How can I use a firewire hard drive on a new Macbook with one USB-C only?

How can I use a firewire hard drive on a new MacBook with only one USB-C?

kaz-k is correct about FireWire not being supported by any possible connector or adaptor to USB-C and never will. However, there is no such thing as a FireWire Hard Drive. There are only SATA (or if it is a really old one, ATA,) drives in a FireWire enclosure. If you can remove the drive from the case/enclosure - bust it open somehow if it is a glued-up unit - then the drive can be placed into a regular USB3 enclosure. Then it can connect to the new MacBook via any one of the adaptors Apple sells.

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How can I use my external hard drive for my iphoto instead of my mac book pro memory?

i don't know if this question has been asked before: how can I use my external hard drive for my iphoto instead of my mac book pro memory? just like itunes all my song are save on my external hard drive. make sense?

Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
And be sure that the External drive is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) (iPhoto does not work with drives with other formats) and that it is always available prior to launching iPhoto
And backup soon and often - having your iPhoto library on an external drive is not a backup and if you are using Time Machine you need to check and be sure that TM is backing up your external drive
LN

I recently added my old mac hard drive to a new macbook with an SSD as my main OSX drive. I am having trouble with permissions in viewing my old hard drive. What is the best way to get complete access to my old hd installed in my new Macbook?

I recently added my old mac hard drive to a new macbook with an SSD as my main OSX drive. I am having trouble with permissions in viewing my old hard drive, when I save a permission when I reboot the full access is changed again . What is the best way to get complete access to my old hd installed in my new Macbook?

Open the Get Info window for the old drive. Click the Lock icon on the bottom of that window and type in your password. In the permissions area click the Plus sign ( + ) and Add your Username to it and set it to Read & Write. Close that window. you should now have full access to all the files.

How can I use an external hard drive to both back up and free up storage on my macbook?

I've used a hard drive to back up my 2012 Macbook Pro via Time Machine, but I'm not sure how to use it as external storage to move things like video and music off of my Mac to free up memory and then how to move the same things from the hard drive on to other devices like my iPad or iPhone. For instance, I have a ton of movies and would like to store most of them on an external hard drive so that they aren't taking up all of my memory on my Mac, but want to be able to move them easily back onto my phone or iPad. Also, can I use the same hard drive to both back up my computer and use it for external storage? If so, how do I do that?

Always use two drives for this: one for backup; the other for storage. Don't mix the two uses on one drive. There's a greater risk of data lost without that redundancy.
If you plan to backup using Time Machine, then be sure the backup drive's capacity is at least twice that of the drive you are backing up.

How can I use my external hard drive from PC to Mac without reformatting???

Ok, so I am computer illiterate. I have always used PC's and have just bought a MacBook. When I plug in my external hard drive into my new Mac, it says it needs to be reformatted to use with Mac, which would cause all data to be erased. Is there anyway to get around this?
Please help me!

OK... as Woggledog indicated, OS X cannot write to NTFS formatted drives. NTFS is a proprietary Microsoft format. Conversely, Windows can neither read nor write to an OS X formatted drive.
Both Windows and OS X can read and write to FAT32 (this is a fairly old format). The down side to FAT32 is that the largest file you can work with is 4GB. That is probably fine for most people... but if you're working with large files (videos, virtual drive images, large backup files, etc...) FAT32 is not suitable. There are applications that you can purchase for both Macs and Windows machines that will allow them to read and write to the other format.
An immediate option provided you have the space on either your PC or Mac is to create a folder on either machine and move everything from your external drive into that folder. Then you can format the drive to FAT32 and then copy everything back over to the external drive (and delete it from your Mac or PC's internal drive). It might take some time depending on how much data you have... but you'll only have to do it once... and this is assuming you have enough space on one of you machines to copy the data from your external drive.

Now that i have a mac pro.how can i use a portable hard drive while i have the time machine working on my mac?

what do i do if i want to use a portable hard drive for backing up, if i also see
the time machine also on there?

flora1917 wrote:
what do i do if i want to use a portable hard drive for backing up, if i also see
the time machine also on there?
Do you mean you're already backing-up to a Time Capsule, and want to switch to using an external HD? If so, just format the drive and select it via Time Machine Preferences > Select Disk. See #21 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
If you mean something else, please clarify.

How can I use my external hard drive with my new (firewire-less) MacBook?

I read in another post that the available firewire adapters don't work for external hard drives. So how can I get my music, etc. off my external hard drive and onto my new computer?

Like the second or third one in this picture?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/USBtypes2.jpg
They are USB ports - the smaller one is a mini-USB (like you might find on a digital camera) and the third is a USB-B port (such as on a printer). You can use a mini or standard USB cable (depending on the port) to connect it to your Macbook.
Matt

How can I use my Windows Hard Drive as an external backup?

Hi everyone! I am currently making the switch from Windows, I can't wait for my MacBook to arrive. My lovely Dell currently has a 320 GB HD that would prove a very nice external backup storage unit. So, I plan to remove it and find a case to mount and use it as such!
Only problem is, I'm fairly certain that I'll run into some compatibility issues and have never used an external HD. I'm unsure of how the process works. This is the HD in my personal laptop (only PC I own), so it's not like I have it hooked up to play around with as an external at the moment.
The Hard Drive is a Toshiba MK3255GSX (SATA): http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-MK3255GSX-320GB-5400RPM-Drive/dp/B003LMP8P6
Can I connect with FireWire (or Is that dependent on my hard drive, or do I get a cable converter)?
When/how do I partition it?
Since this is my personal home use PC, it's loaded with a bunch of programs/Win32/cache/temp files/garbage. Can I just access/delete these from the Mac?
Even if you can't give me a full guide on the procedure, any tips or things to keep in mind are GREATLY appreciated. I expect to pick this up little by little.
Thanks again!

You will have to reformat the HDD in 'Disk Utility' Application to either one strictly for Macs or one that PCs can also utilize. That is your choice.
The connection is dependent upon the enclosure the the HDD is in. If it has a Firewire port, all to the good because Firewire data transfer rates are about twice as fast as USB @. Your MBP will have that capability. Otherwise its USB 2.
If you are anticipating installing Windows on your MBP, you will have to partition the HDD which also can be done in 'Disk Utility'.
When you format the HDD in 'Disk Utility', it will erase all of the data on that HDD. If you want to save anything, back it up first.
Ciao.

How can I use my external hard drive on both pc and mac, but also being able to use it to back up my mac data?

I want to be able to transfer some of my files from my laptop to my macbook, but not all of them. I have a NTFS external hard drive and I have heard about reformatting it so that it can read/write across both systems, but can I still use this hard drive to back up the data on my macbook? If I can, how should I go about reformatting the hard drive?

FORMAT TYPES
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
Maximum file size: 4GB.
Maximum volume size: 2TB
You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
Maximum file size: 16 TB
Maximum volume size: 256TB
You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
HFS+ ((((MAC FORMAT)))) (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
Maximum file size: 8EiB
Maximum volume size: 8EiB
You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
EXFAT (FAT64)
Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
Not all Windows versions support exFAT.
exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
Maximum file size: 16 EiB
Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

How can I use my external hard drive on my mac and a windows computer?

Hello,
Can anyone help...I have recently purchased a new external hard drive for my macbook pro, it is a 1TB hard drive. I use it for time machine back ups which only takes up about 250gb of space so obviously I have a lot more to use. I'm at University and the computers there are Windows so I'm hoping to be able to drag my uni work to my external HD and connect it to the windows computers at my university so that I have my work there as well - however I'm not sure how I should format my HD???
Thanks

You will eventually use all of that 1TB external for the Time Machine backups, that is if you do regular Time Machine backups (It is NOT a One Time thing). So using that same external for anything else is not a good idea.
You would be much better off buying a large USB thumb drive, like 64GBs in size, and format that to one of the Windows formates that both Mac OS X and Windows can read from and write to. Those would be FAT32 and exFAT. If you are moving file less than 4GBs in size then format it FAT32. You can then copy files to it from your Mac and Read those files on the Windows PCs the school has and just stick that Thumb drive in your pocket.

How can I use my external hard drive for storage?

I just bought a new external hard drive, the My Book Premium Edition II. I have totally spent all of the memory on my hard drive and want to transfer my music to my new hard drive and use it as my iTunes directory, but everytime I try to move my music files, it tells me I cannot because the drive cannot be formatted. On the box it says Mac OSX compatible but when I open up the Get Info it says, Format: Windows NT Filesystem. It is 1Tb. How can I get this to work????? Help please.

jbsilliman
That's because Macs can read from NT FS drives, but can't write to them. Microsoft have maintained NTFS as a closed system. To use the drive you'll need to reformat it to something the Mac can read and write to.
Regards
TD

How can i use an external hard drive with my ipad

I just got a new ipad 2 I am trying to see it is possible to connect a external hard drive to take my picture and documents with me.

Basically you can't, though there are a few (fairly expensive) drives coming onto the market which are said to be compatible. There is no USB port on the iPad, and the optional camera connection kit is only for the transfer of photos/videos, so wouldn't recognise other file types - if you were able to connect a drive via it then the drive would need it's own power source, the photos would have to be in a specific format, and there is still no guarantee that it would work.
There are apps available for the iPad which can use/access cloud services such as Dropbox.

How can I use an external hard drive for capturing? I don't have enough mem

I'm new at this...I have a Powerbook G4 and not nearly enough memory for capturing a full size video. Is there some way to send it to an external hard drive- for capturing, then burn it in my laptop? Would that external hard drive have to have IDVD loaded on it?

Hi artdrake
Just to add to the already good advice posted above.
Another possible approach which works for me, assuming the ext. FireWire HD is large and fast enough (I recommend at least 120GB and 7200rpm) is to format the the ext. HD as stated above (journaled) and then clone your existing startup volume (using Carbon Copy Cloner) to the ext. Hard Drive. This will circumvent installing a fresh OS as well as all the iLife apps to the ext. device. You will simply make an exact copy of your laptops HD to the ext. volume. It takes me all of 30-40 mins. on my G4 system to do this procedure whereas installing everything from scratch may take several hours.
Click Here for example/s:
Once this is completed and assuming the ext. drive is connected securely via Firewire, Restart the computer while holding down the option key. Select the ext. FW HD. Once your G4 laptop is booted to external drive, use it as you would the primary drive. The only difference is that you now have plenty of room to capture to or to burn a DVD. This saves you from consuming much needed HD space on the G4 laptop plus it also serves as a fully operative backup hard drive for your G4.
Hope this suggestion works as well for you as it does for me. Feel free to post back with additional questions/concerns.
(3) G4 PM's/(3) S-Drives/Sony TRV900/Nikons/6FWHD's/PS7/iLife06/FCPHD/DVDSP/etc. Mac OS X (10.4.8) My ichatav AIM account is: SDMacuser1 (Please use Text chat prior to video)

How can I use an external hard drive that says it's for pc?

HI,
I just ordered an external hard drive that said it would work with Macs. ON the box, it says for Pc's only. Is there a way to have it work with macbookpro?
Thanks

Does the macbook detect the HD in finder? If it does then you can go to DISK UTILITY and select it on the left panel side of DISK utility and go to ERASE. Select Exfat or Fat 32 format if you need to go in between MAC OSX and Windows 7. (Exfat is not supported on all machines running XP) Click the erase when you have the correct format and it should work.
If you can't detect the HD on your mac then you need to format it on a Windows machine to FAT 32 then you should be able to read it.
Your still using leopard? do you happen to have a PPC?

How can i make my external hard drive be the scratch disk with 1 FW input?!

Hello! I use firewire with my external HD AND my camera...however i only have one firewire input...i set my scratch disk for final cut to work with my external HD but when i am importing footage to my computer with my camcorder, i can not have my external HD plugged in, thus the scratch disk has to be set to something else to continue working. So how can i work around this problem?! Should i just change the settings back after i import the footage and it all goes to place?

I don't understand the need to daisy chain. I have one Firewire port on my MacBook Pro, and I use a Firewire hub. I've been connecting two 1TB Western Digital My Book Studio Edition hard drives (one for FCE and iMovie projects; one for the media files I create via export), and a Canon NTSC ZR200 miniDV tape camcorder, or a Sony Digital8 tape camcorder, or sometimes a Canopus ADVC 110, without issues. Why not use a Firewire hub? . . . except to save the small expense.

How can I use a firewire hard drive on a new Macbook with one USB-C only?

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