How to resize/erase a partitioned external drive

Just checking if I got this well before proceeding.
I have a new Western Digital external FW drive (1TB). I partitioned it in two for using with Time Machine (300GB) and the rest for my huge iTunes and iPhoto libraries.
Now I've changed my mind and I want to have a single partition (or no partitions at all ) in the WD drive and use it for my data only. I don't really care about the Time Machine partition at this time, since it's relatively new and I use SuperDuper! for my startup drive anyway. Right now I care about my libraries in the lower partition. I have another external, Maxtor 500GB hard drive that can be used for Time Machine and other backups afterwards.
The problem is: The first partition (the UPPER one) is the partition I'd like to erase, and the bigger one with my data is below. I've read there's no way to resize the lower partition without erasing it or corrupting/losing the data. I know I should think before partitioning in the first place.
So, my only choice would be backing up my libraries and other data from the WD in the 500GB drive, then erase the WD drive and copying everything back again to a single, new and fresh partition? Hope there were a better solution for this. If not, I'd appreciate a comment anyway.
Thanks for your help and comments in advance, gurus.
JJ

Now that I think of it, I can try something. Copying the lower to the upper partition is a good option, and it could be done if I temporarily move SOME of the files stored in the lower one. Then copy the rest to the upper partition and do what you suggest.
Some questions about this: Can I first erase the data in the upper partition to have more room to copy data? And... is this resizing procedure SAFE for the rest of the data?
I'll think about it before proceeding, anyway
Thanks for your suggestion, it could be the answer.
JJ

Similar Messages

How do I boot from an external drive?

I've just Carbon Cloned my 60GB drive to a firewire external drive. I'm about to replace the 60GB with a 160GB drive and the CCC instructions say boot from the external drive I'd just created once the new disk is installed. Then CCC the cloned drive back to the new hard drive.
So, how do I boot from an external drive? Do I have load anything to the new drive? Will the macbook detect the external drive and boot from that? Or what??????
Thanks
Dick

Thanks DWB. Being the rash impetuous guy I am I didn't wait for replies and just switched on the macbook after installing the new disk (which was so easy it was unbelievable - had to go and buy a a little torx bit though) to see what would happen.
Blow me down with a feather if it didn't just boot off the external drive all by itself :-O It did come up with the disk was unverified and I could see it in FINDER and I was prseented with a screen to ERASE/RESTORE etc.
When I went to CCC the external drive back to the new hard drive it didn't give show me the new hard drive so I guessed I'd have to do something to format (?) the hard drive.
I don't know if I did the right thing but I went to disk utilities and chose ERASE in the vague hope it would maybe format the disk in some way.
Seems to work now and the CCC replaced the system perfectly as far as I can see.
Basically very impressive all round. Piece of proverbial to replace the disk and CCC made life so easy.
Thanks again.
Cheers
Dick

Updated my OS to Yosemite ver 10.10.3 Need to access iPhoto library in Photos. I have over 400 Mega pictures on a partitioned external drive. Tried dragging but no change.

I updated my OS to 10.10.3. but now can't access my iPhoto library in Photo.
I have an iMac (20 inch, Mid 2007) with a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB 667 MHz DDRs SDRAM and have over 400 mega bits of pictures on a partitioned external drive: 2 TB G-Technology by Hitachi connected by FireWire 800 to my iMac. My iPhoto application no longer reveals what version of iPhoto I have, but it was last updated on Dec 14, 2013 with a 1.7 GB file.
Tried dragging from its place on external hard drive.
When I go into the iPhoto it says it is not compatible with OS X Yosemite but the link offered to App Store says they do not have an update.
Help?

Apple dropped both iPhoto and Aperture with the Yosemite release, and I am not happy about that as I used Aperture, but try holding down the option key when you click on the Photos icon. That should bring up a box asking what library you want to connect to. In my case it had both Aperture and Photos. But there is also a choice called "other" that I would think would allow you to navigate to where your library is located and select it.

Partitioning External Drive w/o Erasing Data

I have one 500GB external drive (USB) that I want to partition. I have 85GB on data on it now and really don't want to copy it back to the Mac HD (if at all possible).
When I run Disk Utility/Partition and select 2 partitions, it allows me to shrink either partition to ~52GB - smaller than my current data size. So I'm not confident what I am doing will partition w/o erasing data.
The drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
My eventual goal is to use SuperDuper for a clone backup. I'm using the free version that only allows erase & copy. If I purchase SD, could I add a clone to the external w/o erasing existing data?
Any other suggestions?

yes you can.
quote from disk utility help:
Creating new volumes on a disk
You may be able to create multiple volumes on your disk without losing any data. Each volume works like a separate disk. You may need to create a new volume if you want to install multiple operating systems on your computer. Volumes can also help you organize your files.
NOTICE: Back up your data before creating new volumes on your disk as a precaution.
To create new volumes on a disk:
Select the disk from the list at the left, and click Partition.
Select an existing volume in the Volume Scheme list, and click Add .
Disk Utility splits the volume into two, leaving the data in one of the new volumes. If the volume is less than half-full, Disk Utility creates two volumes of equal size. Otherwise. it creates one volume large enough for the data, and another volume with the remaining space.
Resize the volumes as needed.
You can drag the dividers between the volumes in the Volume Scheme list, or you can select a volume in the Volume Scheme list, and then enter a value in the Size field.
Choose how to format the volumes that will be erased or created.
For each new volume, select it, enter a name, and then choose a format.
Click Apply.

How to fix errors when trying to erase an old external drive?

I have an external drive I used to use on my windows machine, which I wanted to erase and start using on my mac.
When I plugged it in to my windows laptop, the drive was there and I could access files.
I plugged it into my iMac and again I could see the drive and the files.
I went to disk utility and tried to use the erase feature. I got some errors and retried. The last error was 'file system formatter failed'.
Now the drive appears to be invisible on both the mac and the windows laptop! Is there anything I can do?
Veronica

I agree with dianeoforegon the drive sounds like it is dead or dying, to be more specific it sounds like it is suffering from 'bit rot'.
You could try going to the partition tab in Disk Utility and making sure it is on GUID and not MBR or APM, then set it to a single partition and try to format it. Also you could try the security option in the erase tab to force it to write to each block as a test. The lowest level is to do no security erase but the next level up will make it write once to each block, this will be sufficient to make it test each block.
Disk formatting utilities are supposed to be able to detect bad blocks during formatting and to mark them bad and to use 'spare' blocks. Unfortunately Apple's Disk Utility seems to be totally useless at doing that. Even if you have a tool which can do this it is not wise to trust a drive with lots of bad blocks (a handful might be ok) as a large number is a sign the problem is spreading hence the term 'bit rot'.
The only tool for Mac I have seen which even attempts to map out bad blocks is Scannerz from SCSC.

HOw to backup photos on an external drive

I have an Imac and i store my photos on an external drive.
I just purchased a second external drive to use as a backup for the photo external drive. I plan to use Time Machine to backup the Imac.
How do I backup the photos on the external drive to the second external drive
thanks

Yes, dragging them over should do nicely. As for formatting, this is the procedure I use and an explanation as to why. It's slanted toward preparing a drive for Time Machine backups, but it doesn't hurt to do the same for any drive you will be using with the Mac OS. "Glasses", Kappy, and V.K. might have some other suggestions as well.
*_How Should a Time Machine Hard Disk be Prepared?_*
For Time Machine to work properly, the hard disk must be formatted “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and its’ Partition Scheme should be either GUID or Apple Partition Map.
Time Machine is incompatible with disks partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR). Unfortunately, this describes nearly every hard drive you can buy because MBR is a Windows partition scheme. (Naturally, this DOES NOT apply to Apples’ Time Capsule.)
For some, Time Machine begins to perform as expected with a new external hard disk. But then the initial full backup or subsequent incremental backups fail. The user only later discovers the hard disk was still partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR).
One article on Time Machine made this observation: “Virtually everybody will have to open Disk Utility and repartition the disk as APM or GUID. It doesn't really matter which one because the Time Machine disk will not be bootable anyway. APM allows a disk to boot a PowerPC, GUID allows the disk to boot an Intel processor but both are easily digestible by Time Machine on either kind of processor.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
It’s been recommended by many here that your reserve +at least+ double the size of your primary hard disk, that way Time Machine backups have room to grow as the size of your data grows. Additionally, the more space you give Time Machine the more history it can preserve. The less space you reserve for Time Machine the sooner older backups & deleted items will disappear.
One poster recommended this regarding multiple partitions: “If you do create multiple partitions (half and half would be a good place to start), make sure you use the first partition for Time Machine, and the second for your own stuff (the first one will be on top in the graphical representation shown in Disk Utility; you'll understand when you see the partition tab). This way, you can expand the Time Machine volume at any later time by deleting the second partition. Disk Utility allows this dynamic re-sizing of volumes, but volumes can only be expanded toward the end of the drive, when a volume that comes after is deleted to create the room.” [http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1712437&tstart=0]
Procedure
Connect the hard disk you wish to use for Time Machine backups.
Launch Disk Utility.
It will appear twice in the pane on the left. (Make sure you recognize that it is different from the 2 icons that represent your Macs' internal drive.) The upper entry represent the device as a whole, including the controller inside. The lower entry represents the hard disk contained within the device.
Click on the upper icon of the external hard disk.
Select the "Partition" tab.
For "Volume Scheme" choose "1 partition". (Choose 2 partitions if you intend on storing other data on the disk besides your Time Machine backups. Ensure that the two partitions have different names.)
Name the disk.
Format should be "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
Click "Options".
Select either GUID or Apple Partition Map. (See above for significance)
Click "OK".
Click "Apply". Then click “Partition”.
Once the external hard disk is repartitioned, select it again in Time Machine preferences and use it for your backups. If you chose to create 2 partitions, then select the first partition for Time Machine backups, and the second for additional files/folders.
Let us know if this was helpful.
Cheers!

How to copy harddrive to an external drive

Can anyone tell me how to copy my hard drive to an external drive and then erase the stuff from the hard drive? I have 160g drive and I am at 159g of space.

To copy, use Carbon Copy Cloner (download from the Internet) or use Disk Utility>Restore.
To erase the HDD, use Disk Utility>Erase.
Ciao.

Partitioning external drives to increase operation speed

I just got a Lacie 250 gb external hd for my powerbook in an attempt to free up some space to allow my comp to run faster (it was getting bogged down). While i was at the mac store talking to one of the guys he said I could partition my external hd as either a "working drive" or simply just as storage space, and that making it the working drive would allow my computer to run faster(?).
So far I've backed up all my files onto the thing, but they still exist on my permanent hd (approx 40 gb) so there is no change in operating speed. Basically, my question is what process do i have to go through to make my computer run faster?

The guy was full of it. An external hard drive is not "going to make your computer run faster". How could it?
If your boot drive was very close to completely full, freeing up some drive space may make your system more stable, but it won't make it faster.
If your machine is really feeling slow, adding some RAM may well improve performance, as it will be using less virtual memory, and hence reading/writing less to swap file(s).
And I have no idea what he was talking to you about with some distinction between working drive or storage. Those terms might have some sense in how you think about how you use your drive, but an HFS+ partiton is an HFS+ partition (same for any file system), and the file system really doesn't care how you use the disk.

Partitioned external drive for Time Machine and Daily storage

Now that I've partitioned my I Terabyte external drive to two partitions using the disk utility with one partition for Time Machine and one partition as my new "hard drive"...my internal drive on the MacBook almost filled....I wanted to move...pix, movies, music..etc to the new drive and have all future storage pointed to that drive not the internal drive....need to have space available on the original drive on the MacBook....How do I move existing stored data and point ongoining saved music..files...etc to the new drive...???
Thank you...Bob

Yogabob wrote:
Now that I've partitioned my I Terabyte external drive to two partitions using the disk utility with one partition for Time Machine and one partition as my new "hard drive"...my internal drive on the MacBook almost filled....I wanted to move...pix, movies, music..etc to the new drive
You could use an application like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to copy them to the new partition, but it's probably just as easy to drag the files/folders to the new partition, then delete the originals.
and have all future storage pointed to that drive not the internal drive
You probably don't really want to do that. Files you're using will be accessed much faster if they're on your internal HD.
Another consideration is, you really should have backups of the moved files somewhere, in case you have a problem with the new drive. Although TM will back them up unless you exclude that partition, if the drive fails, you'll lose both copies.

Can I install XP in a (partitioned) external drive and run it on my Macbook

I just bought a Macbook (late '08), but for work I need to use Windows XP. I have a 500 MB external drive, too.
Could I partition my external drive, install XP there and run it on my Macbook from there?
How would the external drive be affected as far as storing content from both OS's?
Thanks.

Hi Sergio,
Thanks. What if I partitioned my macbook's hard drive (I see everybody is talking of boot camp, but I haven't looked it up yet), say 70% mac and 30% xp, then I could run xp no problem, right?
Yes, that should work out. XP itself needs about 10GB of HD space to run perfectly and add to that the amount of space you need for your Windows applications.
BootCamp is part of OSX Leopard, see here: http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
And could I save my content from both OS in the ext drive without distinction and be able to fish it out, or should I partition my drive too?
If 'save' = backup, then you can use WinClone http://twocanoes.com/winclone/ to make an image file of your Windows partition and for OSX backup you can use TimeMachine (part of OSX) or SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner which can make a bootable backup of your OSX partition onto your external HD.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
If you simply want to save your files onto your external HD and have no single files that are bigger than 4GB you can make one partition on your external HD nd use the FAT32 file system (called MS-DOS in OSX Disk Utility).
Regards
Stefan

Format and partition external drive if you want dual use Mac / PC

I had purchased from the Apple store in France a portable hard drive Iomega eGO USB 2.0/FireWire ov 250 Go capacity (P/N 31713900; Model: RPHD-C; S/N: FEAJ02011V)
Originally formatted HFS+, it would mount on any of my Mac desktops with Firewire, easily on the iMac using USB and with great difficulty on the iBook with the two USB plugs (together). It did not mount on any windows PC I had used for tests (so reformatting it FAT(32) or NTFS was *not an option).
I had reformatted it FAT32 using the iMac under mac OS 10.5 for use on multiple computers including Windows PC's. The drive would now accept to:
Mount on the iMac and iBook using Firewire
Mount on the iMac using USB, but it will NOT:
1 - Mount on the iBook using USB, nor
2 - Mount on any Windows PC using USB
The solution was found at the office with our IT helpdesk.
Whether I format it FAT 32 or NTFS (using the Paragon NTFS for mac OS X 10.5) on my iMac under OS 10.5, including when I do the same on another external drive than the Iomega, the PC would not recognise it while it would always mount on a Mac and it was even impossible on the PC to reformat it. The solution is (at least in windows world), you need to (1) format the drive, AND (2) partition the drive, even if this involves creating a single partition. Using Disk Utility of the Mac, I had only formatted the drive and not partitioned it into a single partition and Disk utility did not request that from me. The drive as prepared was perfectly usable on any Mac anyway.
The cure was to go back to the imac which had formatted it, mount it (it mounts), (1) reformat and (2) partition, using a single partition.
Then, the drive would instantly be recognised on the PC as a F drive, whether under FAT 32 or under NTFS.
The blame is in me and on the Apple Drive utility which did not help me (trust it would have been worse in windows world, but this is a bad mark on disk utility)
My suggestion to Apple would be that Disk Utilisty should tell us, once we have formatted a drive (HFS+, FAT 32 or NTFS using Parangon) that we are not done yet and still must create the partition(s), even if we only need one partition.
HTH

Hi Michel-Ange
You are talking to other user like yourself here and not Apple. If you wish to make a suggestion to Apple, I suggest you do it at this site - http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
Allan

How do I use Itunes from external drive as main sync for Iphone 4

I apologize if this is obvious but I have searched for quite awhile without finding result.
I currently have my iTunes synced to my Macbook Pro. I purchased a Macbook Air for ease in travel. I would like to move sync of my material on iTunes to my Air as I carry it more with me.
I was told at an Apple Store to purchase a Time Machine and an external hard drive. Both I purchased. I then read for a few hours how to move my itunes to the external drive. The only way I could finally get it to work was to physically connect a USB between the MacBook Pro and the External Drive. Once my Pro recognized the External Drive I dragged my Itunes and watched it copy all the data.
Unfortunately, when I am on the Air I cannot locate within Finder the External Drive. I do see my time Machine but cannot figure out how to get my itunes data from the external drive through the time machine.
You still with me?
So, can someone help me understand how to go the next step. As I understand from reading this forum I would then go into my Advanced Properties in Itunes (on the Air) and choose to relocate where the iTunes sync occurs. Then I can use my Air for syncing as it wont be dependent on the limited space and once I've changed the properties location for where to find my iTunes data I wont be dependent on the Pro.
PS: Yes I've downloaded all of the newest product software updates (iTunes, iPhone OS, Macs) as of the date this is posed 3/20/2011

try this:
hold the option key and launch iTunes. at the prompt, click on +choose library+ and select the iTunes folder you copied to the external.
obviously, the external holding your library must be mounted on your desktop for iTunes to find it.
if the drive is connected but doesn't show up on the Air's desktop, go finder > preferences > general and check if +external disks+ is check marked under +show these items on the desktop+.

How do I move files from external drive to Itunes on computer?

I am doing a system recovery and have saved my Itunes folder on an external drive. How do I get the data back into Itunes?

Install iTunes, the same version you had when you saved your music folder.
When done, don't run iTunes.
Copy the content of your itunes folder (iTunes Media, iTunes library...) from your external HD to /user/music/itunes
Run iTunes. You should see your content and playlists.
Bye

How to store photo's on external drive and still use Time Machine and secondary back up plan

So, My Macbook Pro is now going on 4 years old and I've accumulated around 15,000 photos in iPhoto now. I would like to move everything (or at least everything older than 12 months) onto a portable external drive, but i'm not sure the best way to do this and still keep a good back up plan. My current process is the following -- I have external HD same size as my current internal drive on the MBP, which is formatted that i use Time Machine. I also have a paid subscription to Crash Plan online cloud back up that is connected to my laptop drive (CrashPlan is constant and easy, so I just USB plug in MBP to EHD a few times a month and that's it). If I were to move most of my picture/video's/important docs to an external drive, how would I back that up with Time Machine, and if I did, how would I back up my laptop drive with Time Machine also, and what drive would I assign my Crash Plan online account too? Cant seem to wrap my brain around the easiest and best method. (In short, I want most pics/video's stored off the laptop so that my HD is not consumed; but still easy to access if needed, and easy to back up) Also driving this need for a solution is the fact i would like my next lap top to be an Macbook Air, which I know I can't keep my current set up would not work. Any thoughts are appreciated.

if your internal drive has 250 GB and the external drive with the iPhoto library as well, your TimeMachine should have at least 1 TB.
I have read over some of CrashPlans support docs and it sounds like it will be able to back up and restore the iPhoto library, and as long as you restore the entire library and not single photos, it will save and restore all metadata as well.
I studied their documents to. They are saying they can backup any filetype. And they are saying the iPhoto libraries or Aperture libraries will be backed up automatically, when they are in in the Pictures folder, because the Home folder will be backed up.
On their screenshot you can see, that the libraries are backed up as a nested set of folders, and not as a package. That let's me doubt that the dependencies within the package will be treated correctly. To restore from the backup they recommend to restore the set of nested folders. What I could not find anywhere in the documentation is any information on the filesystem they are storing the backup on. If it is not Apple's MacOS Extended (Journaled, not case sensitive) the restored library may be corrupted, because the internal links in the databases may not work. Try to find out something about the filesystem on the backup servers, before you entrust your iPhoto library to that servers.

How can I interchange a Toshiba external drive with my Mac and Windows? It only works read only with the Mac.

I bought a Toshiba external drive IT and I can copy files to it from my Macbook Pro 5,3. I would like to know how canI interchange files with Windows and the Mac.

If the disk is read only, it is formatted for Windows and the Mac can't write to it
Reformat to FAT32
This will of course wipe all data so move it first
Allan

How to resize/erase a partitioned external drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for