How do i reformat a hard drive without losing anything on it?

I just got a message that I need to back up and reformat my external hard drive. I know very little about this process and would like to know how to do so and if this is possible without losing anything on it.

If you reformat a drive, you will lose whatever information/files are on it. So, the only way to save your info is to copy it to another drive temporarily, reformat your drive (use Disk Utility and format using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the GUID Partition scheme under Options) and then you can copy your information back.

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Reformatting External Hard Drive Without Losing Files

I recently switched from a crashed HP to a Macbook and am trying to reformat my external hard drive, but it looks like every option requires me to delete the files on my hard drive. Is there a way to avoid this? I'm a fitness instructor and ALL of my music is on the hard drive...
Thank you!!

Why are you reformatting the drive? Is it formatted in NTFS for Windows? If so, the Mac can read the files off the drive, which is what you'll need to do. Reformatting is a destructive process, so if you want the drive in a different format (such as Mac OS Extended) you will need to copy the files off to another location temporarily and then bring them back once the drive is reformatted. Since the Mac can read the old drive, an external drive formatted Mac OS Extended could be attached as well and the files moved over.
If you don't want to do that, there are some third party options that will allow the Mac to read and write NFTS drives. The downside is that it's more than a bit tricky to do, and the risk of things going wrong when writing is likely why Apple defaults to only reading the NFTS drives and not writing to them.
If you will need to use the drive on both Windows and Mac machines the one "common" format is FAT32. That has its own issues (including a hard and fast 4GB maximum file size) but either OS will read and write the drive without complaint.

How do I swap out hard drives without losing all of my playlists?

I got a bigger hard drive to store all of my music, and can't do a mass switch. I could delete everything out of my itunes and then add all from the new, but then I would lose all of my playlists.

To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application SuperDuper. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html You'll need a cheap SATA external hard drive case. Put the new drive in the case then format and partition the new drive and clone your old drive to the new one. Check that it's set up right by booting up from the external drive. Then replace your old hard drive with the new one and put your old one in the external case.
Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=pd_cp_pc_0

How do you change out hard drives without losing all your software license keys

I have lots of cash tied up in software.

To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application SuperDuper. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html You'll need a cheap SATA external hard drive case. Put the new drive in the case then format and partition the new drive and clone your old drive to the new one. Check that it's set up right by booting up from the external drive. Then replace your old hard drive with the new one and put your old one in the external case.
Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=pd_cp_pc_0

How do I partition my external hard drive without losing data?

How do I partition my external hard drive without losing the data already on it? I've been using it with Time Machine on my old computer, but want to use it as a regular drag-and-drop type back up on my new computer. Is there any way to basically split the hard drive so I can still access the Time Machine backups on my old computer, but also be able to use it with my new mac? Thanks!

If you reformat the drive all data is lost.
The only way to save the data is to copy it somewhere else during the reformat.
Drag & drop will not backup things correctly.
I suggest you set up partition for each Mac and then point Time Machine to each of the partition for each of the Macs.

How Do I Reformat The Hard Drive?

Hello,
I just bought aToshiba Satellite P505-S8940 laptop. It did not come with a recovery disk. I had to use their Recovery Disc Creator to make copies of 2 system recovery disks and 2 application disks. I would like to know how do I reformat the hard drive? Thanks!

Satellite P505-S8940
See the section Recovering the Internal Storage Drive, which begins on p. 62 of the User's Guide.
Satellite P500 Series User's Guide
-Jerry

How do i reformat my hard drive on mac mini late 2011 with yosemite before selling my mac

how do i reformat my hard drive on mac mini late 2011 with yosemite before selling my mac

You can't legally sell or give away that computer with Yosemite installed.
Before you sell or give away your computer, in addition to the steps listed in this support article, take these steps:
1. Run Apple Diagnostics or the Apple Hardware Test. The buyer will do this (or he should), and you don't want to be surprised by the results.
2. Reset the PRAM and the SMC, which might contain personal information.
3. If you set a firmware password, remove it by running Firmware Password Utility in Recovery mode.
4. If you activated FileVault in OS X 10.7 or later, turn it off.
5. If you use Boot Camp, the partition must be deleted.
6. If you created any other data partitions on the internal drive, remove them in Disk Utility.
7. If the machine has an internal hard drive, erase the one remaining data partition with the option to zero out data. An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.
You can't legally or practically transfer any software downloaded from the Mac App Store to the new owner of the machine, even if it was free. That includes OS X, so if you upgraded to OS X 10.7 or later, you must reinstall an older OS, either from the installation media, if applicable, or by starting up in Internet Recovery mode (option-command-R at the startup chime.) If you installed from physical media, deliver those to the new owner.
If you're selling the machine, or donating it in working order, and it originally shipped with OS X 10.4 or 10.5, then you have the option of installing either from the discs that came with it or from a retail Snow Leopard disc (which you must then transfer to the buyer.) The buyer should understand that if he doesn't get the original discs from you, he won't get the bundled iLife applications or the Apple Hardware Test. Replacements for the original discs can be ordered from Apple.
The new owner will have to redownload any software that came from the App Store, including OS X upgrades, under his or her Apple ID. If you ever updated the bundled iLife applications (Garage Band, iMovie, and iPhoto) through the App Store, you can't transfer those either. The buyer will have to purchase them.
Remove the machine from your list of registered products. If it's still covered by an AppleCare Protection Plan, transfer the coverage to the new owner by following the instructions in the AppleCare Terms and Conditions (under the heading "Transfer of Plan.")

How do I import images from my hard drive without losing resolution? My original files after import are significantly smaller. What should I do?

How do I import images from my hard drive without losing resolution? My original files after import are significantly smaller. What should I do?

Hi Keith, and all others chiming in, I do have the correct option checked in advanced settings telling iPhoto to copy the images into the library. What is a refernced library? Perhaps this is where I am getting confused. I exported my entire photo library from an old iMac5 to my external hard drive, from there I attempted to import the entire library to my new iMac. Am I overlooking an obvious and easy way to import from the hard drive to the new iMac--I dragged the entire photo pholder from the hard drive to the open window of iPhoto on the new computer. Now, I only get preview file sizes in iPhoto, unless I have my external drive open. Perhaps I need to import the original images from the hard drive in a different way...?! (This is making me feel pretty stupid.)

I have been using an external hard drive on a PC, I have now moved over to a macbookpro, is there a way to reformat the hard drive without deleting the files currently on the hard drive?

I have been using an external hard drive on a PC, I have now moved over to a macbookpro, is there a way to reformat the hard drive without deleting the files currently on the hard drive?

if it's fat32 then the mac can read it without problems
if it's ntfs then you can install programs which make it possible to write to it too otherwise it's read only

If I donwload e-books from various e-book retailers and want to back them up on an external hard drive without losing the format, do I need a special hard drive?

If I download e-books from various e-book retailers and want to back them up on an external hard drive without losing the format, do I need to know anything special?

I just looked into this as I was moving my iPad to a new computer for synching. With no thanks to Kobo for any really useful information on their help site (this discussion was the most useful info I found), I think the following may address your issue with respect to Kobo.
1. There is not easy or official way to back up Kobo books from your iPad.
2. Kobo keep track of your personal library. Go to the Kobo website (Kobo.com) and sign in to your account. On the very top line is "My Library". That contains (or at least Kobo says it does) everything you have ever bought from Kobo. Kobo say that you may download any of this content to other devices you own at no charge.
3. I synched my iPad to the new computer. According to Apple, that will delete all my data as the apps are re-installed from the new compute. While all my apps got moved around from the order I previously had (many thanks Apple), all my books are still there together with my bookmarks etc. Looks like this did nothing to change any Kobo data.
While I do not like the idea that I cannot create a backup on my main computer, it is probably safer in the long run that there is a backup at Kobo. After all, I could lose all my equipment in a fire or something, and then personal backups would be of little use.

So my phone is plugged into the computer for a software update and the update went halfway through and hasnt made any advancements. how do i get my phone back without losing anything?

so my phone is plugged into the computer for a software update and the update went halfway through and kind of stopped. it says its still updating but I cant figure out how to stop it and just get my phone back. how do i get my phone back without losing anything?

See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

HT1338 How can I format my hard drive without installation disk?

Guys I am using Mac with OS X 10.6.5. How can I format hard drive without the installation disk?
I don't have a installation disk can I buy one? where?

Call Apple Sales at 1-800-692-7753 to order 10.6.
Posts concerning 10.6 should be made in 10.6 usage forum.
You posted in the 10.3 and down forum which is very old OSX software.
DALE

How to install a new hard drive without bootable disc/usb

Hi- my hard drive has totally failed and although I can get into disk utility it won't let me create images and keeps coming up with input/output errors when I try.
I don't have another mac to work from and have no discs whatsoever even for older OS versions
I've ordered a new hard drive(a seagate 750GB 7400rpm one) but how do I get mountain lion on the new hard drive without any discs? If I just put in my new hard drive will it come up with an option? I have a mid 2009 MBP if that helps

I have a mid 2009 MBP if that helps
Here is how it helps:
You need the Utilities from Recovery_HD. Your broken Mac can boot from a Thumb drive.
Use this article to download this Utility to copy the Recovery_HD from your older, working Mac to a minimum 1GB USB thumb drive:
OS X: About Recovery Disk Assistant
Then boot the new mac with the thumb drive by holding down Alt/Option, wait wait wait while it draws an Icon for each bootable Volume, choose the Recovery_HD, choose proceed arrow, and use Disk Utility to erase the drive and create GUID partition Map, 1 partition, Mac OS X Extended (journaled). Then install Mac OS X by download.

How do i wipe my hard drive, without the set up disk. im deployed in Afghanistan and dont have access to the disk

i am depolyed and do not have my disk here. is there anyway i can wipe my hard drive without it?

Back up all data, then boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, select the startup volume, and erase it.

How do i reformat a case sensitive external hard drive without losing data

I know there are a lot of posts about this, and i have spent hours trying to find a soloution / understand what people have responded to others, but i can't work this out.
I also have a Buffalo HD (let's call it HD1) that stores my itunes library.
I have a WD My Passport for Mac (let's call it HD2) that backs up my Mac Book Pro.
I have an older WD that has older TM back ups on it from previous computers (let's call it HD3)
I have one spare completely 'clean' WD hard drive (let's call it HD4).
My laptop was really slow and full so i went to Genius bar, they sold me the Buffalo HD and they moved my itunes to it and set it up so it now has my itunes. I used this disk to run two TM Backups before i realised the drive was nearly full, so i bought the WD My Passport HD2.
I now use WD My Passprt HD2 for TM.
I want to MOVE the backups on HD1 to My Passport HD2 as there is lots of space on it. I also want to move my itunes library from HD2 as a back up.
But i can't!!!
After reading for hours, apparently this is because my HD1 is case sensitive, journaled. And it needs to be Journaled to work with TM/OSX or something very confusing. I have read lots of threads about re-formatting / partitioning and all things that are way over my head. But the one thing i do understand is if i reformat HD1, it erases the data.
This is NOT an option as it holds my WHOLE itunes. The Itunes is WAY too big to drag onto my mac book pro and then move it over to HD2 and make that my itunes folder.
HOW THE **** ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BACK UP THE CASE SENSITIVE DRIVE BEFORE REFORMATTING IT IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FIT BACK ON YOUR COMPUTER? Surely that's the whole point of having an external drive... to back up AND give you more space?
I'm so mad that the apple store did this to me... they should know that case sensitve wouldn't work with a passport... that i would have problems. UGh.
I have options to move the files from HD1 as i have HD2 and HD3 and then also the completely unused HD4... but i can't move anything anywhere due to this case sensitive nightmare.
Someone PLEASE HELP ME.
thanks.

Hi Kappy,
Just wondering if you had any advice for my situation . . .
My time machine backup was backing up to a drive that was "Mac OS X Enteded Journaled, Case Sensitive." I had no idea what this meant, or that it would even cause issues.
I took my computer to the Apple store yesterday, and they wiped it clean. When they tried to restore it from the Time Machine backup drive, it would not work. Their guess is that Time Machine cannot restore from a drive that is "case sensitive."
Any thoughts on how I can convert my time machine backup data from a "case sensitive" state, to a "non-case sensitive" state? I've tried to just drag and drop the files from the case sensitive formatted drive to a new drive that I have that is formatted non case sensitive, but I get the following error message:
"The volume has the wrong case sensitivity for a backup"
I just really want my data back - I thought TimeMachine was the way to go (and was supposed to work) but unfortunately it is not.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

How do i reformat a hard drive without losing anything on it?

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