this and use it for both? Or should I just use it more like a flash drive for the purpose of keeping copies of my teaching material?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Of course. You can use the external drive to make Time Machine backups and to store other data. The only thing you have to do is to create two partitions on the external drive through Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html
After doing this, you will have to use one partition for Time Machine, and another one to store your files. It's important to make Time Machine backups, as they allow you to restore the whole system if the hard drive fails. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

External hard drive storage

I looking for an external firewire hard drive 1 TB for my wife and I to store our music, picture and movies, plus be able to boot up from another drive if my imac crashes. There is so much info out there. I found 3 sites and wanted to know if anyone had any experience with their products or have any suggestions about it or something better.
#!-http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATAFW800_FW400USB
#2-http://oyendigital.com/
#3- http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/external-hard-drive/?cmpid=pp c--branded-_-g-_-us-_-seagate_hard_drive-_-b&SR=sr3_177087389go&gclid=CJD5pKKUoKMCFSEJswod3HI8nw
Austin

totally agree with macjack
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11999122&#11999122
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

I need to upgrade my external hard drive, any suggestions

I have an iMac i5 quad core (2010 model), I have been using a Seagate Barracuda 250 GB 7200 RPM from an older iMac 20" G5 in an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Firewire 400/USB 2.0/1.1 enclosure as my backup external HD. The enclosure has the Oxford 911 chipset and says that it supports up to 750GB.
Since I have been using Snow Leopard only I have used time machine to backup to this HD. Now, that I have installed Lion, and partitioned my HD on my computer to have both Lion and Snow Leopard OS, I need to get a larger external HD to install in my OWC enclosure to save money.
I was looking on the OWC website and found a SeaGate 2.0TB Barracuda Green SATA 6Gb/s 64MB, 5900 RPM for $90.00, or the 7200 RPM for $158.00.
I am not sure if my enclosure with the Oxford 911 chipset will support this drive, and also the specs for my enclosure says up to 750GB, and that probably rules out these drives anyway.
I could just keep what I have and use it as a back up of my Lion partition currently using 134 GB. Snow Leopard using 127 GB on my internal 1TB hard drive. Then, I could purchase the OWC Mercury Elite Pro 2.0 TB Firewire 400/USB 2.0/1.1 with the Oxford 934 chipset, 5900 RPM, and 64 MB for $150.00. Even thought this would be a little slower, is it worth paying $40.00 more for the 7200 RPM speed?
On my hard drive now I am only using 261 GB, so after I first back up both partitions on the 2.0 TB external HD, any other backups would not take as long to do. I have Super Duper, but right now it is not recognizing my Lion HD, and I have not backed up Lion to my current external HD yet since I want to get a larger external HD. When I get the new HD, I can partition it so that I can backup either Lion partition or SL partition using time machine, it that right? My current external HD is bootable, but I am confused about Carbon Copy or Super Duper, will that be saved on my external HD?
Thanks,
DaisyMay

DaisyMay wrote:
Firewire 400/USB 2.0/1.1
I would recommend not settling for less then USB 3 or hold out for Thunderbolt, if your machine is capable. Firewire 800 minimum.
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), 2.4GHz IntelCore i5 320 HD 8GB RAM ParallelsDesktop6.0

I have a brand new airport extreme. I just ordered a WD My Book Studio 2TB Mac External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0 Can I partition this and use one 1tb as a time capsule and 1tb on my desktop of my mac as a wireless hard drive? If so how?

How would I do this?

To partition the WD My Book, you could temporarily connect it to your MacBook Pro via USB. Then use the Disk Utility to partition it into two separate partitions of whatever size you choose for each.
Once partitioned and formatted (I would recommend HFS+), you can then disconnect the drive from the MacBook Pro and attach it to the new AirPort Extreme. The Extreme should now "see" the drive as two separate drives. You would then use the AirPort Utility to share out both drives.
For Time Machine, you would just need to select the appropriate shared drive.

I have downloaded some videos to my ipad via my SD card now my storage is full, how can I transfer the videos off my ipad to clear the storage but keep the videos on another media device (external hard drive)?

I have downloaded some videos to my ipad via my SD card now my storage is full, how can I transfer the videos off my ipad to clear the storage but keep the videos on another media device (external hard drive)?

There are some wireless external hard drives that can be used with the iPad.
Best iPad External Hard Drive Storage Options
http://www.unlocktips.com/2012/11/best-ipad-mini-external-hard-drive-memory-stor age-options/
iPad Storage Solutions
http://www.ipadstoragesolutions.com/iPadWirelessStorage.php
 Cheers, Tom

Looking for best 1tb external hard drive for 2008 I-mac?

Hi, I'm currently running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, but might upgrade to Mavericks at some point. I have 3GB of RAM, but will upgrade to 6GB soon. I would like to get a reliable 1tb external hard drive. It's only for the desktop, so it doesn't have to be portable, although it might be nice to have a smaller one. I don't have much money to spend (not more than 90$), so if I could get a good one that doesn't cost too much (perhaps on sale?) that would be perfect. I mainly need it to store a lot of photos and videos, nothing fancy. What would be a good drive, or reliable company? I thought about this one: WD My Passport for Mac 1TB Portable External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0 (WDBLUZ0010BSL-NESN) which I found on sale at 59,99$. It appeared to have a lot of good reviews on other sites, but many bad ones on this one, so I'm not sure. It also says on here that it needs 10.7 or higher to work, although someone else said it would work with Snow Leopard as well.
Any suggestions? Thanks!

Very easy. Plug in the drive, open Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder which in the Applications folder).
Select the drive in the sidebar. Select the partition tab, and select the number of partitions (one is fine).
Click options at the bottom of the screen. Select GUID.
Make sure the format is Mac OS Extended (journaled), name the disk and click apply.
It takes longer to type how to do it than to actually do it.

Can I back up what I want to keep on an external hard drive, as far as apps,pictures, books etc, and then delete the entire iCloud ?

Can I back up apps, books, etc to an external hard drive and delete iCloud?

There are some wireless external hard drives that can be used with the iPad.
Best iPad External Hard Drive Storage Options
http://www.unlocktips.com/2012/11/best-ipad-mini-external-hard-drive-memory-stor age-options/
iPad Storage Solutions
http://www.ipadstoragesolutions.com/iPadWirelessStorage.php
SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive
http://www.sandisk.com/products/wireless/media-drive/
WD My Cloud
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1140
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

Is is better to buy an external Hard drive or an external CD RW Burner?

I am shopping to buy an external hard drive, too, to back up all my important data.....but could I buy a external CD RW Burner to burn back-up disc and it will do the same job. Or is is better to buy an external Hard drive to save the data? Will I be able to burn CD Back-ups from my external hard drive?
In other words, I am a little confused on whether to buy an external hard drive or external CD RW Burner? What is the best route?
Thanks for any body that can help with this issue.

Hi,
Welcome to Apple Discussions
I suggest getting a external hard drive over getting an external CD-RW or DVD-RW. One of the major reason is that its great for backing up your internal hard drive; you can do it all in one place. One should always backup their hard drive just incase anything happens to your computer. One can't predict the day when a friend trips over their own feet; knocking your iBook on the floor with a huge crash. The most annoying thing to carry around when traveling is the Mac OS X install discs. I hate bringing them with me because I am in constant fear that I will loose them. The reason I bring them with me is because if something happens while I am away, I can troubleshoot my problem. I can startup from the install disc and then run Disk Utility, Archive and Install, Erase, and partition my hard drive. Once someone has a problem on the road; they will never leave their house without the discs. Instead of carrying around those discs, I partitioned one of my external hard drives into three sections, one for backup (140Gb), one for Mac OS X Tiger (10Gb), and the last one is for Panther (10Gb. I gave my girlfriend an iBook and she has Panther on it). This means I am equipped to startup my computer without using my internal drive.
Have you ever lost your iTunes library or your TurboTax data? Well, by backing up your hard drive (internal to external), you can save all your vital data incase something happens. You will find it a life saver if anything ever happens.
If you are looking into external hard drives, I suggest anything from LaCie, SmartDisk, or Western Digital
I recommend the LaCie D2 Hard Drive Extreme w/ Triple Interface, SmartDisk CrossFire, or the WD Dual Option.
I use a SmartDisk CrossFire for both my iTunes library as well as my iPhoto library. If you need help moving your iTunes library you might want to look at Knowledge Base Document #301748 explains How to Move Your iTunes Library.
I don't think you want an external burner of any kind for backing files because it will cost you a lot more in the end. You will have to use multiple discs for one big folder like iTunes. It is a pain and is also expensive. You can easily loose a disc or scratch it up.
Jon
PS Duane brings up the a really good point.
Macbook 2.0 White (100Gb HD 2Gb RAM) Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.7) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight, Minolta 5D...

My external hard drive stopped working so I had a tech fix it by moving it to another case since the power supply is in the case. It was working fine till I started getting these messages saying USB over current device, my USB is drawing too much power.

I need to know how to rehabilitate the hub since it gets deactivated as soon as I plug the external drive. By the way the drive contains important information

Buy a drive or drive case that is not bus powered.
Look for help in MacBook Pro forums.
Helps to include what drive and drive case you used and switched to (you didn't need a tech).
You can find good selection and assortment of reliable cases from OWC :
http://www.macsales.com/firewire
Not knowing what macbook whether you can use USB3, Thunderbolt and other interfaces that would be better.
WD My Book 2TB External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0 File Backup and Storage - Western Digital
Direct you to the proper forum for MacBook :
MacBook Series Forums
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks?view=discussions
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro
Mac OS X Forum
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions
This forum deals with a desktop/tower 65lb Mac Pro
http://www.apple.com/support/macpro

Can i install wow on an external hard drive?

Can i install wow on an external hard drive and play it off that, cause im runing out of space on my computer.

If you are going to install WoW to a external hard drive I suggest getting a eSATA external hard drive. There is a noticable drop in performance when trying to use a external USB drive to run games from.

Why is my Toshiba external hard drive not being recognized by my new Mac?

So: When I moved from Colombia I packed my stuff in an external hard drive, that was at the end of last year, Today I got my new MacBook Pro and I can't transfer my stuff because it doesn't even pop up anywhere. I read some other people's post and no: It doesn't appear in any of the two places people say it should appear (or I am not seeing it) whenever it doesn't automatically appears in desktop.
Funny story: It appears that my Mac's hard drive is a toshiba, the same brand as my 1tb external hard drive.
Suggestions?

I'm having the exact same problem... I have my Toshiba 1TB Hard Drive which I formatted to FAT32 so I was able to watch films on my PS3 off of it and recently got a MacBook Pro 13" i7 8GB RAM 750GB HDD, which is unable to read it (and I'm experiencing the same White Light when used with a PC and PS3 - which is when it works, and Blue Light when it is plugged into my MacBook and unable to open).
I've tried to follow as many instructions as possible that I've found on the internet but nothing seems to work - it won't even appear in Disk Utility, I don't know what to do. All I need to know is whether this a problem that can be fixed or not - otherwise I'll just get a new Hard Drive.

External Hard Drive Storage suggestions

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