External Hard drives with ibook.

okay,
I have a 14" ibook G4.
I also have 2 Windows PC's (1 Atlon 3.6GHZ, 4GB ram (for gaming) & a P4 2.8GHZ (for everyday use)) and i was wondering if i could get an EXTERNAL harddrive that will work for all my computers. I dont know anything about External hard drives. So i just need to know before. If there isnt one that works with both, what would be the best for my ibook. Thank you very much

My external hard drive was formatted in the FAT32 format--my iBook had no trouble reading or writing on this drive, and neither did my family's Dell deskop.
If I recall correctly, the FAT32 format cannot store files larger than 4GB. Also, you will have to partition the drive. My 160GB drive was split into 4 parts, each about 30GB in size. This is another limitation of the FAT32 format.
Formatting my drive was such a pain--and time consuming--that I didn't bother to format the remaining 30 or so gigabytes.
I've reformatted my drive to be HFS and will likely do some work with our home network so that our Dell will be able to send files to my machine & then to the external hard drive.
Programs exist for Windows machines to allow them to read a HFS (Mac-formatted) volume. If you want to be able to use all space possible on the hard drive, purchasing such a program may be your best option.

Similar Messages

  • Cannot access shared external hard drive with other mac accounts

    I cannot access a shared external hard drive with other mac accounts (all accounts are on the same macbook Pro). The shared external drive is shared via time capsule and is connected (of course) in USB. I see well this external hard drive as a shared disk with my main account. Yes shared option has been activated with the Airport Utility .. but when I open other account these othe accounts can see the external drive but cannot access to its content that is flagged with a no way sign. Strangely enough when I close my main account and start opening a new session with one of the other account then fine I can access the external hard drive and its content .. BUT then it is from my main account than I cannot access its content the no way sign showing ..
    Looks like only one account at a time can access the content of this SHARED external hard drive .. any one as an idea on how to really make it a shared hard drive so that all accounts on the same mac can also access it ? I am at my wit ends on this case. THANKS ..

    Results of my enquiries at Apple Genius Bar .. the guys found the problem interesting. They've been unable to provide a fix neither to give any explanation as to the reason why. To be fair I was not much impressed by the technical level demonstrated ..
    In the mean time I have found that if account no.1 can see the shared external drive content and in such case account no.2 (same Mac computer) cannot see its content (only the external HD with a no way sign) this account no.2 can UNMOUNT (by ejecting) this external HD from account 1 and then remount it (just clicking on the TC shared part in a finder window) and .. see and access its content ; whilst account no.1 cannot see its content anylonger. Unless it unmounts the shared external HD and remount it .. then account no.2 can see its content anylonger. This can goes on an on.
    So eventually YES the TC can allow to share a USB external drive between several accounts and a same Mac .. BUT this require to unmount and remount EACH time the external drive is accessed from a "no.2 account". So OK to share files with seldom access but not practical in case of frequent access needed.
    I just I have now to figure how iTunes can automatically unmount and remount a shared external HD when it needs to access one of this shared HD content from on time account no.1 and then next time from account no.2. May be I am asking too much ..

  • Can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop to use files on the airport?

    can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop and use files on the airport time capsule?

    If you mean an AirPort base station other than the Time Capsule, it doesn't have internal storage.
    If you mean a Time Capsule, its internal drive can be used for regular file storage but shouldn't be; as with all drives, it'll eventually fail. You're better off using a standalone drive and setting Time Machine to back it up as well.
    (112309)

  • Re Time Machine I have an external  hard drive with files I backed up manually over the past 2 years 1TB of memory. I am finally taking the leap to use Time machine to back everything.   will I have to reformat that drive, thus wiping my previous bac

    Re Time Machine
    I have an external  hard drive with files I backed up manually over the past 2 years 1TB of memory.
    I am finally taking the leap to use Time machine to back everything.
    will I have to reformat that drive, thus wiping my previous back ups?
    can I split it the drive in two partitions?
    Also
    as I have two separate Macbook Pro's- one older than the other.
    OSX 10.68
    the other is
    OSX 10.75
    can I back them up separately?
    or even synch and merge files and folders etc? between the two?

    You CAN use a drive with files already on it to store Time Machine backups. But long term, that is not recommended. You do not need to reformat or re-partition the drive to do this. Once Time Machine Backups are established, you could remove the old files.
    But do not delete Time Machines files with the Finder -- that can cause it to lose its place and lose everything.
    With the cost of backup drives under US$100, it might be a better idea in the long run to get another drive. Best results from Time Machine is a drive about 3 times larger than the drive(s) you are backing up.

  • I am running my first backup on Time Machine using a Seagate external hard drive with a thunderbolt adapter and cable.  I have a MacBook Pro 2011. It is backing up 11GB, and is telling me it will take approx two days. Is this normal?

    I am running my first backup on Time Machine using a Seagate external hard drive with a thunderbolt adapter and cable.  I have a MacBook Pro 2011. It is backing up 11GB, and is telling me it will take approx two days. Is this normal?

    Download the supplemental fix to 10.7.5 
    http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1599

  • I made a bootable disc on an external hard drive, with Yosemite on it.  I am running Snow Leopard on my iMac.  How can I open the Yosemite disc from the desktop on my iMac?  Does the external hard drive need to be connected to my iMac by firewire to

    I made a bootable disc on an external hard drive, with Yosemite on it.  I am running Snow Leopard on my iMac.  How can I open the Yosemite disc from the desktop on my iMac?  Does the external hard drive need to be connected to my iMac by firewire to do that?

    kahjot wrote:
    Snow Leopard's Startup Disk pref can’t see Yosemite volumes. So the only way to switch from Snow Leopard to Yosemite is to do what Niel mentioned. Doesn't matter whether it's connected by USB or Firewire, although performance via FW would be faster.
    Are you saying that Yos/10.10, as a volume located in a mounted external drive won't appear as an option in Snow Leopard's Startup Disc, in Sys Prefs? I've never heard this one before. AFAIK any mounted volume, regardless of OS, should appear there. I would think that, if it appears in the Boot Picker/Startup Manager it would also appear and could be booted to from Snow's Startup Disk. I can't test this myself, since I don't have Yos. Is what you are saying documented somewhere?

  • Can I connect an external hard drive, with a FireWire connector to AirPort Extreme?

    I am considering getting AirPort Extreme. I need to be able to connect an external hard drive with a firewire connection. Can it be done?

    Sorry, but no.

  • Hi, ive been backing up my computer to an external hard drive (with time machine). When i buy a new macbook will that hard drive put all my info on to the new computer?

    hi, ive been backing up my computer to an external hard drive (with time machine). When i buy a new macbook will that hard drive put all my info on to the new computer?

    When you boot the new machine for the first time, you'll be prompted to import your data from a Time Machine backup.

  • I have a seagate external hard drive with files copied from windows pc. If I will download NTFS driver from seagate to my mac, could I install it safely without harming my files in the external hard drive? I am afraid I may erase all files in there.

    I have a seagate external hard drive with files transferred from my windows pc. If I will download NTFS Driver from seagate to my mac, could I install it safely without harming my files? I am afraid.. I might erase all my important files during the installation..

    Thanks a lot! I have already downloaded Paragon Driver and it works well with seagate external hard drive. I am copying as of now my important files from my mac to it. However, I have only the trial version which will expire in 10 days. I don't have credit card to buy for it.

  • Can you use external hard drives with the HP Omni 10 5600US

    Since this a Windows tablet, can you use external hard drives with the HP Omni 10 5600US?
    I know there is a micro-sd reader for additional storage but can you use the usb for external hard drives like a regular pc?
    I tried looking at the spec's for this tablet and it said the usb port was host only. I'm not sure what that means exactly.

    Yes you can.  You'll need to purchase a USB OTG (on-the-go) cable.  I recommend using a drive that has its own power supply but I've successfully used small USB powered drives also.

  • Time Machine: Can I use a smaller external hard drive with larger internal?

    Can I use a 250G external hard drive with and 500G unfilled internal drive with time machine? Or will time machine require I a 500G? I don't plan on filling the internal drive for a long time and don't want to buy a new external drive right now.

    Yes, but you are very likely to get in trouble very quickly.
    The problem is that TimeMachine saves multiple versions of any file modified, and if that file happens to be large, you can quickly fill up your TimeMachine drive such that it is throwing away older versions faster than you would desire.
    Also if your boot drive's storage usage gets even close to the 250GB external drive's capacity, TimeMachine is likely to stop working.
    If possible, I would suggest an external drive that is twice as large as your boot drive, or at least 1.5 times larger.
    I guess you could repartition your boot drive so it is smaller than your external disk so you would be less likely to use more space than could fit on the external.
    Personally, my opinion about backups is that much of my data is impossible to replace (family pictures, etc...), and spending money on backup hardware is a small price to pay for securing those memories. I also try to have it backup in more than one location in more than one way.

  • Does anyone use a LaCie external hard drive with their Mac using imovie '09?  I have some questions.

    Does anyone use a LaCie external hard drive with their Mac using imovie '09?  I have some questions.

    Are you actually having a problem with the new Lacie drive, or are you just asking is the Lacie drive somehow different from your old G-Drive?
    From a connection standpoint, most Lacie desktop drives have both USB and FireWire connections, just like the G-Drives do.  You would connect and use it the same as a G-Drive.
    Regarding capturing to the external HD, if you are using a camcorder that has FireWire (iLink) connection, it is not advisable to have an external FireWire HD connected to your Mac at the same time as your camcorder; there are often communication conflicts between the camcorder and the hard drive if they are connected at the same time.  The conflicts usually appear as either dropped frames or a complete freeze.   This is more common with Canon miniDV camcorders but I have also seen this behavior with Sony miniDV camcorders.  (The problem is the camcorder's FW implementation, not the hard drive.)  The workaround is to capture to your Mac's internal HD and later copy the captured video to your external HD.

  • Is there any way to create a time machine backup to an external hard drive with content already on it?  I have a hard drive that i have used for pictures but when i try to run a backup it says i need to start from a blank drive. Can i get around it?

    Is there any way to create a time machine backup to an external hard drive with content already on it?  I have a hard drive that i have used for pictures but when i try to run a backup it says i need to start from a blank drive. Can i get around it?

    It would be much better if you had separate drives for the pictures and Time Machine backups.....but, if you want to use the same drive for both purposes, temporarily move the folder with the pictures to another location for safe storage.
    Run the Time Machine backup on the hard drive and verify that everything is working correctly. Time Machine will format the disk for you in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as part of the backup process.
    Then move the folder with the pictures back to the hard drive with the Time Machine backups.
    When you have tested to make sure that everything is working again, then and only then should you delete the folder with pictures from the temporary storage area.
    Again....it would be much better to keep Time Machine backups on a drive just for that purpose, and other data on another drive for that purpose. This is clearly one of those times when the fact that you can do something does not mean to imply that you should do it.

  • I have LR5 on a mac book pro with a external hard drive with LR5 images. my problem is my external hard corrupted reformatedand have to this is expensive and i would to start over in LR5

    i have LR5 on a mac book pro with a WD external hard drive with my with my LR5 images . my problem is my external drive is corrupted .i was told by apple that my macshow the hard drive is there but it is not moumting and have to be reformat. i have to use recovery data to save my images on my external before i can refomat.iam willing to lose my images on my extenal hard drive but i would like to know can i erase my LR5 images and start over or delete LR5 and download it again

    Simply start a new catalog:
    File >> New Catalog
    Choose a new name and save.
    When the empty catalog launches you are ready to start over.

  • How do you back up an external hard drive with time capsule?

    how do you back up an external hard drive with time capsule?

    Will time capsule back up the machine and the hard drive that is plugged into the machine?
    Yes, if the hard drive with the video files is formatted correctly for Mac
    On the Mac with the hard drive connected....click on the Time Machine "clock" icon at the top of the screen
    Click Time Machine Preferences
    Click Options
    Here you will see a list of items that have been excluded from backups
    Click the name of the hard drive to highlight it
    Click the - (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the hard drive from the list of excluded items
    The hard drive will now be backed up with your Mac on the next pass that Time Machine makes

Maybe you are looking for

  • Servlet Response Problem

    Hello all, My simple servlet takes in a URL as a parameter and the uses the httpUrlConnection method to retrieve that page. It then just writes the html to the browser in the hope that it would be displayed as if retrieved directly. Although the sour

  • Create a deep structure for dynamic internal table

    Hi All, I am creating a dynamic table using method cl_alv_table_create=>create_dynamic_table. The normal structure gets created. but now I want to creat a Deep structure for having information of colors also for each column. So I want to add a COLTAB

  • ITunes wont download to my computer, how do I fix this?

    How do I fix this...I had iTunes on my computer and worked great, then I got the iPhone 5s and plugged it in and the next time I tried to open my iTunes it gave me an error message. So I uninstalled it and tried to reinstall it and now it keeps givin

  • Problem with 10.5.3

    Hi, Does anyone know why 10.5.3 is only 198MB when downloaded with software update, while is measures up at 420MB on the Support/Download page?

  • Error "Cannot find fbe"

    When I'm trying to compile, I get a message "can't find fbe". I think fbe is an assembler. Where do I find it? I've searched the disk. Is it part of Solaris 7 or should it have been installed as part of the Forte C/C++ development package that I down