Is it possible to install my home folder on an external drive?

I need to hand my MacBook in for repair, but I don't want any of my documents on it when it goes in to the repair shop. I have full Time Machine back-ups of the entire laptop, but is there any way I can install my home folder on an external drive so that while my laptop is being repaired I can continue working as usual with my external hard drive plugged in to another (older, smaller hard drive) laptop?

Get an empty external drive properly formatted. Get Carbon Copy Cloner 4.0 and use it to backup your Home folder to this external drive. Create a new admin user account and turn off auto login if it is enabled. Reboot the computer and sign into the new user account. Delete your user account.

Similar Messages

  • How do I move my Home folder to an external drive?

    I am leaving for 3 months.  I want to copy the entire Home folder on my iMac to an external drive so I can take it with me.  I want to clean up the files/folders, sort and delete thousands of iPhoto pictures, organize hundreds of genealogy documents, etc., using my MBPr.  When I return home, I want to replace the old Home folder with the cleaned up one.  I thought I could simply drag and drop the Home folder to the external drive (2 TB) but twice now I get these two dialogue boxes mid-way.  After the second, the copy window disappears and copying stops.  A shadow of the Home folder is on the external drive, but nothing else.  Can this be done?  How?  Thanks!

    1, Yes. Making a partition for the clone is what you want to do if you want a bootable clone.
    2, If you want a bootable clone, you do not want to create disk image.
    3, Dragging and dropping will not get all of the files the was cloning software will. Using drag & drop uses more superficial commands then the cloning software uses. So that is is not able to get everything.
    The next two link are a couple of site that explain how to set up SD to clone a disk.
    http://www.lansharks.net/lansharks/SuperDuper_Backup_Instructions.html
    http://mac.appstorm.net/how-to/hardware-how-to/how-to-make-a-bootable-hard-drive -clone-with-superduper/
    The link below is the complete manual for SD
    http://s3.amazonaws.com/com.shirtpocket/SuperDuper/SuperDuper.pdf
    I hope think helps.

  • How to Encrypt Home Folder Located on External Drive

    I have an iMac 5K with a 512GB internal SSD.  I decided to relocate my users' home folders to an external HDD due to their size (won't all fit on the SSD).
    That part is working fine.  However, it has now dawned on me that I would like to encrypt those home folders in case that external HDD is stolen.  The problem, of course, is that by encrypting that external HDD, those users won't be able to login, since you can't login if your home folder is not immediately available.
    Only solution that I read about is to have another user (with a home folder on the SSD) login first after startup and decrypt the HDD.  The would then allow the other users to login successfully.
    Is that the solution I should go with here?  Or is there some other approach that will work better?  Or should I move my home folders back to the SSD and just keep the large stuff on the external HDD?

    If your pictures, music, movies are not sensitive, you could relocate those to the external drive.

  • Can I put my startup/home folder on an external drive?

    I would like to stripe my four internal drives for a high-performance RAID 0 for video editing.
    Is there ANY reason that it would be unwise to put my applications/library/system/users folders on an external firewire drive? (Of course I will continue to do regular backups of these folders, regardless of where they live.)
    Any performance issues, startup issues, etc, that I should be aware of?

    External drives are slower than internal drives but otherwise there's no reason you could not do it. I would not recommend it. I would leave one internal drive as your startup drive and stripe the other three. This would be the faster and more reliable alternative in my opinion.
    Consider putting in a goodly amount of RAM which will also help with video work and limit the amount of disk usage during editing of large files.

  • I created a new home folder on an external but didn't move my old files over. Now I can't see the old hard drive in my mac mini. How can I locate that drive?

    I wanted to move my home folder to an external drive. I created a new home folder and in advanced options I moved it over. I didn't however move my files over first, my bad. Now I can't see the hard drive on my mac mini. Is it possible to reverse it or get access to the old home folder and is it possible to still use the mac mini's internal hard drive for storage? How do I find my shared folder, it was on the internal drive. I'm new to macs as you might have guessed at this debockle. Can anyone help?

    I'm using Mavricks. I wanted to move my home directory to an external and went into sys prop/users/advanced options and moved the folder ok. Being a noobie on Macs I didn't copy my data and such. So my settings were all new. Basicly now I don't see the internal drive on my mini. There is a lot of strage I'm not able to access. The internal drive doesn't show up. How can I put a folder back onto it so it shows up?

  • Set mail folder on an external drive

    Does anyone know if it's possible to keep the Mail folder on an external drive. I'm wondering 'cause I use POP mail with Eudora and I like to keep my mail on an external drive. That way when I move to different computers I just bring my external drive with me and all my e-mail comes too. I'd use IMAP but my host doesn't give me enough room to house all my e-mail. I like Eudora but am worried since they are no longer going to be supported and thought I'd give Mail a try. Has anyone heard of this working or if there are any tutorials out there on setting up Mail to read from an external drive? Thanks so much.
    -NifflerX

    sorry, you are quite right! It IS possible by using symbolic links! I should have thought of that right away.
    here is what you do.
    Quit Mail and move the folder homedirectory/Library/Mail to your external drive. After that's done move the original folder to some other location outside homedirectory/Library like the desktop or simply delete it.
    open terminal and enter the following commands:
    *cd ~/Library*
    *ln -s /Volumes/"externaldrivename"/Mail Mail*
    Substitute the name of your external in the above.
    Also, the above command assumes that you moved the Mail folder to the top level of the external. if not, modify the path accordingly.
    That's it! what this does is create a symbolic link to the Mail folder on your external inside the Lbrary folder. I tested it and it works quite well. just make sure that when you start Mail, the external drive is mounted.
    To undo this, trash the symbolic link we created and move the mail folder back to ~/Library.

  • How to relocate Home folder to second internal drive

    What is the process to migrate my Home Folder from the boot drive (256Gb SSD) to a new internal drive (960Gb SSD)? Can this be accomplished in finder or should one use the Terminal window?

    Interesting, I'm having the same issue on my MacBook Pro that has both an SSD (for the OS and Apps) and a Hard Disk in place of the Superdrive. This config worked just fine with Mountain Lion; since upgrading to Mavericks this morning, I am unable to log into my personal account that has its home folder on the hard disk.
    Unfortunately, it also seems to be an issue with the library folder, as I've been able to solve this issue with symlinks just fine with the exception of Library: the system keeps asking me to key in my password because the Library folder "needs to be repaired".
    I can't move my Library folder to the SSD, as it is way too big (for whatever reason) - the SSD is only 96 Gig.
    What is so different here is that the hard disk in the system is encrypted - I think this is the problem. I don't understand why, though, because under ML, I just logged in as admin after every reboot, which mounted the encrypted disk and then logged out / logged back in with my user account - it worked just fine.
    Something seems to have changed with Mavericks regarding making available the encrypted HD...
    Oddly enough, on my Mac Mini at home, which also has the SSD/HD pair, the moved home folder works fine - of course, here the HD isn't encrypted...
    I hope someone has a fix for this, otherwise I'll have to go back to ML!

  • Storing Home Folder on a separate drive OK?

    Can I store my Home Folder on a separate drive? I am thinking about getting a Raptor drive for my boot drive. But the size of the HD won't fit all my music, docs, movies and pics.
    If this is OK, and it does not screw with the OS, how do I do it?
    Copy to a new drive, but how do I direct the OS to that Home Folder and apps to save info there?

    Hi
    You can - you just have to make sure that you always have the external drive connected all the time, otherwise the system will create a blank home folder. It's probably not a great idea to do this for a portable computer. Instead, I'd recommend perhaps moving just your music, pictures and/or movies.
    Matt

  • Is it possible to run my iTunes solely from an external drive?

    I'm a college student and don't have my own computer anymore, and I currently use campus computers and library computers (No admin priviledges).
    I currently have all my previous iTunes music backed up on my external drive, and I have the iTunes package (The install package you download from Apple) also on there as well.
    I'm basically wondering if I can install iTunes onto my external drive, open it from there, and also be able to access my music from there as well?
    To give more clarification, I want to be able to go to a college or library computer (These computers are running on Windows XP or 7), be able to open iTunes from my external drive, and be able to manage and use my library from there.
    With college and library computers, you don't have the admin rights to install iTunes. However, I do have friends that will let me use their computer to install iTunes onto my external drive (If that is possible). So not being able to install iTunes because of lack of admin priviledges is a barrier I can get through.
    How ever I don't know if it's possible to run, and open iTunes from an external drive, and be able to open and use my iTunes library from there.
    And help would be great.
    Thanks in advance!

    how would I go about putting my iTunes library on an external drive?
    It depends on where your library is now and how it's organized. If you have all your content and library files in a single iTunes folder, drag the entire iTunes folder (the _entire_ folder, _not_ just the iTunes Music folder) to your desired location. Then hold down the Shift key while launching iTunes. You'll be given a dialog box where you can select the iTunes library you want to use. Navigate to and select the iTunes folder in it's new location. Note that this procedure assumes that all of your tracks are contained in the iTunes Music folder. If they're scattered around your volumes, moving them becomes much more complex. Don't delete the tracks from the old location until you've confirmed that they're working correctly from the external drive
    Also is it possible to get past administrator rights, to install iTunes and delete iTunes each time I use a computer that I don't have administrator rights to? That way I can still use iTunes.
    No, it's not possible. As with most applications, you need administrator rights to install iTunes.
    Regards.

  • Can I dedicate specific folder in my external drive for Time Machine to download to

    Is it possible to create a folder in my external drive and point Time Machine specifically to that folder to backup my computer? I have some files already on my external drive and want them separate from the backup files that Time Machine will create.

    No, please carefully read Time Machine FAQs and also bookmark Time Machine Troubleshooting

  • I have moved my Itunes media folder to an external drive and Itunes does not find the items in the folder

    Running Win7. I moved my entire Itunes library to an external drive to free up space on my laptop. Itunes recognized the change and all was well. That worked fine and I have synced several times from the laptop with the library on the external drive. Now the laptop is in the shop (sigh, not Itunes related a dead network card). I connected the external drive to my desktop, made sure my software was up to date. opened ITunes went to edit/preferences/advanced. Went to change Itunes media folder location and navigated to the proper folder on my external drive and clicked OK. None of the music, videos, etc, that are in that folder show up in iTunes on the desktop. Restarted ITunes, no help, reboot computer, no help. Have I done something wrong or left out a step. I could copy all the media onto the desktop individually and build new playlists but that seems like something that should not be needed? One of the reasons I moved my Itunes media folder to the external drive was so I could use the laptop for iTunes while travel and the desktop for iTunes while at home. Do I have to copy the entire folder to my desktop and take up space there? That would be counterproductive to using the external drive. I searched and saw a hint to hold down shift while starting ITunes but that did not change anything. Any help would be most appreciated!
    Jim in WV

    Thank you for your prompt response - I did as you said and did a drag and drop into the iTunes window - it imported and got my album art from the net. When I started Itunes with the shift key down I was prompted to choose a library but since I copied over the media folder and not the library folder I was unable to select that so I guess I will have to create a new library and add in all the music, videos, etc. unless I wait for my laptop and export the library or at least that seems to be the case? In short, all my data (iTunes media folder) is on my external drive and can be added to the blank iTunes screen but I can not choose a library folder. Is there anyway around completely making all those playlists again? I am not sure my laptop will survive the shop with data intact and really hate to start over on those.
    In an unrelated question - I collect old TV shows from the 1950's. Can I make playlists within the home video folder somehow?  In other words like one for Quiz shows, one for comedies, one for police and detective shows, etc. while I am remaking all my playlists for my music if I end up having to go that route?
    Once again thank you for helping me out. I am not too Itunes savvy and really appreciate you taking the time to answer.

  • How do I get iTunes to use the iTunes folder on an external drive?  Windows 7

    I have used iTunes on an external drive on a Windows XP machine.  I moved the drive to a Windows 7 computer, authorized it with Apple.  However, when I go to preferences/advanced and try to change the Media folder location,the location is changed but the music is not recognized in Itunes.  Help!

    I experimented and discovered the solution by trial and error.  I don't understand why this is not documented in a way that a naive user would understand.  It is step 2, below, that is not obvious.  Unless you know that there is this thing called a library and that you must import it, you would be at a dead end.  I originally assumed that when I point iTunes to the folder on the external drive where iTunes was located it would recognize everything from there.
    1.  When installing iTunes, if music iTunes Library is on another disk, In iTunes Go to Edit/Preferences/Advanced - select the iTunes media on the other disk.
    2.  In order to bring in the library & playlists, in iTunes, Go to File/Library/import Playlist go to the iTunes  location on the other disk and select the file iTunes Library.  The file type is labeled XML document.
    This will bring in the songs, albums and playlists.

  • ITunes Media Folder Renameable on External Drive (mac)

    I have a 1TB collection of music in a folder on an external drive within a folder that is NOT called iTunes Media, but which until now had behaved as if it were.
    I just switched to a clone of my old 1TB drive on a 1.5TB drive. After 11 hours of locating my 157000 tracks, I was able to find and use every track. However, when I added a new track, apparently I lost the ability to add new music tracks within the Music folder. Instead, a new iTunes Media folder was created within the folder which SHOULD have been called iTunes Media.
    In the (new) iTunes Media folder there are a few folders containing the music I added after the switch. In the Music folder (below, but higher hierarchy) there is 1TB of music, which means it cannot be copied into the (new) iTunes Media file on the 1.5TB drive (not enough space).
    Even though it would entail 100+ hours of new clone-backup time, the most logical solution would be to discard the embedded iTunes Media folder, rename the top-level folder iTunes Media, then let iTunes relocate the tracks again (over another 11 hours) and reload the few tracks loaded since the switch.
    However I do not know if iTunes will allow this to work, and if so, what needs to be done in order to make it work.
    Can the top-level folder be renamed? Do I need to untick and tick the Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized button?
    Thanks
    Mac OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 11.4

    I am getting a bit lost on what was done and exactly why you did it that way.  It looks to me like you use iTunes with standard preferences settings and you didn't so much move your media folder to the external drive as your whole iTunes library (everything in the top level folder including all the media files).  This should have been done simply by copying the iTunes folder from the old drive to the new one, renaming the AllMyiTunesMusic folder if you so desire, then starting iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and selecting that folder as the iTunes library to now start using.  Apart from the copy time when you could go away and drink a pot of coffee the actual labor time would be about 2 minutes.  I think you must have done something different which has kind of messed up your library and resulted in duplication of files.  Some of those folders such as Movies and the neighboring Music folder should be in the media folder, but don't move things about in Finder or iTunes may lose track of them and things will get worse.  If you can go back and do things properly then I recommend you do so, otherwise we can see what we can work with here.
    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
    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

  • Is it possible to set up a backup between two external drives

    Is it possible to set up a backup between two external drives?
    i use time machine to back up my imac onto an external 2T.
    i also have two external 3T drives.  i am looking for redundancy of data, tried software RAID and it failed.  i also see some limitations with RAID that a backup would avoid.
    thanks for sharing your expertise.
    be well,
    tony

    so thanks to all of you, particularly rkaufmann87 i have decided to stop the plan of setting up a software RAID set.  instead i have downloaded ccc and am in the process of setting up the secone 3t external drive as a clone.  i will use time machine to back up the internal hard drive only and if possible see if i can clone that as well onto one of the 3t's.
    this gives me the peace of mind i sounght and avoids the problem of total corruption that exists with the raid solution i was exploring.
    thank you all for making this an enjoyable and informative experience.  what a powerful community.
    be well
    tony

  • Error Code -36 When Copying iTunes Music folder to an External Drive

    _*"The finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "NAME.mp3" could not be read or written. (Error code -36)_"*
    This is the error message I get when trying to copy my iTunes music folder to an external drive. I am following Apple's knowledge base article, so yes, I have consolidated my library, have closed iTunes and there is plenty of room on the external drive. For what it's worth, I am also getting this error when trying to do the same thing with my iPhoto library.
    Would be grateful for some insight,
    With oodles of appreciation in advance,
    Joe

    I was getting the same "-36" error while trying to backup to a Lacie firewire external drive.
    I had a lot of people telling me to re-format, erase, reinstall, run utility programs ... yada, yada, yada.
    First off, test to see if it is the connection type (firewire). I reconnected the offending external drive via USB, restarted the drive and ... BINGO! ... all transfers went perfectly.
    Once i knew it was the firewire connection and not the drive itself i simply unplugged my iSight camera (the only other firewire device connected to my machine), reconnected my external drive via firewire and the problem is now corrected.
    Firewire buses seem to be very finicky things ... i would suggest eliminating all firewire devices from the machine (except, of course, the external drive you're trying to transfer to) and see if the problem goes away.
    Like i said, i simply unplugged my iSight camera and the transfer to my external drive went perfect and my transfer rates went from an average of 4MB/sec to over 19MB/sec.
    P.S. BTW - prior to the error and after i corrected the error by unplugging the iSight camera, my internal and external drives all checked out 100% on Disk Utility, Disk Warrior and TechTool Pro.

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