External hard drives - How do they work?

Sounds like an idiotic question I know, but I recently invested in a 4TB LaCie external hard dive, so that I could finally get to grips with Time Machine and have plenty of space for my photographic images.I have only used an external drive before before to store or transfer files, but I don't "get" how it works.
Two questions puzzle me mostly:
- do I have to leave the LaCie switched on the whole time f?
- likewise, while that the incremental Time Machine backups are going on, do I need to worry about how the La Cie will process photo files at the same time, or do I switch Time Machine off instead (in which case, what is the point of it)?

1. You need to have it on when you’re using it. If it’s off when Time Machine creates a backup, a local snapshot will be created.
2. You shouldn’t use it for both Time Machine and storing the photos; it’ll eventually fail. You’re better off using a different external drive for regular file storage and setting Time Machine to back it up as well.
(109071)

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My start up disk is full and I need to move my files to an external hard drive, how do i do so?

My start up disk is full and i need to move my files to an external hard drive, how do i do so?

Ensure that the external is correctly formatted
Drag and dropped the files
Test to be sure that the moved files work
Once the moved files work delete the originals
Allan

When I plug in my ipad it automatically tries to back up and download all the contents to the C drive - the PC is too full and I have iTunes on an external hard drive, how do I tell the system to do the backup to the hard drive please?

When I plug in my ipad it automatically tires to back up and download all the contents to the C drive - the PC is too full and I have iTunes on an external hard drive, how do I tell the system to do the backup to the hard drive please?

You can open a command prompt by hitting the start button and typing CMD<Enter> in the search box that opens up.
To move the current backup folder from C: to D: type in this command and press <Enter>
Move "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
Where <User> is your Windows user name.
To make iTunes look for the data in the new location type in this command and press <Enter>
MkLink /J "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup" "D:\Backup"
If your external drive has a different letter or you already have a folder called "Backup" then edit "D:\Backup" accordingly in both commands.
tt2

I want to keep my music on my macbook and my movies on my external hard drive how do i get itunes to recogonise my external hard drive.?

I want to keep my music on my macbook pro and my movies on my external hard drive how do i get itunes to recogonise my external hard drive.? so i can drag more movies across later. i am able to plug my external into my Apple Express to stream to my apple Tv arent i..???

Post your question in the iTunes area:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/itunes/itunes_for_mac

Ok here goes. I have so much music I don't want to store it all on my computer and would like to store on an external hard drive. So if all my music is on the external hard drive, how will iTunes see it in order to play the music. Thanks

ok here goes. I have so much music I don't want to store it all on my computer and would like to store on an external hard drive. So if all my music is on the external hard drive, how will iTunes see it in order to play the music. Thanks

This article might help you moving/relocating your library :
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
Cheers AF

I did backup from my Imac to external hard drive, how can I unzip that backup to my mac

I did backup from my Imac to external hard drive, how can I unzip that backup to my mac again

It may be Time Machine, but Time Machine doesn't store backups in .zip folders. Open Finder and select your backup external disk in the Finder sidebar, under "Devices". If you are using Time Machine, you should see a folder called "Backups.backupdb".
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My iTunes library is on an external hard drive; how do I set it so other users (accounts) on my imac, will also have the same library, with the same playlists

my iTunes library is on an external hard drive; how do I set it so other users (accounts) on my imac, will also have the same library, with the same playlists

Quit iTunes.
Sign into another user account.
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I have a external hard drive connected, Finder will not let me search for files in the external hard drive how do i search in a hard drive

i have a external hard drive connected, Finder will not let me search for files in the external hard drive how do i search in a hard drive

What are you using to search? You should be able to search any drive in from the Finder. If you're having trouble, try "EasyFind" from the App Store (free). You can search any volumes with it.
Clinton

I have partitions in my external hard drive, and it was working fine. but not the oy, I have partitions in my external hard drive, and it was working fine. but not the other partition says you can only read. how to solve it ? help me

Mu external hard disk partition is not working. In get info it says that "hou can read only" bow can I fix this?

Read this:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/fix-permissions-imac-external-hard-drive-48257.ht ml

After backing up through time machine on external hard drive, how do you access that data?

I backed up my MacBook to an external hard drive through Time Machine. After it was all done and I reconnected the external hard drive to make sure that I could access everything that was backed up, I couldn't get into the data on the external hard drive because it said that it was backed up through Time Machine.
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There are 2 options.
1) (The Suggested way) With the TM external drive connected Open The Time Machine App in Applications and you can browse what has been backed up.
2) Open Finder and select the drive name on the left then the Backups.backupsdb folder and in there is all your files from the backups you have made listed under your Machine Name and in that folder under the dates/times they were created

External Hard Drive (USB3.0) only works through USB2.0 hub

For quite a while now some of my external hard drives have not worked when directly plugged into my Macbook Pro (Mid 2012 running 10.8.5). They work perfectly when plugged into a USB hub and then into the macbook but not directly to the mac. Standard small USB flash drives work fine straight in to the macbook, the real problem appears to be USB 3.0 hard drives. These will not show up on desktop or disk utility unless I plug them in via a USB hub (which is USB2.0). The hard drive format doesn't seem to be important, currently my Mac OS Extended Time Machine backup HD is only working through USB hub, and my MyPassport WD external drive is NTFS and hasn't worked directly into the Mac for a while now.
Normally this is not a big issue, but when I am on the go it is useless to carry a USB hub around along with a MyPassport hard drive! In addition, there are times, such as when backing up, that I want the speeds offered by USB3.0 from my macbook to my hard drive.
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Thanks

WD Black 2TB back in summer sold for about $179 and excellent choice.
Very important as to what controller you get and what it supports, besides Mac Pro 2010, 64-bit mode drivers.
With 4 drives you may or may not want a card+case that is Port Multiplier.
To use 4 drives you may want 4-port SATA.
The ideal might be two PCIe cards and two cases, so your data and backup are not on same controller and case. Or not.
avoid Port Multiplication
(Positive) Reports from OS X users of eSATA PCIe cards with Port Multipler cases
Sonnet Tempo SATA 6Gb 2-Port PCI Express
NewerTech MAXPower eSATA 6G
http://eshop.macsales.com/search/pcie+Serial+ATA
WD Black 1.5TB $169 / 2TB $249
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B004CSIG1G/ref= sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329431263&sr=1-12
Cheaper on WDC site but Out of Stock
http://store.westerndigital.com/promo/86120800
I'd go with 1.5TB models throughout: replace the 2 x 500GB which sound older and 2007 era? setup 3 x 1.5TB if you think you want 1.5-1.8TB for active projects on your internal drives (3 drive array)
Or there is this:
http://www.macperformanceguide.com/blog/2012/20120216_1-Hitachi-Coolspin-4TB.htm l

Password Protect external hard drive, it hasn't worked, why?

Hi, I've surfed around and read how to password protect an external hard drive and I encrypted it, etc as told.
However, and this will likely show my ignorance but isn't that the point of asking a question...
The thing is, it's made the disk image that requires a password, but the hard drive can be ejected and put in and accessed without a password. The disk image is protected, permanently there (so maybe now it's taking up space on my hard drive, and the actual external hard drive is the same as it ever was and can be accessed without any password.
Is there something I've done wrong, or something I'm not understanding about the concept?
Thanks in advance.
Message was edited by: NeanderCuz

Hi-
Welcome to Discussions!
Double clicking the disk image should respond with a password request.
Does yours work that way?
If so, you didn't do anything wrong, as far as the encrypted disk image goes.
That's about all that you can do.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1578
To encrypt the entire drive and make it inaccessible without password, this might be what you want:
http://www.truecrypt.org/

When i download a movie i want it to go straight to external hard drive how do i do this

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Move the entire iTunes library there, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, and point it to that instance of the library.
(87308)

External hard drive how do i format

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in Disk utility
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Time machine external hard drive in windows not working.

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External hard drives - How do they work?

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