HT1284 Can I back up my Mac and my pc to the same external hard drive?  If so, could you explain how? Thanks.

Can I back up my Mac and my pc to the same external hard drive?  If so, could you explain how? Thanks.  I am a new user with mountain lion.

You could partition the drive into 2 partitions.  One formatted as HFS+ for Mac OS X back, and one formatted as NTFS for Windows backup.
You would have to move the drive from system to system to do your backups.  If there are 2 systems, I would suggest just getting separate drives for each, unless they are both laptops, then you will be disconnecting the drives all the time anyway.
Unless Windows is running in a virtual machine on your Mac.  Then a partitioned drive would be fine.

Similar Messages

  • HT201250 can I back up two different Macs using time machine to the same external hard drive?

    I have a MacBook Pro and a Intel Power Mac Tower.  The Power Mac is backed up to a 4 TB external hard drive using Time Machine.  Can I also back up the MacBook Pro to the same 4TB hard drive using its time machine without altering any of the Power Macs backed up files on the 4TB hard drive?
    Ed

    Yes, as long as the backup drive is large enough.

  • HT201250 Backing up my Mac and my MacBook - can I do this on the same external hard drive?

    Can I use the same external hard drive to be the Time Machine for my iMac and for my MacBook Air?
    Thanks

    Yes, if it has enough space.

  • Can I use the same external hard drive for time machine and storing other files

    I have a 640GB external hard drive that I have been using for over a year for time machine backups.  My mac hard drive is now starting to fill up and I am looking to move audio, video and picture files to my external hard drive.  How do I do this without messing up my time machine backups?  Can I do both on the same external hard drive?  Do I just make new folders on the external hard drive to move the files I want?  Thanks for the help.

    If you move the files you will need to get another disk to back the files up to. You don't want to have only one copy of certain files (personal, professional etc.).

  • Can Time Machine backups for more than one Mac be sent to the same external hard drive?

    It's pretty straightforward, really.  We have two Macs, both running Mountain Lion.  Can we use the same external hard drive for Time Machine backups of both?

    It would be best to partition the HDD - one volume for each Mac (you cannot partition a Time Capsule).
    Note that by doing so, you will lose both backups should the drive fail.

  • Can you use the same external hard drive for Time Machine backups and as an additional storage drive?

    I have an external HD that I've been using exclusively for Time Machine backups. I need to clear space on my hard drive, so I was thinking to move music & photos to an external drive.  Wondering if I can use the same one I have (which I'll aslo keep using for Time Machine) or if I need to get another drive. 

    Hi Jossydtaylor,
    Time Machine can use either an entire external disk or a partition of that disk:
    OS X Mountain Lion: Disks you can use with Time Machine
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11171
    You can use Time Machine with a Time Capsule, and with USB, FireWire, and Thunderbolt disks. The backup disk can be directly connected to your computer or be on a network. If the backup disk has been divided into partitions, you can use one of the partitions.
    If the disk is partitioned using the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition type, some partitions may not be available for use with Time Machine. The GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition type is recommended.
    For more info on partitioning, see this article:
    Disk Utility 12.x: Partition a disk
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5845
    Cheers!
    - Ari

  • Can I back up a non apple laptop if I had an external hard drive to my time machine?

    Can anyone advise of a nice back up tool to use with time machine for non-Apple products?
    Have used synctoy previously, and would like to auto back ups for all my devices, apple and non-Apple.
    Have searched for advice on this in forum but could not find
    Please help :-)

    There is no such thing as a universal backup software. Each and every OS will have its own backup methods and software.
    Time Machine is the Mac backup software.. it is not hardware.. what you are referring to is Time Capsule which is unrelated to the Time Machine.
    We cannot give a generic answer to backup tool for every non-Apple device in existence..
    The backup software is not on the Time Capsule.. it is nothing but a hard disk in a router. To every device Apple or Non-Apple the TC appears to be a Network Drive. Nothing more. 
    Windows for instance has the worst built in backup ever conceived of by man.. and if you own a home version of windows it will not even work to a network drive. So you need to buy one of the zillion backup programs available for windows that can actually backup to network drives.
    But this forum is not about windows software.. look up what are good windows backup software in windows forums. Apple might sell the TC as windows compatible but they provide no backup software for windows. Or every other non-apple device in existence.
    If you are interested,
    I use Macrium Reflect free version for full disk backup and if you pay the licence you can get incremental to work.
    Genius time line is a TM like backup that is promoted here in answer to this question all the time.. I am not sure. in windows circles, it rates very well, but here it looks like Time Machine so is popular.
    Pick whatever.
    For iOS it is not backed up to the Time Capsule at all and has no backup 3rd party I know of.. Apple designed it to backup to iTunes or iCloud.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766
    For Linux you will need to look it up yourself.
    And the other Non-Apple products.. Android and the million other non-apple, all of them will have their own methods..

  • How to use the same external hard drive for OSX and XP

    Hello to all. First off, thanks for all of the helpful comments that have been posted in the discussion board, they have helped me a lot with my problems and curiosities. My question has been touched on in the past, but nothing concrete so I figured I'd ask a bit more specifically.
    I recently loaded Windows XP (FAT32)onto my MacBook. Everything is running smoothly, but I was just curious how I could format my external HD so that both operating systems can read it, i.e. I only have 20 GB's partitioned for Windows XP, and i'll be using it to download music and movies. I would like to be able to play these straight from my external rather than use up the disc space. Let me know if anybody can help! Thanks.

    Unfortunately, Disk Utility doesn't just move everything around. It has to erase everything, and then resize. I find it a little odd, seeing as other disk utilities can resize everything just fine. Anyway, yes, you will have to erase your drive to reformat it as FAT32. What I usually do is try to copy everything from the drive to free space in the internal drives. I haven't had too much data on my drive yet, so I've been lucky so far. I don't know if you have enough free space on whatever drives you have, but that's probably the best way to do it.
    1) Transfer everything over to a folder on the internal drive
    2) Use Disk Utility to reformat the drive as FAT32
    3) Transfer everything back to the external drive
    2.0GHz MacBook 1st Gen   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   2GB RAM

  • Would I be able to use the same external hard drive for Windows and OSX?

    I plan to get an external HD to put a lot of my multimedia files on and for backups but I don't know if I'll need an individual one for each operating system. I am going to be running a MacBook Pro with both Windows and OSX through Boot Camp.

    jengwall,
    No, you won't need more than a single drive. There are several options to meet your needs.
    OS X can partition your external, and the formats for the various volumes can be HFS+ (the native Mac format) or FAT-32 (Windows format). While OS X cannot create NTFS volumes, and it cannot write to them, it can read them. Any FAT-32 volumes created in OS X can be converted to NTFS by Windows, if and when you like.
    Windows cannot natively read HFS+ volumes, and only the FAT-32 format will be both read and write for both Windows and OS X. However, there are some third-party solutions.
    "Macdrive" is a Windows utility that allows it to access HFS+ volumes as read/write. On the Mac side, there is "MacFuse," which gives OS X the ability to not just read, but write to NTFS volumes.
    Scott

  • Using same external hard drive with two Macs

    I use two Lacie external hard drives and Time Machine to back-up my iMac, swapping over the drives each week to have one off-site.
    I am soon to buy a MacBook. Can I use the same external hard drives for the MacBook's Time Machine back-ups, whilst continuing to use them with the iMac, or will that cause problems?
    Thank you.

    As Kappy says, Time Machine will put both sets of backups in the same Backups.backupdb folder. That may not be a good idea for the future; your best bet may be to partition the drive.
    See #4 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

  • Mac mini does not see files on external hard drive

    Just got a new Mac Mini and this is my first Mac.  How do I get files from my HD to my new mac mini?  I backed up the files from my old laptop but when I plug it into my Mac, I don't have any picture or music files.

    I had the same problem but only after I upgraded to Lion. I could see the files on my external drive on other Macs using older software. It seems that Lion wasn't seeing old files on the external drive. So we accessed the files on a Mac using Snow Leopard, copied all the files into one new folder on the same external hard drive and now they're there on Lion. Problem solved! I hope this helps

  • I had to reformat my computer and put my Itunes on an external hard drive.  Once I fixed my computer and put Itunes back I can't itunes to open on my PC.  I see it but it appears locked now.

    I reformed my PC and placed my Itunes on a external hard drive.  I have moved them back to the PC but can not open.  How are i get my Itunes working I can see them in my files but they are locked.

    I'm sure when it was taken to reformat, he just put everything from my computer onto the external.  I know he did't save them to any back up disc's.  When he moved everything back is when I lost my Itunes library and it only shows as that XML.  I do have an old back up I can restore most.
    Any way to import from my touch what is on it, I have not connected it to my PC since.
    I did get all my music purchased on, but under purchased I can't find my movies.
    Thank you!!

  • I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and i can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help

    I had to reformat my OSX 10.5.8 and I can't restore my emails from my time machine backup from an external hard drive - only the latest (post backup) time machine back ups are available to restore. Please can any help? I can find the mail folder in my libraries, but the Restore Button is grayed out

    OSX treats the reformatted drive as a different one; it's the same as replacing it, and the old one is no longer connected.
    See #E3 in  Time Machine - Troubleshooting to see and restore from the "old" drive.
    And, you may not want to restore via the Finder; see the blue box in #15 of  Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

  • Ned to back up files.  Trying to reformat a WD 1TB external hard drive but my utilities keeps saying "choose scheme from volume pop up menu.." also says cannot be modified.  What can I do?!

    Help would be appreciated! Before I upgrade my 10.6.8 OS X I need to back up files.  Trying to reformat a WD 1TB external hard drive but my utilities keeps saying "choose scheme from volume pop up menu.." also says "this partition cannot be modified."  What can I do?! Take it back to Currys!  Many thanks

    Select the Top Most Entry for that drive, it will be the drive model # and have the size listed, then go to the Partition tab and select One Partition from the Partition Layout area drop down. Then select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format, if that is the format you want to format it AS. Then click the Options button near the bottom of that windows and select GUID as the Partition Table. Close the options screen and clcik the Apply button.

  • I have suddenly become unable to access photo library  iPhoto (vers 9.5) on my external drive.  And time Machine will no longer back up to the same external (LaCie) drive.  Appreciate all suggestions.  The drive does show up on my desktop....

    I have suddenly become unable to access photo library (iPhoto vers 9.5) on my external hard drive.  Also time machine isnt backing up to same external hard drive (LaCie).  The drive does show up on the desk top, but when i open iPhoto the library isnt listed, so I cant option click.

    First, one should not try to run an iPhoto library from the same volume/drive that is being used by Time Machine for backups.  TM will continue to fill up the drive thus squeezing out iPhoto from being able to be opened and used. Also that doesn't allow you to let TM backup your library as it does with other files on your boot drive.
    If you partition the EHD into two separate partitions you can run the library from it but that won't let TM backup the library which is important.
    Are you able to see the library on the EHD via the Finder?  If so copy it back to your boot drive and open it there.  You may have to do some fixing on it.
    Solution is to either run the library from the boot drive or get a second EHD to run the library from and let TM back it up along with your boot drive.
    OT

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