How do I password protect an external hard drive?

I'm using a 500 GB external hard drive to back up my PowerMac. I'd like to find a simple, robust "password protection" tool or software, to password protect this drive, in case it falls in to nefarious hands. If it's free, that's fine, but I'm also happy to buy. Any idea's?
Thanks!

Hi-
The best protection for your data, is to maintain the data as a encrypted disk image. This will provide both the need for a password, as well as decryption. Creating a "sparse image" will require a password to open:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107333
Ext. HDD passwords, in OS X, are just permissions, which can be changed, or hacked, and don't give much protection.

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How do I password protect the external hard drive used for Time Machine backup

Can anyone help me to put password protection on the external hard drive I use to Time Machine backup my iMac internal hard drive? I use Snow Leopard 10.6

I think that was FileVault 1. Starting with Lion (10.7) Mac OS X uses FileVault 2, which is whole disk encryption.
Based on complaints seen in these forums, I would say FileVault 2's only complaint has been when people forget their password/encryption key (it seems an encrypted disk does prevent anyone without the password from accessing the data, including the real owner). Otherwise it does not seem to be causing any serious issues. Your Mileage may vary and objects are closer than they appear in your side view mirror (standard disclaimer). Of course this is all academic while you are using Snow Leopard (10.6).
There are other whole disk encryption packages available, such as PGP Whole Disk Encryption, HOWEVER, I would not advise it for your Mac OS X boot disk, as it has been known to be a problem when you try to install operating system updates or upgrade to a new version. NOTE: I have not seen PGP Whole Disk Encryption discussed much, ever since FileVault 2 came along.

Help- how to password protect an external hard drive?

I'm just stuck. There must be a way to encrypt or password protect an external hard drive. No?

The easiest way is to make an encrypted disk image of the folder contents with Disk Utility. Go to Disk Utility's File menu -> New -> Disk Image from Folder. There you can pick an encrypted disk image. Once you have made that image, delete the folder that it came from and leave the image behind. Mind you, there is always the risk you might lock yourself out permanently from that data if the image becomes corrupted. You are safer keeping the external hard disk in a physically safe place when not in use.

Password Protecting An External Hard Drive.

I am running 10.6.2 on my Macbook Pro 2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.
I've just used Super Duper to back up and make a bootable copy of my Macbook Pro's internal hard drive. My question is can I password protect this new external hard drive, and it if it password protected, will I still be able to boot up from it should anything go wrong with the internal hard drive?
If the answer is yes to both questions, then I would very much appreciate some tips on how to go about this.
Many thanks in advance.

there are no built in tools for that. but you can turn on filevault on your home directory and encrypt your home folder. that's enough for most people as there really isn't any sensitive data outside your home directory. then of course the home directory on the clone will be just as protected.
if you want full disk encryption you need to use 3rd party tools like TrueCrypt or PGP encryption. I'm not familiar with them and don't know if they allow you to boot from encrypted drives.

Password protection for external hard drive

is anyone aware of a good, reliable program which allows you to protect data on your external hard drive with a password?

Actually, there's really no reason to make the disk image the size of the whole hard drive. It would make it convenient in a way, since the disk image would have plenty of room on it, but it would also make backups a major pain in the arse, since one minor change to one file inside the image file means the whole thing has to get backed up. If you've got a 150 GB drive, that means a change to a 4 k file requires that you back up 150 GB. (And where do you back up several incremental backups of a 150 GB file to, anyway?)
What I would recommend is to use many smaller disk images. For example, if you've got 10 projects on the drive, each taking up, say, 150 MB, then you could make 10 disk images that are 200 MB (or more or less, depending on anticipated growth of the projects), and put the files for each project inside one image. Change one project, you only have to back up one image file, which is only a fraction of the total size of the drive. Even if you made each image file 1 GB -- an order of magnitude larger than the project files -- it would still be something you could easily back up onto a DVD, and all 10 disk images would still only take up less than 7% of a 150 GB drive.

How to password protect an external hard drive

I just bought an external HD to use with Time Machine and for some extra space, but I would really like to password protect it. Since it has all my files on it, it is just as important as password protecting my computer. I'm thinking I probably have to use Disk Utilities, but I'm not quite sure how to do it.
Please be as detailed as possible, because I don't delve into Utilities very often.
Thanks
P.S. My HD is a Toshiba Portable Hard Drive, if it makes any difference. It advertises on the back that it can be password protected, but I have been unable of finding any way to do so.

Hello FidgetingFinhc,
The best protection for your data is to maintain the data as a encrypted disk image. Creating a "sparse image" will require a password to open:
I would follow the instructions provided by the Apple Support document below on how to make this happen.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1578
Hope this helps.
B-rock

Since I upgraded to 10.9.5, my macbook no longer recognizes my external hard drive. How do I fix this? External hard drive is a 1TB Toshiba formatted for mac. Worked fine until latest upgrade.

Since I upgraded to 10.9.5, my macbook no longer recognizes my external hard drive. How do I fix this? External hard drive is a 1TB Toshiba formatted for mac. Worked fine until latest upgrade.

Solved the problem by dumping my external HD onto another computer. Re-formatting and re-installing the data. Not what I wanted to do but it solved the problem.

I perviously transfered all my iTunes music to an external hard drive. But now when I connect the external hard drive and try to play a song, I get an error message saying that I need to "locate" my music. I don't how to find it on my external hard drive.

I perviously transfered all my iTunes music to an external hard drive. But now when I connect the external hard drive and try to play a song, I get an error message saying that I need to "locate" my music. I don't how to find it on my external hard drive. Please help for I am not that computer savy and don't want to mess anything up.
Thanks!

I called Apple Support and they walked me through it. They told me to basically copy and paste my music to the external hard drive. (I think.) Or maybe it was they had me transfer a folder to the EHD. I don't exactally remember it was a few years back. But I tried to plug in the EHD before starting and...nothing. Still says same thing, "locate file."

How do I restore a failed external hard drive using Time Machine?

I have an external hard drive connected to my iMac that is being backed up with Time Machine. I just realized that should it one day fail and no longer appear as a connected device, I'm not sure how to restore its data to another external drive. When I disconnected the external hard drive (to mimic a drive crash) and entered Time Machine to see if I could verify that the external hard drive was, in fact, being backed up - I didn't know where to find it. Under the Today (Now) information, I didn't expect to see it there as it was no longer connected to the machine. But when I went back a few days, I expected to see its backup appear in the Sidebar. But no!
So - how do I restore a failed external hard drive using Time Machine?
Searches for this information on Google yielded "iffy" results. I'm hoping someone here is able to offer some clear steps to follow. Perhaps I'm missing something silly. Thank you very much!

I came across this discussion after encountering the same problem. Since my internal HD was cose to full I added an additional external HD to my setup. I moved my iPhoto files to an external HD and backed both this external HD and my internal HD up with Time Machine to another external HD. So far the theory. When I wanted to test if this setup worked I noticed that I could only see my iPhoto libraries on the external HD in Time Machine when the external HD was connected to my computer, but not if I turned it off. This led me to search for a solution on the Apple Support Communities discussion board.
The suggestions made Kappy seem right, at least in my experience, in that my Time Machine simply did not back up the external HD until I followed the steps he suggested above. These were the following:
"So, if you want it backed up then here's what you need to do:
1. In Time Machine preferences remove the external drive from the Exclude list.
2. Verify that it is now included with your other drive in the backup list.
3. Do a Backup Now to create a new backup of the external drive."
After doing this, my external HD showed up in the Backups.backupd as a seperate folder. I could clearly see the Time Machine back-up for my internal HD and my external HD. In addition, in Time Machine itself I was able to find the external harddrive by clicking on my own computers name under "Devices". I hope my experience helps to resolve your issue as this discussion board has helped me resolve mine (which I believe to be very similar).
Cheers!

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

How do i import to a external hard drive

Hi in I movie how to i import to a external hard drive from my video camera as i find it takes to much room on my imac. thanks

Hello there foxcub 6,
It sounds like you want to be able to import your video to an external drive rather than your internal drive to save space.
First, you'll need to create an iMovie library on your external hard drive. Take a look at the "Create a new library" section here: http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.0/#mov3fa25bae7
After you've created the library, you can import media directly to it, and copy existing projects and events to it as well. You can learn more about importing here:
http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.0/#movbc953953e
Step 6 outlines how to Import to a different library specifically:
Do one of the following:
To choose an existing event to contain the imported clips: Choose the event from the “Import to” pop-up menu at the top of the Import window.
To create a new event to contain the imported clips: Choose New Event from the “Import to” pop-up menu, type a name for the new event, and press Return.
To learn more about events, see Organize your events and projects.
The Import To dropdown is at the top of the Import window that opens when you click File > Import.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Cheers,Sterling

How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro?

How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro to my primary hard drive for my iTunes library?
I ask this because every time I try to do this it my Mac book pro always wants to use the external hard drive I plug in as a time machine back up rather than my primary hard drive. I figured it would be cheaper and more efficient to use an external hard drive rather than have apple charge me an arm and a leg to replace and upgrade my current hard drive in my Mac book pro.

I responded to this in your duplicate posting at: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2690347
I recommend giving a first post a chance before posting a second time, especially since it may result in a lot of duplication in effort from the people volunteering their time here.

How do i safely eject an external hard drive?

how do i safely eject an external hard drive after back up is done?

Press the eject key, or open a program like iTunes and eject it, or drag the desktop icon to the trash.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Hello, i am new to the mac and i need to learn how to re image using an external hard drive

Hello, i am new, like baby fresh new,...lol, to the mac and i need to learn how to re-image using an external hard drive.

How to replace or upgrade a drive in a laptop
Step One: Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger, Leopard or Snow Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Step Two: Remove the old drive and install the new drive. Place the old drive in an external USB enclosure. You can buy one at OWC who is also a good vendor for drives.
Step Three: Boot from the external drive. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive then click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Step Four: New Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your new hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Step Five: Clone the old drive to the new drive
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the new internal drive. Source means the old external drive.
Step Six: Open the Startup Disk preferences and select the new internal volume. Click on the Restart button. You should boot from the new drive. Eject the external drive and disconnect it from the computer.

How to import music from an external hard drive to my itunes on my computer?

how can import music from an external hard drive that i saved my itunes music to. i dragged the music from my hard drive to the itunes on my computer but the music does not play from my itunes. it does however play on my ipod. it gives me an error that the original can not be found and do i wish to locate it. i am thinking that i did not drag the right file or all of the files necessary .thanks. kevin

To import music into your iTunes library on the computer go to iTunes>Help>iTunes Help>Add items to iTunes and follow the instructions

How do I password protect an external hard drive?

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