How to back up my mac hard drive to my external hardrive?

How to back up my mac hard drive to my external hard drive?  

Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
SuperDuper!
Synk Pro
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.
And, OS X includes Time Machine. See Pondini's Time Machine FAQ and Mac 101- Time Machine

Similar Messages

  • How do I move a partition on my mac hard drive, to an external hard drive so that i can run windows when the external hard drive is connected

    How do I move a partition on my mac hard drive, to an external hard drive so that i can run windows when the external hard drive is connected

    Are you talking about a Bootcamp partition? You can't boot Windows from an external drive.

  • How do I access my Mac hard drive from my Windows OS?

    I recently bought a MacBook Pro and had it partitioned into two hard drives, 65 gig of mac and 35 gig of windows, which will mostly be for games. However, when I am running OS X, i can explore the windows hard drive, but when I run XP, I can't explore the Mac hard drive. I turned file sharing on, so I thought I should be able to. My main reason for this question is because I moved my music to the mac side, and I want windows to be able to access it so that I dont have to store it on both sides. Thanks so much!

    Hi Josh!
    If you're sharing from Mac to Windows then obviously your network connection is working fine. What happens when you try to share from Windows to Mac? Are you getting error messages?
    I highly suggest using SharePoints to create the Windows shares on your Mac. Then on your Windows machine go to Start --> Run and enter something like "\\MacIPaddress\newshare".
    Hope this helps! bill
    1 GHz Powerbook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

  • How do I copy a Macbook hard drive onto an external hard drive?

    Hello all. I am trying to do a back up of a hard drive on a circa 2006 Macbook that I'd like to wipe clean but retain all of the info from the HD on an external hard drive. I tried simply right-clicking the hard drive, selecting "Copy" and then pasting the entire "Macintosh HD" onto the extremal hard drive.
    It seemed to be working until I saw an error an hour later that said, "An item named Library already exists in this folder." This didn't make any sense to me since the entire HD itself was being copied as a self-contained unit.
    (By the way, the OS 10.4 era so, no Time Machine.)
    Is there a simple, basic procedure for this I should know about?
    Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

    Finder is not the best option for duplicating an entire hard drive, individual files in your home folder are probably okay that way.  To copy the entire drive:
    /Applications/Utilities/Disc Utility.app can duplicate a drive using the Restore option.
    Other third-party utilities like Carbon Copy Cloner, Retrospect, Deja Vu offer features such as regularly scheduled incremental backups of only changes since the prior backup.  If you just intend to copy the whole drive as a backup one time, try the built-in Disc Utility.app, but for maintaining a regular backup of a system the other software options offer very useful features.

  • How to look at a Mac hard drive using another Mac

    The motherboard in my G5 iMac recently bit the dust, so I removed the hard drive and installed it in my external inclosure. When I access the old hard drive from a newer Mac to retrieve the information I didn't have backed up, it sends me to the file on the "new" Mac, {If I try to go to "Documents" on the old hard drive, it takes me to "Documents" on the new Mac} If I click on the External "Mac HD" in Finder, then select "Applications" - it deselects the External "Mac HD" & shows the "Applications" folder on the external hard drive {I have some apps on the old one that aren't on the new one} but when I click on iPhoto, it takes me to iPhoto on the new Mac - How do I access the files on the old hard drive?

    If you have an external hard drive connected to your Mac, it should show up in the sidebar of your Finder window, just like a mounted server on a network. So if you select that external drive, it should show you the contents of the drive, including all folders and files that aren't normally invisible. From that starting point, you should be able to navigate to whatever folder or file you want on the external drive.
    Don't be fooled into thinking you can click on the folders or files listed in the normal Finder window and expect them to take you where you want to go, or do what you want to do.

  • I have booted in Tech Tool; now how can I erase the Mac Hard Drive?

    I bootrd my MacBook Pro in Tech Tool, and want to erase the Hard drive completely. I can't do it. Any suggestions?

    A Late 2008 MacBook Pro should be able to boot off a disc that looks like
    And says Mac OS X 10.6 to erase the hard drive.  But before we even go that far, why do you want to erase, and is your data backed up?

  • How to back up an unhealthy hard drive

    My MacBook pro will start up but it will not boot up, I've tried many different things and they have all failed. I took my MacBook to a computer store and they told me that my hard drive is unhealthy and needs to be repaired. Is there any way of getting  my data off of my hard drive ?

    Get a properly formatted external drive and connect it to the computer. Then do this:
    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.
    No guarantee this will work, but if the drive is accessible you may get luck and have a backup.

  • 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 do I move my itunes library from my hard drive to an external hardrive?

    I am trying to free up storage space on my imac hard drive.  I have one external hard drive with 500 GB storga and then another 2 TB external hard drive that I am using as my time machine back up of everything.  I moved my itunes library (approx. 70GB) over to the 500 GB hard drive, but I think it is still somewhere on the imac HD.  I am looking for simple directions on how to move my itunes library and/or iphoto library and deleting the oriiginal version on my HD so that I have adequate room on my startup disk.  Thoughts?

    Here you go:
    Move iTunes:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
    iPhoto:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506

  • IPhoto - My iPhoto is not responding. When I click on iPhoto I get a never ending spinning beachball.  I almost think it is looking in the wrong place for the pictures.  How do I redirect it back to the Mac hard drive?

    My iPhoto is not responding.  Whenever I click on the iPhoto icon I get a twirling beachball.  It is as if the machine is looking in the wrong place for the photos.  How can I see where the machine is looking to find out if this is really the problem.  How can I see the path?

    Try this:  launch iPhoto with the Option key held down and create a new, test library.  Import some photos and check to see if the same problem persists. If it doesn't then the problem lies with your current library.
    If that's the case  Apply the two fixes below in order as needed: 
    Fix #1
    Launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys held down and rebuild the library.
    Since only one option can be run at a time start with Option #3, followed by #4 and then #1 as needed.
    Fix #2
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    2 - click on the Add Library button, navigate to your Home/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    3 - Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File ➙ Rebuild Library menu option.
    4 - In the next  window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
    5 - Click on the Create button.
    Note: 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. The original library will be left untouched for further attempts at fixing the problem or in case the rebuilt library is not satisfactory.
    OT

  • How to back up data on hard drive

    what is the best way to back up data to an external HD? I have no back up software. I have data in a "previous system" folder. I can not find original applications such as Office for Mac. When I try to install from disc I get error message "shared libray error"

    To backup, you can use CarbonCopy Cloner @ http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html , or SuperDuper @ http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html , or IBackup @ http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/index.html , or the Restore function of Disk Utility included in OS X.
     Cheers, Tom

  • How can I find the Mac Hard Drive Icon in Finder?

    Why don't I see an Icon for my Mac HD in Finder? Also, should there be a file "Printer Setup Utility" in the Utility file?

    To show Macintosh HD in the Finder sidebar, open a Finder window, go to Finder menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > Sidebar, and tick "Hard disks". It will show in the Finder sidebar, under "Devices".
    If you want to show it in Desktop, open Finder menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > General, and tick "Hard disks".
    Respecting to Printer Setup Utility, it doesn't come by default in OS X Mountain Lion. After adding a printer, it's possible that some printer utilities get added, and one of them may be Printer Setup Utility

  • If i created an image of my mac hard drive onto an external hard drive would it delete everything on it

    please someone help me. its just a yes or a no but im unsure an dont want to go ahead untill im sure!!

    If you did it right, then yes it would first erase the external drive:
    Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
      1. Open Disk Utility in 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. 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.

  • How can I securely erase my hard drive and reinstall OS X Mountain Lion?

    Hi, I am selling my MacBook and I was wondering if there's a way I can securely erase my hard drive, (... 7 pass, 35 pass) using these steps: http://www.mactip.net/how-to-securely-wipe-your-mac-hard-drive-before-selling-it /
    and also reinstall OS X Mountain Lion afterwards.
    Thanks in advance. 

    Boot into recovery mode by holding the command and r keys down during boot. Bring up Disk Utility and do the security erase you want to do. When done, choose to download Mountain Lion.

  • How do you back up a Mac Book Pro to an external hard drive?

    How do you back up a Mac Book Pro to an external hard drive?

    So you might also want to check this out in order to make a bootable drive of your computer:
    http://macintoshhowto.com/repair/back-up-computer.html

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