Got a new MBP and old external hard drive is too full for backup

I just got a new MBP and got all my data migrated and everything. I plugged my external hard drive in to run a backup, and it apparently is too full to run a backup of the new computer. Even though all the files are the same (mostly), I guess it's not going to overwrite anything because it's a new computer. Should I just get a new backup drive and start fresh for this computer. Should I reformat my old backup drive (and if so, how?)? Advice?

You should always have two backups of all vital data in any regard. A good 1TB Toshiba USB is $65
If there is NOTHING on the external HD you cant lose, format in disk utility > erase > format MAC OSX extended journaled.
then apply a Time Machine backup to the old HD of your new computer. That will free of a great deal of space.
However you should still have a 2nd backup of data. 2 backups is 1, and 1 is none.

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My New Computer and My External Hard Drive Not Compatible

I just purchased a brand new Dell Inspiron with windows 8. I had a Seagate back up hard drive on my old Dell. I wanted to move some things (especially my pictures) to the new computer from the external hard drive, but when I tried to install, I get a message "Operating System Not Supported". Now what? I'm somewhat technologically challenged.
Thank you.

You need to go into your BIOS settings and make sure that the external drive isn't set to boot.
An easier way around this is to unplug the drive from the computer until it has fully loaded.
If that doesn't work, post back.
If you like my post, or solution to your issue/question, go ahead and click on the little star by my name and/or accept the post as the Solution. It makes me happy.
I'm NOT an employee of Best Buy, or Geek Squad, though I did work as an Agent for a year 5 years ago. None of my posts are to be taken as the official stance that Best Buy will take on your situation. My advice is just that, advice.
Unfortunately, that's the bad luck of any electronic, there's going to be bad Apples... wait that's a horrible pun.

How to migrate from my old MacBook Pro to a new one with less disk space and an external hard drive?

I have just bought a new MacBook Pro and an external hard drive.
Yet I have problems migrating data from my old MacBook Pro (more internal disk space with around 500 GB data) to my new one (internal disk space less than 500 GB).
I have connected all 3 devices but it seems the Migration Assistant does not have an option for us to select to migrate to an external hard drive.
Any other way to do it?
Kindly help me. Thanks.

For your situation, Target disk mode may be the most efficient method:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
Ciao.

How do I replace my old external hard drive with a new larger external hard drive and move my music so itunes can find it?

How do I move music from an old external hard drive to a new external hard drive and have itunes find it?

If you have a time machine back up of your current drive you can do this
Shut down your computer, install the new drive. While the computer is off plug in the external hard drive that you have your time machine back up on. Hold Option key while the computer turnes on, let go of the option key once you get a grey screen. Shortly after you'll see a list of bootable drives, select the one that has your time machine back up on it and boot into that drive.
From there go into disk utility, format your new drive too, osx extended journaled ( I think, double check that, its been awhile since ive had to do this), hit format
Exit disk utility and then you can use time machine to copy all your exisit data to the new hhd and then your pretty much done.
There is also a program called Carbon Cloner that will do esentially the same thing however I've never uesed it.

I transferred all my itunes music from my old pc to a new laptop using an external hard drive. I can drag songs to out ipods, but when i try to add songs to my Iphone 4, I get the red circle with a line through it. It will not allow me to transfer music

I have transferred all of my itunes music for my old pc to a new laptop via an external hard drive. All songs are sucessfullt loaded in itunes and I can drag songs to my husband's ipod without any problems. However, when I try to drag songs to my iphone 4, it will not let me. I get a red circle with a line through it. Why would it work from itunes to ipod but not to my iphone? HELP!!!

You might want to check your process for moving your iTunes music against this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527.

I tried transferring my iphoto library from my old macbook onto my new macbook pro (via external hard drive), but when i open the new iphoto, it seems to have transferred ALL images ever used on my old macbook. so i tried to just del

i tried transferring my iphoto library from my old macbook onto my new macbook pro (via external hard drive), but when i open the new iphoto, it seems to have transferred ALL images ever used on my old macbook. so i tried to just delete all those images so i could try a different approach to transferring, but the new iphoto won't let me do anything and every time i try to delete anything it crashes (since the image amount is so high). please help!!
MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iphoto '11, version 9.4.2

To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
But however you do choose to link the two machines...
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.

Can't create new folder on an external hard drive, and how to transfer files?

Hello everyone,
the non-English speaking videographer I translate for is having problems operating his Premiere CS5 for Mac from an external hard drive. He cannot create new folder on the external hard drive (the "New Folder" button is grayed-out when tries to export media onto the external hard drive) and when he simply tries to create new folder, the "new folder" option isn't available.
He suspects it's because the hard drive was formatted for PC.
Questions:
- should PC-formatting cause that problem?
- what's the proper way to transfer media files from PC-formatted external hard drive to the internal hard drive on Mac?
Would appreciate your advice.
Dimitri Vorontzov

He is right on the money
Now, for the sad or FAT part. You need to format the drive as FAT32 to make it work both on PC and MAC but, and that is a big BUT, the max file size of any given file will be 4GB. I haven't treid other formats yet, like the journaled MAC OS extended, but I don't think that would work. We transfer our files through or own gigabit network so I never had to try it, other than FAT32 formatted SDHC cards.

I would like to transfer my iTunes and photos etc from my PC to my new iMac via a external hard drive. Would somebody recommend one. I read that the Western Digital Mybook Essential 3.0 is good.

I would like to transfer my iTunes and photos etc from my PC to my new iMac via a external hard drive. Would somebody recommend one. I read that the Western Digital Mybook Essential 3.0 is good. Though as Mac has 2.0 is this fast enough? I am a basic user, surfing only.

If you plan on using the WD with the Mac after the iTunes transfer I would strongly recommend against WD. WD external HD's tend to be the most troublesome with Macs. If you intend to use the drive for backup using Time Machine or creating a bootable clone then I'd recommend a higher quality drive than WD. The drives I'd recommend in that case would be:
OWC Mercury Elite Pro series
LaCie d2 Quadra series
G-Tech G-DRIVE series
These are all high quality drives and enclosures with similar features. Personally I use the LaCie's however I would be happy to have OWC and G-Tech on my desk too. FWIW I've been using the LaCie's for 4 years and have 4 of them, all work perfectly and have never given me any trouble.
You also my find this article helpful: Move an iTunes library from a PC to Mac (and back)

I have a tesco router and an external hard drive attached to it as a network drive (shared) for my macbook and MB-Air. Have no problems with my MB accessing it, but with MB-AIR it says - 'the version of the server you are trying to connect to is not supp

I have a tesco router and an external hard drive attached to it as a network drive (shared) for my macbook and MB-Air. Have no problems with my MB accessing it, but with MB-AIR it says - 'the version of the server you are trying to connect to is not supported. pls contact your system administrator to resolve the problem'. MB-Air uses maverick downloaded yesterday - upgrade from mountain lion. MB uses snow leopard still, as i am quite used to it and am thinking of upgrade if mavericks work fine on air. Also have parallel on snow leopard but it is no longer supported according to mac website - if i upgrade am i going to lose my parallel and will have to buy a new one!!!

Yes, the Old Master file has a folder for each year where I find all photos from that specific year. I am attaching a screen shot of the file.
In the meantime i have managed to download all photos (it did not download any video files though in mpg, avi, 3gp, m4v,mp4 and mov format) to a new iphoto library. Unfortunately the photos are quite mixed and often doubled up. I ma considering to purchase iphoto library which checks all duplicates in iphoto. this will save me a lot of time. What do you think?

Can I use my old external hard drive?

I have my old external hard drive from my old PC computer. Is there a way to convert my files on my hard drive without deleting them. Or do I just need to get a new hard drive?

Depending on how old the hard drive is, it may be fine. If it's a USB hard drive and formatted correctly, then you may be able to use some of the files if they're cross-platform. For example, Microsoft Word and Excel files will work on both Windows and Mac.
Best to just plug it in and see what happens. If your iMac can't read the drive format, then you can either get a new drive or re-format the old one (which will erase all your old files). But if the drive shows up on the desktop, then you may be able to use the old files.
If the drive doesn't show up, you could use a Windows computer to put the files on a CD-R or something to transfer them to your new computer.
Lots of options, really depends on how things are formatted.

Can the MacBook Air be backed up using Clone softward and an external hard drive?

I want to find the best way for a new college student to back up her MacBook Air files. Can she use cloning software and an external hard drive? I'm unclear if the Air supports attaching an external hard drive.

The computer should be cloned using Disk Utility, so no additional software is required. However, it's preferable to incrementally update the clone using backup software. I would recommend using one of the following. They each have different capabilities and features. Each can be used for a free trial period. My personal preference is Carbon Copy Cloner. All of them can make and maintain bootable clones.
Suggested Backup Software
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Get Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
Clone Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
     3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
     4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
         to the Destination entry field.
     5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
         the Source entry field.
     6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
An excellent source of external drives is OWC.

HT201269 I am trying to save memory on my iPhone 4S/ ios6. Can I back up all photos to icloud and the external hard disk I normally use for photos? If I then delete photos from the iPhone do the get deleted on iCloud?

I am trying to save memory on my iPhone 4S/ ios6.
1) Can I back up all photos to icloud and the external hard disk I normally use for photos? If I then delete photos from the iPhone do the get deleted on iCloud?
2) Can I back up the newsstand to iCloud and save memory on the iPhone?
3) Can I back up the bookshelf to icloud and save memory on the iPhone?

1. What format is the external drive? It sounds like it's ina format that Macs can't write to. Is it a NAS or NTFS?
2. Easiest thing: just move your iPhoto Library to the external
Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and i can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help

I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and I can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help? I can find the mail folder in my libraries, but the Restore Button is grayed out

OSX treats the reformatted drive as a different one; it's the same as replacing it, and the old one is no longer connected.
See #E3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting to see and restore from the "old" drive.
And, you may not want to restore via the Finder; see the blue box in #15 of Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Before Mac OS X lion install I had over 50% free hard drive space on new MBP, but now my hard drive is full without me doing anything! How do I fix this??? Or should I just revert to Snow Leopard???

Before Mac OS X lion install I had over 50% free hard drive space on new MBP, but now my hard drive is full without me doing anything! How do I fix this??? Or should I just revert to Snow Leopard???

Sounds like the Time Machine Local Backup. Try turning Time Machine Off in System Preferences to verify.
See: OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs
But, your real problem is
I forgot to mention that I tried to use Disk Utility to Verify Disk, but it cannot. I get red errors that say the MacHD is corrupt and needs to be repaired. It says that in order to do this I need to use the Disk Utility on the install disk, but Lion doesn't have one!
Boot into Lion's Recovery (Hold ⌘R on Boot), select Disk Utility and then select Macintosh HD and click [Repair Disk]
Tony

Accessing Time Capsule and linked external hard drive from other devices and copying to these drives

Hi
Please be gentle. I am not that technically able :-)
I have managed to set up my time capsule. Router working, external hard drive linked, time machine back ups working...
The last thing I am looking to do is to access files on my time capsule and also external hard drive (linked to it), from Mac, Iphones, Ipads, Apple TV, Windows laptops X2. Am I able to do that? Have read so many discussions but dont get the answer. Please be gentle :-)
Regards
Tommy

The last thing I am looking to do is to access files on my time capsule and also external hard drive (linked to it), from Mac
This should be automatic.. find the TC disk under shared in finder.. double click it and see under the data folder.. you can create new folders in there.
Note using the TC for data and TM backups is not the greatest of ideas.. please read pondini.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
The external drive is fine though..
Now it can have loads of issues if you run Mavericks.. so if you have trouble.. do not be surprised.. if you run Mavericks.. be surprised if it works without trouble.
Iphones, Ipads
iOS devices are not file based.. they are not intended to be used with a file device like TC and will neither backup to it nor open files from it.. of course what apple wants and what users want are different things so there are plenty of file apps to help you read and write files.
Filebrowser is the major one.
http://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser/
You still cannot backup though.. iOS uses itunes to backup or icloud.
Apple TV
There is nothing you can do with AppleTV.. it is not a file device at all.. it is not even a media player.. it is a streamer. (Early model Gen1 and Gen2 can be jailbreak.. so they do actually have media player ability) Gen3 is tied to its mother's (iTunes) skirts with steel cables.. no JB.. no use really. If you want to play movies from a TC buy a WD Live TV.. it is a player.. !!
Windows laptops X2
You can access the TC from windows..
1. Make sure the TC naming complies with windows networking.. to put that simply.. all names should be short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric. Apple wizard will recommend a name for the TC, like
Fred Blog's Airport Time Capsule.. this is wrong on so many levels.
It will be a total pain on windows.. use FBATC or TC or anything you like.. as long as it follows the rules..
Short 2-20 characters.. less than 10 is better.
No spaces.
Pure alphanumeric.
All names must comply.. TC name and wireless name/s
2. Load the airport utility for windows into the computer.. you can download for up to win7.. apple haven't bothered with windows since then and are pretty out of date. The win7 utility will load on win8 with the usual voodoo and astrological help.
3. Windows must be set to home for location.. if you cannot open a command window and ping the TC by ip and name, then pull down the firewalls.
4. In windows explorer type into the address bar directly.
\\TCname or \\TCIPaddress (using, of course, the real name or real IP).

Got a new MBP and old external hard drive is too full for backup

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