Formatting External Hard Drive for Backup

Please advise: how should I set up an external hard drive (WD 500GB MyBook Home Edition) with a view to using it to backup my MacBook with Time Machine and have partitions to be accessed by Windows: 1) through BootCamp, running Windows Vista (Business) on the MacBook and 2) an external PC running Windows XP? I intend to set up partitions for: 1) Time Machine (GUID); 2) a 30GB MS-DOS (FAT-32) partition for Windows Vista (on the MacBook); 3) another 30GB MS-DOS (FAT-32) partition for Windows XP (to back up the old desktop); 4) another 30GB MS-DOS (FAT-32) partition to back up photos and video clips; 5) yet another 30GB MS-DOS (FAT-32) partition (The last one, at last!) to back up music and leave some spare room. That should leave me about 350GB for incremental Time Machine backups. (The hard drive on this MacBook is 150GB, 88GB of which is currently dedicated to OSX, with the other 60GB used by Windows.)
I don't use virtual machines or any other software to access operating systems - just reboot through BootCamp. Eventually, I intend to phase out Windows as all my old stuff - more than twenty years' worth of it - gets made redundant by the MacBook. I've had the MacBook for nearly a year now, so feel confident that it will replace the PC's. As you may imagine, however, making twenty-odd years' worth of stuff redundant is not an overnight process. I don't think I have any files of more than 4GB, nor do I expect to acquire any on the PC's, so can't foresee problems with FAT-32's limitations. I understand external PC's can have trouble seeing FAT-32 partitons on hard drives sharing partitions formatted in GUID.
What's the best way to go about doing this? Comments/suggestions/tips, please. Is the plan outlined above a stupid idea? Be honest, please!

Your computer has USB 1.1 ports; using an external USB hard drive for any purpose other than as a bootable Mac OS X backup will work, but you should choose a FireWire drive if possible, as transmission speeds are much faster. A drive does not need to be bootable if you're only going to back up documents, such as your photos, to it; it only needs to be bootable if you intend to use it to help troubleshoot future issues with the internal drive.
You should use the Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder to reformat the drive in the Mac OS Extended format prior to backing up items to it, and this is required for a bootable backup.
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Format external hard drive for backup drive for Mac Pro

How do you format an external portable hard drive to work as a backup drive for the Mac Pro?

If you plan to use Time Machine then Time Machine will take care of that for you once you choose the drive as your backup destination. If you want to do it yourself then you need to attach the drive; once it is mounted, open Disk Utility and select your drive from the left hand side bar. Once highlighted go to the main window and click on the subheading "Erase". The format needs to be "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". Click Erase and wait for the operation to complete. Now that you have a freshly prepared volume it can be used for Time Machine back up. Time Machine will recognize the disk and ask you if you would like to use this volume at which point you should follow the prompts to begin your back up.

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

Trying to copy iPhoto Library to external hard drive for backup. Error message: The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iPhoto Library" can't be read or written (Error code -36).

That code is
-36
ioErr
I/O error (bummers)
Make sure the EHD is formatted OS X Extended (journaled) and run Disk Utilty on the EHD and repair the disk. If that fails to help I'd try the following:
Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
Click on the Add Library button,
navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
In the next window name the new library and select the external HD as the location of the newly rebild library.
Click on the Create button.
Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
Note 2: Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
OT

I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

Do not worry about it.
Time Machine needs that your external drive is formatted in HFS+, or better known as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". This filesystem is used by Apple on Macs and Windows cannot read or write drives formatted with this filesystem, being this the reason why all your devices do not read the external drive except your Mac.
You can only use your external drive to make Time Machine drives. If you store anything different, you may damage the Time Machine structure, so it is better not to use it as a drive to store other data. Instead, get another external drive to do it or create a second partition on the external drive formatted in FAT32 by using Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html FAT32 can be read by Windows PCs

First time using external hard drive for backup of computer....

First time using external hard drive for backup of computer....it asks "Do do you want to erase disk?" In order to proceed, I have to say "yes" ... is that what I want to do? ...Seems like I'm skipping a step...

To use Disk Utilities, attach the drive, open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities and then highlight the LaCie drive in the left panel of the DU window. In the right panel, choose the Partition button top center of the pane. Then decide how many partitions you want on the drive, one is just fine.
Then choose the format, the default is Mac OS Extended (Journaled) which is prefered.
Then name the partition or drive.
Then choose the partition table, the default is GUID which is prefered.
Then Apply and you will get to confirm that you want to erase and format the drive.
Quit DU and you are ready to go.

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up. I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.
I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?
When I bought the new (used) iMac, I also bought an external hard drive for backups. It worked fine, but my husband stole it.
Then I bought a new external hard drive (Seagate) and it worked fine for three weeks, then died.
So I just got a new external hard drive, which was put together from an internal hard drive and a hard drive enclosure.
Time machine did the first backup today, and it should have taken 9 hours like it did on the previous first time full back up. Instead, it took 30 minutes. That can't be right. I want to start over and do a full backup to make sure everything gets onto my new external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to do that. Please help.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil compare -E
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

What external hard drives for backup are compatible with Yosemite?

I have an early 2013 MBP Retina 15" and have installed Yosemite. I want to purchase an external hard drive for backup via Time Machine. I have read that Western Digital drives were associated with data loss with Mavericks; I do not know if that has been corrected. Has anyone backuped successfully on an external hard drive with Yosemite installed, and if so, can you let me and others know the brand and model. Many thanks.

Understood.
I don't receive any compensation for promoting any product from any computer, hard drive or computer peripheral manufacturer. I don't receive any compensation from any of those manufacturers or sellers for any reason. In fact I was not promoting any product, I was responding to the poster's query and was stating that I have observed the drives in use and working with the Mac OS.
My workplace is a consumer of these items and we buy and use thousands of PCs, Macs, WD and non-WD drives, and so forth. I was providing information about whether WD drives work with Macs running various operating systems. I don't promote any particular brand, we use many different ones here.

Transferring hard drive files to external hard drive for backup have old tiger osx 10.4

how do I copy and transfer hard drive to external hard drive for backup of everything?

You can clone the entire drive to the external, provided you have more space available on the external drive than the total of your used filespace on the main drive.
Carbon Copy Cloner will perform the clone for you.
Matt

One Format External Hard Drive for Your Mac and PC...

I have Formatted my External HD Passport 500GB = (465.8) and split it in two partition Mac OS Extended (Journal = 232GB) and FAT32 (Ms-Dos-FAT = 232GB) and reformat to NTFS using Windows...
How to use one External HUD for your Mac and PC you have a PC and how to have two Partition in Mac OS Extended (Journal) and FAT (Ms-Dos-FAT)as you desire the size of your partition under application, Utilities and Disk Utility and covert the (FAT32) to (NTFS)using Windows Control Panel or just search by Start, search Computer Management or just right my Computer and format the second partition to (NTFS)
Tips for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) FAT32 vs NTFS, what works and don't work...
(1)Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Partition can't be use in Windows to transfer files but NTFS Partition can be use in Mac by transferring file from Windows to Mac and NTFS support for files over 4G in size...
(2)FAT32 can be use in Mac and Windows but with a limitation that a file cannot be transferred to a FAT32 partition if the file is larger than 4GB such as a video file and FAT32 file system performs more slowly than NTFS...
(2)Mac OS Extended (Journaled) can be use in Windows when you Reformat your HD to HFS+ by third-party app such as http://www.macdrive.com/ MacDrive for $50.or http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ NTFS For Mac 6.0 for $30...
Reference link 1 External Hard Drive for Your Mac and PC...
http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/mac/articles/1-external-hard-drive-for-your- mac-and-pc
Best regards...
JamesUFOs...
http://www.youtube.com/user/JamesEBEs

I have many external drives I use between my MacBook Pro and my Windows PC's. I use a free NTFS driver for Mac OS-X to give me full read/write access to any NTFS formatted partitions when running Mac OS. I also use MediaFour's MacDrive v8 on some of my Windows PC's to access any HFS+ formatted partitions.
Most of my drives are formatted NTFS because I have more Windows machines than I have MacDrive licenses, and with the driver for Mac OS, they are fully accessible. I have a few drives I do keep formatted as HFS+ because I have encountered an app or two that don't work quite right when they don't get to write to files on an HFS+ partition (one of my backup programs is picky about this).
As said before, FAT32 is fully accessible between the two OS'es but it also has it's own limitations.

What is the best external hard drive for backup on powerbook g4 17-inch?

i need to get a good external hard drive for backing up my files on my 2004 powerbook g4 17-inch. up till now ive been using thumbdrives, but i have way too much to backup now. i was thinking of getting the time capsule, but i don't have leopard version with time machine.
what would be an advisable backup to get without buying a new mactop yet?
please include model # if possible.
thanks in advance for anyone's input!

What I've done is buy the case and drive separately. The case I use is similar to this one: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW91UAL1K/ (looks like they don't offer this case with Firewire 800 anymore), and the hard drive is a Western Digital 3.5" Parallel ATA 320GB which Newegg carries at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136109. The reason I like a combination like this is that the enclosure uses the Oxford 911 chipset, and Oxford chipsets have a good track record working with our macs. The Western Digital drive comes with a 3 year warranty (many pre-packaged hard drives only have a one year warranty). It is very easy to install the drive ... you plug in the power and data connectors to the hard drive, and screw the hard drive to the case.
Whatever external hard drive you get, recommend one with a Firewire connection. Our Powerbooks can boot from a Firewire connection, however, cannot boot from a USB-only connection. Also, be aware that for a USB-only connection, if the external hard drive relies on power from it there may be a problem. This is due to the Powerbook putting minimal power out on USB. There are many people who have found that they've had to either get a dual USB cable, a USB powered hub, or an external power supply for their USB-powered external hard drive. The case I mentioned above has it's own external power supply. Firewire-powered drives don't have this problem.

Partition of external hard drive for backup different computers

I have a macbook(40Gig) and an iBook(80 Gig); I want to make an external hard drive to backup.
1. Is this possible to partition the external drive into two to make a bootable backup for both laptops?
2.If so how big the external drive should be?
Many thanks

1. Is this possible to partition the external drive into two to make a bootable backup for both laptops?
Yes. Set up a partition for each on the external and then clone a bootable copy of your current drive to the appropriate partition.
2.If so how big the external drive should be?
At least 40 + 80 = 100 GB. You're probably going to end up with an even bigger drive. I'd set up partitions to roughly match each of your computer drives in size (so 40 GB and 80 GB), then another for any extra. Having them match size makes it easy when cloning. Don't forget that if you store files on the extra you will also need to back those up on yet another drive.
Cloning And Backup Tools
A bootable clone is an exact copy of your drive which is capable of booting your computer. Making a copy of your computer which is capable of actually starting the computer requires special copying procedures. Some people just back up data files but if you have problems you have to reinstall all your operating system and all your applications. With a bootable clone you just start up from the backup drive and clone back everything.
To copy files from one hard drive to another hard drive you can use:
[CarbonCopy Cloner|http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html] (donationware)
[SuperDuper|http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html] (shareware)
[IBackup|http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/index.html] (free)
The Restore function of Disk Utility included in OS X. [Kappy's directions|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8799711#8799711]
[Tri-Backup (commercial)|http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html] (payware)
[Silverkeeper|http://www.lacie.com/silverkeeper> (free) - version 2 has some issues (references: [1|http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/backup/index.html#d12jan2009],
[2|http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/backup/index.html#d13jan2009]) and it is recommended Tiger users stick with 1.1.4.
[Kappy's Backup Software Recommendations|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9065665#906 5665]
[Overview of Mac OS X Backup Programs|http://8help.osu.edu/1247.html]

My external hard drive for backup and Time Machine is full. I bought a new HD. Can I just begin using it, or must I transfer old BkUp and TM to the new HD?

My external hard drive for Back Up and Time Machine is full. I bought a new HD. Can I just begin using it and rely on the old HD for past Time Machine versions, or must I transfer the old Back Up and Time Machine files to the new HD?

It is your choice.
If you don't want to be able to far back into the time slots covered by the old disk then just start using the new disk.
If you want to retain the ability to go back into those time slots then copy it.
Allan

Formatting external hard drive for mac

Hi I am having trouble reformatting an external Hard drive from my Windows computer to my new Mac any guidance would be appriciated thx.

http://www.cultofmac.com/92845/formatting-external-hard-drives-in-os-x-video-how -to/

Using an external hard drive for backup

I admit to knowing nothing about this so I need someone's advice. The wiring for the backlight in my iBook fried 2 nights ago and I have to send it back to Apple..very expensive problem add to the fact that I did not extend my apple care OUCH!! Anyway I had to buy an external hard drive to back it up in case they have to reinstall software..well that was a precautionary they suggested. Can I use my new 300 gig HD to back up both my laptop, desk top and iBook on the same drive or do I need to partition the hard drive to do this. I have close to 2500 photo's in iPhoto and about the same in iTunes. So I could use some expert opinions. I do have most already on CD's but I am hoping to solve back ups for all 3 computers on this.
Thanks.
Wendy

Hello again Wendy.
For your 'for now issue' I would go down the route of starting your iBook in target mode, as described above, plug both it and your external drive (you will need to format this first - go for zero all data as this maps out any bad sectors) into your other Mac. The iBook and the hard drive should mount on the desktop. All you have to do is open a finder window and drag you files from the iBook to the external. If your files are all organised in you home folder you can just move that over and all the contents will be backed up.
In terms of using the drive to backup everything I would post a more complete question in the relevant part of the forum when you have worked out what you want to do (Dr Smokes book holds very good advice on thourough approaches). A word of caution though, most people who bother to backup never rely on just one location/medium. For instance, in the cast of the photo's of my son/family (which are once-only memories) I have them on a seprate drive on my G4, backed up to an external drive every time I add more photos and every few months (depending on how snap happy I've been) I back up the whole lot to a DVD. Some I know go a stage further and store a copy of the DVD/CD with relatives or freinds just in case. It all come down to your level of paranoia or how much you will miss your data (do you really want to have to re-write all those power point/worksheets etc.) if your house burns down or, more likely, if the external drive and your computers are fried at the same time!
Hope this helps (even if it is a bit of a essay).
S.
G4 Dual 1.25, iMac G3, iBook G4 1.33, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

How can I format external hard drive for both Mac

Hi, I want to use my Seagate external Hard Drive 1 TB on both Mac & Windows. I go to know that FAT 32 supports both but it can not transfer more than 4 GB data at a time. Is there some better alternative? Please suggest.

As said above Use exFAT but do the formatting on a Windows PC as I have had problems of Windows seeing the drive when done on a Mac. Once done on a PC it was seen by both platforms.
Also if you are running XP on the PC you may need an update for XP to see and use exFAT drives. It may be included with XP SP3, i'm not sure, but Microsoft has an update for both XP SP2 and SP3 so that exFAT drives are usable.

Formatting External Hard Drive for Backup

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