I want to take all the data stored on my mac and put it on an external hard drive, what all can be moved off the computer and still work and what can't?

Im looking to get some external terabytes and move data or files from my internal drive to the external drive, i was wondering what has to stay on the computer to function still and what can me moved if not all of the files on the internal drive. i know i can move the videos and pictures, but what about program data or files or whatever may be nedded to run all of the apps and programs i have on my computer. if i could get some insight, it would be greatly appreciated.

Freeing Up Space on The Hard Drive
1. See Lion/Mountain Lion/Mavericks' Storage Display.
2. You can remove data from your Home folder except for the /Home/Library/ folder.
3. Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on freeing up space on your hard drive.
4. Also see Freeing space on your Mac OS X startup disk.
5. See Where did my Disk Space go?.
6. See The Storage Display.
You must Empty the Trash in order to recover the space they occupied on the hard drive.
You should consider replacing the drive with a larger one. Check out OWC for drives, tutorials, and toolkits.
Try using OmniDiskSweeper 1.8 or GrandPerspective to search your drive for large files and where they are located.

Similar Messages

Can I move all my photo that I can see on iPhoto from my Mac hardrive and put them on an external hard drive and still be able to see them as thumbnails in iPhoto? Thanks! The reason, I need to know if I can do this is b/c I am running out of HD space!sp

can I move all my photo that I can see on iPhoto from my Mac hardrive and put them on an external hard drive and still be able to see them as thumbnails in iPhoto? Thanks! The reason, I need to know if I can do this is b/c I am running out of HD space!sp

Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
Regards
TD

HT201250 If time machine puts all of my photos onto my external hard drive using time machine, can I then delete the photos from my computer put view them again from the external hard drive? Basically, can I free up space on my mac but not lose years of p

If time machine puts all of my photos onto my external hard drive using time machine, can I then delete the photos from my computer but view them again from the external hard drive? Basically, can I free up space on my mac but not lose years of photos?

To add to Niel's comment bear in mind that if you have a backup copy on an external HD and later delete the orignals on your Mac HD you will then only have one copy - so no backup.
If the pictures are precious you should have at least two copies, and ideally another copy kept off site,

I'm an avid Mac enthusiast who works in a creative field. However, I simply cannot afford a new Mac after my old one's internal hard drive failed. Can anyone recommend an affordable Mac option? I don't want to consider a non-Apple product.

I'm an avid Mac enthusiast who works in a creative field. However, I simply cannot afford a new Mac after my old one's internal hard drive failed. Can anyone recommend an affordable Mac option? I don't want to consider a non-Apple product.

Macs with a FireWire port will also boot happily from an External drive. You don't even need to open the MacBook.
Some users buy a drive they would like to have as a future Internal drive, and also buy an external enclosure. They get the External set up the way they want it, then swap with the Internal drive.

Does the time capsule work as an external hard drive that you can access from multiple lapttops

I have a mac desktop, a macbook and a pc laptop. I also purchased the time capsule. Will that functional as an external hard drive that I can use to save a share documents between. Trying to figure out the best way to work on documents between devices. new to max and trying to make the full switch but still working with toshiba laptop for a while too.
Any help is appreciated.

Hello jhettenhausen,
Yes, it can function as an external drive for all the devices. As for Windows, you just need to make sure that
it is Windows Professional or XP, as they support mapped network drives. Windows 7 Home Premium doesn't is not capable of mapping network drives. At home, I have a ubuntu laptop, Windows 7 Profesional laptop, and Macbook Pro and they all backup to the Time Capsule 1 TB. Hope this helps!!
Best Regards,
freesparks

How do I export itunes library onto an external hard drive so i can put the music on my new mac book?

How do I export itunes library onto an external hard drive so i can put the music on my new mac book?

iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer [or another drive] - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
do not confuse moving your whole folder and library with moving just media files as in
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449
Quick answer if you let iTunes manage your music: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its subfolders and files) intact to the other drive. Start iTunes with the option key held down and guide it to the new location of the library.

I purchased a MyBook Studio 4gb external hard drive. I can't get it to work properly. WD have assessed it and say its fine and that the problem is with Apple?

I purchased a MyBook Studio 4gb external hard drive. I can't get it to work properly. WD have assessed it and say its fine and that the problem is with Apple? Any ideas?

Hello EucaBlue!
So in Disk Utility, with the external harddrive selected, go to the Partition tab, and then under "Partition Layout:" select 1 Partition.
After than, verify that it is formatting the drive as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled) under "Partition Information"
Also verify that it's using using the GUID Partition Map under the Options button at the lower left of this window.
Then click apply and confirm that you want to format the drive. It will ask you if you're sure, and probably for an Administrator password.
Once your harddrive is formatted properly, you should be able to use Time Machine, or any other Mac backup software.
Happy tinkering!
Paul

I have one folder on my desktop, i want to copy it on external hard drive so how can i do this?

I have one folder on my desktop, i want to copy it on external hard drive so how can i do this?

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Connect the external drive and open a Finder window pressing the Finder icon in Dock. Then, drag the folder to Finder, so it will be copied to this external disk.
If you can't copy this folder, probably you have to format the external disk or use an app that allows you to write in that external drive. Mac OS X can't write in NTFS external disks

I have been using my newly purchased Iphone for Iphonagraphy (Iphone photography). I would like to sync my Iphone to my external hard drive so I can move photos in and out of my Iphone, to make use of the apps I have exclusively on my phone.

I want to sync my Iphone with the external hard drive so I can move photos from my phone to the hard drive AND BACK! I'm using a Windows OS

You have several options:
Connect the phone using a cable to your computer. Use the camera and scanner wizard to import the photos from the Camera Roll, then organize them and sync them back to the Photos app (see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083). the Camera Roll is intended for temporary storage only.
Save the images to your Dropbox account. It's free, http://www.dropbox.com. There's a Dropbox app for the iPhone, and also for Windows, Mac and Linux. Dropbox can also be accessed using a web browser. Dropbox (and similar services) provide cloud-based storage that can be accessed from anywhere.
Use Photo Stream
Email or text (MMS) the images to yourself
Create a Picasa or Shutterfly account, save the images to it, then download to your computer
I'm sure there are others.

I bought a 160gb iPod classic every time I try to put music on my external hard drive only copy up to 1500 songs and then freezes Itune me and I can not close, asks me to restore the ipod as factory, and do nothing . I try to close the program and itune w

Me compre un ipod classic de 160gb cada vez que trato de ponerle musica de mi disco duro externo solo copia hasta 1500 canciones y luego me congela el Itune y no lo puedo cerrar, me pide que restaure el ipod como de fabrica, lo hago y nada. Trato de cerrar el programa de itune y no me deja, trato de apagar el computador y no lo puedo apagar, he buscado para ver si tiene errores el disco del Ipod y me dice que esta bien. Lo he restaurado como 8 veces y le he puesto musica y videos pero siempre me borra todo. He aplastado Menu y Seleccion para entrar al sistemade diagnostic o del ipod y le pongo el test manual donde entro al IO y me dice q todo esta bien. Le he dado ya varios Format directamente desde el Windows 7 y nada tampoco, siempre me borra todo desde que pasan mas de 1300 canciones y me congeal todo el equipo. Ya no se que pensar de esta compania Apple porque no da ninguna solucion ha este tema.
I bought a 160gb iPod classic every time I try to put music on my external hard drive only copy up to 1500 songs and then freezes Itune me and I can not close, asks me to restore the ipod as factory, and do nothing . I try to close the program and itune will not let me, I try to turn off the computer and I can not shut, I looked to see if the iPod disk errors and says it's okay. I restored it about 8 times and I've put music and videos but I always delete everything. I crushed and Selection Menu to enter diagnostic sistemade or ipod and I put the manual test where I enter the IO and q tells me everything is fine. I have already given several Format directly from the Windows 7 and anything either, I always delete everything from passing over 1300 songs and I congeal whole team. No longer have to think of this company because Apple gives no solution has this issue.

06-sep-2012 0:14
Me compre un ipod classic de 160gb cada vez que trato de ponerle musica de mi disco duro externo solo copia hasta 1500 canciones y luego me congela el Itune y no lo puedo cerrar, me pide que restaure el ipod como de fabrica, lo hago y nada. Trato de cerrar el programa de itune y no me deja, trato de apagar el computador y no lo puedo apagar, he buscado para ver si tiene errores el disco del Ipod y me dice que esta bien. Lo he restaurado como 8 veces y le he puesto musica y videos pero siempre me borra todo. He aplastado Menu y Seleccion para entrar al sistemade diagnostic o del ipod y le pongo el test manual donde entro al IO y me dice q todo esta bien. Le he dado ya varios Format directamente desde el Windows 7 y nada tampoco, siempre me borra todo desde que pasan mas de 1300 canciones y me congeal todo el equipo. Ya no se que pensar de esta compania Apple porque no da ninguna solucion ha este tema.
I bought a 160gb iPod classic every time I try to put music on my external hard drive only copy up to 1500 songs and then freezes Itune me and I can not close, asks me to restore the ipod as factory, and do nothing . I try to close the program and itune will not let me, I try to turn off the computer and I can not shut, I looked to see if the iPod disk errors and says it's okay. I restored it about 8 times and I've put music and videos but I always delete everything. I crushed and Selection Menu to enter diagnostic sistemade or ipod and I put the manual test where I enter the IO and q tells me everything is fine. I have already given several Format directly from the Windows 7 and anything either, I always delete everything from passing over 1300 songs and I congeal whole team. No longer have to think of this company because Apple gives no solution has this issue.
iPod classic, Windows 7, ME BORRA TODO Y SE CONGELA

What is the best priced External Hard Drive, that I can reboot from, for the MacBook Pro?

I have a MacBook Pro with 10.9.4. I am looking for a 3T External Hard Drive that I can boot from if my system goes south, that I can afford. Any recommendations?
Mike

Don't know the best priced, but the external drives I like best are the OWC, http://www.macsales.com Mercury Elite Pro quad-interface drives. I have four of the 2 TB drives for my MacBook Pro and iMac and they are terrific. OWC is a Mac specialist supplier with the best guarantees and service you will find.

Moving iTunes Library to external hard drive when iTunes can't consolidate.

Hi guys, hope you can help.
I want to move my whole iTunes library to an external hard drive and then delete it all from my laptop, and from reading around I realise I have to consolidate the library into the iTunes music folder. However, as my internal hard drive on my laptop is completely full, iTunes won't let me do this, saying I don't have enough space. Is getting the libary into the iTunes music folder the only way of getting it onto the external hard drive?
I can't really free up much space on the laptop as most of it (45 out of 60Gb) is the music I want to transfer!
Thanks very much!

Over half of my stuff isn't there.
Isn't where? In iTunes or not in the iTunes folder?\>Is it possible to copy the iTunes music folder from my laptop to the external, and consolidate from iTunes directly onto there?
Why not do as I posted above? Point iTunes prefs Advanced to the external then consolidate. Everything will be consolidated to the external.
You can then delete \Music\iTunes\Media\ folder and hunt around the internal and delete all the other songs that were not in the iTunes folder.

I have copied videos onto an external hard drive. to free memory on my macbook. When I try to delete these I am warned that I will not be able to use this video in existing projects How do I point iMovie to events in my external hard drive so I can pl

I have copied videos onto an external hard drive. to free memory on my macbook. When I try to delete these I am woarned that I will not be able to use this video in existing projects
How do I point iMovie to events in my external hard drive so I can play projects which use them?
MacBook, iMovie 9.0.4

Hi
You can do this - by not doing it the way You describe as it will not work.
a. the external hard disk - MUST BE - Mac OS extended (hfs) formatted -
UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange - will work for most things - BUT NOT FOR VIDEO (iMovie, iDVD or FinalCut doesn't matter)
b. Do not alter or move any folder named
• iMovie Event's - or -
• iMovie Project's
on DeskTop/Finder - at all
All moving's of Events and Projects must be done within the iMovie Application - then connections will not break.
(move them back and see if iMovie remembers them - then do move as described above)
Yours Bengt W

I have a tried to format my seagate free agent 1TB external hard drive so I can use it, but I keep getting an error message saying it failed. Can n e 1 help me plz

I have a tried to format my seagate free agent 1TB external hard drive so I can use it, but I keep getting an error message saying it failed. Can n e 1 help me plz

This article has a link for more information on finding your profile directory: [[Fix the "Could not initialize the application's security component" error message]]. On Windows 7, you can try this (either in a Windows Explorer window address bar or from the start menu search box):
%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
You may see one folder in there and that's the one you want. If you see more than one, look for the one with the most recently modified files.

I had Leopard on may Mac. I upgraded to Mountain Lion using Snow Leopard. I can't use my video with Mountain Lion. Can I load Snow Leopard on an external hard drive so I can use it with my camera?

I had Leopard on may Mac. I upgraded to Mountain Lion using Snow Leopard. I can't use my video with Mountain Lion. Can I load Snow Leopard on an external hard drive so I can use it with my camera?

First, you cannot do this if you have a Boot Camp partition.
Second: Create a new partition.
1. 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.
After the main menu appears select Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the hard drive's main entry then click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
2. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.
3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)
4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.
You should now have a new volume on the drive.
It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss. Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.
Third: Install Snow Leopard.
Boot from your Snow Leopard DVD. Follow instructions for installation being sure that before you actually install Snow Leopard you have selected the new partition as your target destination.
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo
appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

I want to take all the data stored on my mac and put it on an external hard drive, what all can be moved off the computer and still work and what can't?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for