I just bought an external hard drive. What files should I back up?

I just bought a 60gig external hard drive and I wanted to know what files should I back up?

The easiest is to drag /Users/<yourhomefoldername> to the backup drive.
Only the files you've created can't be replaced. The rest is on CDs, DVDs, or can be purchased again if need be.
I don't bother with clones because there's always the possibility of trouble down the line if you have to restore from one. (Something could be wrong with the clone, or it could be altered if you have to boot from it.) Why take the chance, when the OS and apps are expendable? And, if you don't test that the clone is good (by restoring to a blank drive), you're just fooling yourself as to its viability.
If the internal drive dies, you take the time to install a new one, load up OS and applications, then copy your home folder back. So your computer will be unusable for a half-day---big deal. This doesn't happen every day.
The main thing is that you've backed up your home folder.

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Hi just bought an external hard drive and can't change the sharing and permissions from read only status. How do i change it?

Hi new to macs and dont know how to change the sharig and permissions to my external hard driive from read only mode. please help

Get Info on your drive from the Finder - you'll see a dialog box like this:
If the Privilege is set to Read Only for the user, simply click on the "Read Only" and change it to "Read & Write".
Is that what you're looking for?
Clinton

My Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and have just listened to a youtube tutorial on how to move iTunes library to the external hard drive. If I do this can I still load new media on my Mac without the external?

my Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and watched a youtube tutorial on moving iTunes library to external hard drive. Will I still be able to use iTunes on my Mac for new media or will this now only work through my external hard drive?

To do this you need to learn the details of how iTunes works. For example, you just said, "leave my iTunes on my computer". iTunes is the application itself so of course it has to be on your computer. That said, I therefore don't know what you mean when you say leave iTunes on your computer. The phrasing of your question suggests to me, if I may be frank, you don't understand how iTunes works fully and we can't just give you a "do this" answer and have it work out. It would be too easy to make a mess of things.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
Yes, you can download media and delete it again (but if it is from the iTunes Store there is the possibility you can't always download it again). Of course if you want to keep a copy you can archive it. I have done that with some files for which I have no room on my computer. I transfer them to an external hard drive and delete the reference to the file (but not the file itself) from my library. If I want a quick listen I go to the file on the drive and use Quicktime player or something else non-iTunes so I don't have to have it added to iTunes and delete again. I don't know if that is the solution you are looking for. I could leave the reference in iTunes but if the file can't be located by iTunes it will tell me there is a broken link = ! I guess I could live with that except I periodically scan my library for broken links and don't want it getting confused with ones I have done deliberately and ones suggesting I am really missing a file somewhere.
Another possibility is to make a second iTunes library for material you are archiving and only use that library when the computer is using the external drive. There are tricky aspects to dong that but it is a possibility too.
The simple solution for most people with computers with tiny drives (as most seem to be these days) is to put their whole iTunes library on an external drive and use it from there.

I bought an external hard drive from apple puter (I thought) should I be able to see my pictures in the time capsule? I never set up the time capsule I just plugged it in and it seemed ready to go. But can't see the pictures

I bought an external hard drive from the apple store. I didn't set up time machine I just plugged it in and it seemed good to go. When I go into time capsule should I be able to see my pictures? I would think i could but all I see is a spot for the pictures to be

Ok if disk utility was able to verify the drive I doubt there is any problem.. are you trying to open a TM backup??
You need to mount the sparsebundle then check the actual info inside the bundle.
Don't use disk warrior.. if the disk has verified then unless you deliberately deleted files there is nothing that is going to do.
Pondini has a lot of stuff about getting access to the sparsebundle.
http://pondini.org/TM/17.html
But if you have copied info to the TC that is now gone.. and the disk is ok.. I am not sure.. the TC will not have deleted the files itself.

Does an ipad have any storage? Basically looking to eliminate DVD's and just use the storage on my movies (in iTunes) could I just get an external hard drive or what is the basic purpose selling point on this apple tv?

i would ideally like to not use all my macbooks memory either and we have an xbox so all the streaming for like netflix we can do on this. I guess thats why I'm wondering if it is a better idea and if it is possible for us to just utilize an external hard drive. And if we do that will i have more space on my computer?

davidfrombillings wrote:
I thought I could just drag and drop my iTunes library to an external hard drive.
it'll work ... if done properly ☞
copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music or media folder) from <MacintoshHD>/users/<yourname>/music on your Mac to the external, then launch iTunes while holding the option (⌥) key, click on choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder on the external.
if I already have my iTunes going to the incorrect files how is it going to find the correct files again.
you could try if this script helps:
iTunes Track CPR v1.3
This script attempts to locate the files of so-called "dead tracks"--iTunes tracks designated with (!)--that you assume are not actually missing but are still located in the iTunes Music folder in their "iTunes File Order" (Music -> Artist -> Album -> file.xxx)."
Eric Ross wrote:
When you moved the file back did you go back into iTunes in your preferences and select the advance tab and then selected the location again or where your files are
the iTunes media folder location in preferences > advanced tells iTunes where to put new additions to your library, not where your content currently is.

Do I need a RAID system or just a larger external hard drive

Hi guys... I am working in my fathers company and running the media side of our small business. I do our website, print media and also our video production....
I have an iMac and it is running on 500gig of storage and 8meg of RAM.... I have almost filled up my hard drive and I am looking into to getting into to doing a lot more video work....
I need more storage, but I am not sure whether to invest in a RAID system or should I just get an external hard drive...
At what point is a RAID worth the investment ?
Thanks guys
Harrison

RAID provides a level of redundacy should one of the hard drives in the array fail.
I would only invest in RAID if you are able to support the RAID array and understand its limitations.
Remember RAID is not backup. Don't be complacent about backup.
A larger hard disk is simplier to manage than a RAID array.
As with any mission critical data, you need a robust backup strategy.

Final cut is not reading events or projects from my external hard drive, what can I do?

Final Cut X is not reading events of projects from my external hard drive, what can i do?

Like this
Cmd-Shift-4. Drag a box around the area to capture. Screen shot appears on the desktop. Click the camera button in the message reply window.

I have downloaded mavericks to my external hard drive, what do I do next to go back to using Mavericks?

i have downloaded mavericks to my external hard drive, what do I do next to go back to using Mavericks?

I would not use Time Machine for this task. Rather I suggest you clone to the external drive. You can then boot from the external drive to restore your clone. First, purchase Carbon Copy Cloner.
Clone using Carbon Copy Cloner
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Select the Source volume from the left side dropdown menu.
3. Select the Destination volume from the right side dropdown menu.
4. Click on the Clone button.
5. When completed select Disk Center from the Window menu.
6. Click on the Recovery HD tab then select the backup drive from the list.
7. Click on the button labeled "Create a Recovery partition for this volume."
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
You now have a fully bootable copy of your iMac's hard drive. When you receive your iMac back after the drive replacement you can boot it from this backup and use Carbon Copy Cloner to restore the backup from the external drive to the internal drive. The process is identical except you will switch the Source and Destination volumes - Source will be the external drive; Destination will be the internal drive.
Because the newly installed drive will most likely have OS X installed you can skip Steps 5-7. You can now continue to use your external backup drive by setting up scheduled backups with CCC. No need to use Time Machine.

I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

I bought an external hard drive for backups to use with Time Machine, but however when I try to connect it with the other windows laptop it doesn't work ? intact it doesn't work on any other device except my MAC ?

Do not worry about it.
Time Machine needs that your external drive is formatted in HFS+, or better known as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". This filesystem is used by Apple on Macs and Windows cannot read or write drives formatted with this filesystem, being this the reason why all your devices do not read the external drive except your Mac.
You can only use your external drive to make Time Machine drives. If you store anything different, you may damage the Time Machine structure, so it is better not to use it as a drive to store other data. Instead, get another external drive to do it or create a second partition on the external drive formatted in FAT32 by using Disk Utility > http://pondini.org/OSX/DU3.html FAT32 can be read by Windows PCs

I bought an external hard drive and now use it as time machine. I copied my photos to it. Can I now delete my iphotos?

My photo library is full. I bought an external hard drive and am using it as time machine. I copied my photo library to the external hard drive and burned all of my pictures onto DVD's. If I delete my photos from my computer, will the photos still be on the external hard drive and saved in time machine? I am parinoid about losing my photos (memories).

I think you mean Your Hard Disc is Full as opposed to iPhoto.
agrech21 wrote:
My photo library is full.
With regard to your iPhoto Library... you can Move it to another External Drive and use it from there and then you can use TM to Backup that Drive as well as as your Mac.
1) Move iPhoto Library to External Drive
See > iPhoto: How to move the Library to an EHD
First... Make sure the EHD is Formatted Mac OS Extended (journaled)...
Format, Erase, or Reformat a drive
Quit iPhoto if open.
Open your Pictures folder and select the iPhoto Library.
Drag the iPhoto Library to the External Hard Drive.
To Use iPhoto on an External Drive...
Hold down the Option key on the keyboard and open iPhoto. Keep the Option key held down until you are prompted to create or choose an iPhoto Library.
Click Choose Library.
Locate and select the iPhoto Library in its new location.
And also make sure that all is working to your Satisfaction before Deleting anything.

I have iMovie 09. I just erased my external hard drive, but it is still formatted for the mac. However, iMovie will not recognize the hard drive. It shows the only hard drive available is the computers. How do I get the external hard drive to show up?

I have iMovie 09. I just erased my external hard drive, but it is still formatted for the mac. However, iMovie will not recognize the hard drive. It shows the only hard drive available is the computers. How do I get the external hard drive to show up?

In Finder's Menu, select Go menu>Go to Folder, and go to "/volumes". (no quotes)
Volumes is where an alias to your hard drive ("/" at boot) is placed at startup, and where all the "mount points" for auxiliary drives are created for you to access them. This folder is normally hidden from view.
Drives with an extra 1 on the end have a side-effect of mounting a drive with the same name as the system already think exists. Try trashing the duplicates with a 1 or 2 if there are no real files in them, and reboot.
If it does contain data...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2474

Hi i've been using my macbook pro 13in since last 3 yrs,today i bought a external hard drive (WD my passport Ulra) it is not working on my mac any awnsers?

Hi i've been using my macbook pro 13in since last 3 yrs,today i bought a external hard drive (WD my passport Ulra) it is not working on my mac any awnsers?

Have you opened Disk utility and formatted it? Most new HDDs come formatted for Windows, not Mac.
Ciao.

HT201250 how do i add external hard drive to my time machine back up

how do i add external hard drive to my time machine back up so that I may view the files independently on apple tv please?

To elaborate on above. I am looking to add about 300gig of photos on an external hard drive to TC.
Once I do this I believe I can then have itunes source its photos from TC without having them stored directly on my iMac?
Then I am assuming once I keep itunes on with home sharing I can stream these photos through Apple TV?
My inital problem is getting the photos onto TC in an individual folder not just a backup folder....is that possible or what would you suggest please?

I have a Toshiba external hard drive that i used to back up my Windows 7 HP -- I want to transfer files to my new Mac and it won't accept. Help?

I have a Toshiba external hard drive that I used to back up my Windows 7 HP -- I am not able to get the files off of it (pictures) onto the Mac. I am NOT a very technical person. IS there a simple easy way to explain and do this -- OR a simple way to just say it is not possible?

If you connect the external hard drive to your Mac does it show up in the Finder? If so, do the files you are trying to transfer show up? What happens when you try to move them over?
What kind of Mac are you using and what operating system does it have running on it?
Let us know, we'll keep helping you.
Best of luck.

Once I upgraded to ML, I'm now finding that my Seagate Free Agent external hard drive is no longer being backed up by Time machine. Do I have to wait for Seagate to update their drivers for this hard drive?

Once I upgraded to ML, I'm now finding that my Seagate Free Agent external hard drive is no longer being backed up by Time machine. Do I have to wait for Seagate to update their drivers for this hard drive?

I tried your suggestion, and it's been giving me the message "Preparing for Backup" for the past 8 hours. Does this mean TM is backing up my hard drive? I'll give it a few more hours, but if nothing else happens, I'm not sure what else to do. I'm not sure if there are any new external hard drives that are compatible with ML yet.

I just bought an external hard drive. What files should I back up?

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