HT201250 Can I share an external hard drive for Time Machine with my PC?

I am using a PC with an external hard drive. I have a new MacBook and would like to back up the files on the external hard drive as well. Time Machine set-up notified me that if I continued my external hard drive would be wiped clean. Is there a way to save the files from my PC and add Time Machine?

Use the DIsk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder to repartition the drive. The new partition needs to be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
If you want to back up the contents of that drive and not use that drive for holding backups, you need to use another backup method, such as drag-copying files or cloning.
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    Bluehowler wrote:
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  • Need to reformat external hard drive for time machine?

    Hello,
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    Message was edited by: Kappy

  • Using External Hard Drive For Time Machine

    Hi. I will be buying a new iMac and plan to use an external hard drive by Lacie for Time Machine backups. I haven't used an external hard drive for this purpose before -- previously I've always used Apple's Time Capsule. So, I don't know if I can leave the Lacie hard drive unejected and powered on even when I've shut the computer down. The Time Capsule never needs ejecting from the desktop and is always on, but I'm not sure if the same can be done with an external hard drive when using it for time machine backups.
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    pulp3au wrote:
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    pulp3au wrote:
    2. Can I also leave the hard drive powered on even when I shut the computer down? It would be good if I could do this because then it would just always be on and ready for hourly time machine backups without my having to remember to turn it on and the eject it when it's finished for the day.
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  • External hard drive for time machine back-ups

    Can anyone please suggest the best external hard drive to use for time machine back-ups on my iMac?
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    i'd recommend a firewire 800 drive. many folks here speak highly of drives supplied by [OWC|http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire> and [LaCie|http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11156].
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  • Is it not recommended to use a partitioned external hard drive for time machine?

    1. i hv a 1 tb seagate  back up plus hard disc ..,,i want to make partitions for  using it for time machine, mac, and window repectively . is it not recommended to use a partitioned drive for time machine? some where i have red that time machine wont be able to restore data from external partioned hard drive  in case internal hard drive crashes.
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    I use a partitioned external drive for Time Machine as well as other things.
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  • Can I use the same external hard drive for time machine and storing other files

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    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.).

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