Is it possible to use External HD as main boot drive? (Help!)

Hi all
I am about to buy a Seagate FreeAgent Pro (link: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/478636-REG/SeagateST305004FPA1E3_RK_FreeAgent_Pro_500GB_eSATA.html) with 500Gb and FW400/USB2.0/eSATA. I have a Mac Mini, and its internal HD is too small for me (80Gb total for about 70Gb of data).
What I'd like to do is install OS X on the External HD and use it as my main boot drive, and perhaps the Mini's internal HD for data backup. Would that be possible/legal (I only have the install discs that came with it - my first Mac :D)? If it is complicated, could you guys explain me how to do it?
I'd also like to know whether the performance would be better or worse. The Mini's got a 5400 RPM drive, and the external is 7200 RPM and would be connected through FW400 (plus a lot of free space for now).
One last question: if it is indeed possible/legal to use the External HD as my main boot drive, would it be possible to install and boot Windows on the external HD using Boot Camp or Parallels?
Cheers
Daniel
Mac Mini 1.83 GHz Core Duo 1 GB Ram 80 GB HDD Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Performance will be worse because FW400 is considerably slower than the internal bus. For startup I would continue using the internal drive. You can use the external drive for data storage as well as off-loading any music, picture, and movie files to free up space on the internal drive. You can also partition a chunk of the external drive (80 GBs) to use as a backup partition for the internal hard drive. You can clone your internal drive to the external (partition) which will give you a bootable backup. Here's how:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.

Similar Messages

Possible to use TC as clone of boot drive in Leopard?

Time Machine seems to take FOREVER whenever I run it, so I end up not running it. I was wondering if it is possible to use Time Capsule as a pure hd and clone my boot drive to it for a full backup option? If so, how? Are there reasons not to?

Bad sectors automatically get re-written when new data are supplied. If the new data don't "stick" a spare will be substituted.
If you are happy with your clone, just update it. There is no need to write Zeroes to it. I was suggesting that process for when you make major changes -- it takes several hours to complete.
You may prefer to use you smaller drive, Zeroed, to start a new clone, wait a little while to assure success, then start a Time Machine backup set on the larger Iomega.
Or some other approach that has not occurred to me.

Is it possible to use External Defiantion in Interface Mapping?

Hi Experts,
Is it possible to use External defination in Interface mapping? I used this ED in Message Mapping but I am unable to use the same ED for Interface Mapping?
In order to create Interface Mapping I need to create Message Interface and use it in Interface Mappiong?
Thanks
Rajeev

Hi Rajeev,
External definitions is for importing avaliable external DTD,XSD or WSDLs instead of creating them in XI environment maually by creating elements under datatypes,assigning them too Message types and Message Interfaces etc.Where as you fo for Imported Archives to import externally done Mapping programs like JAVA,ABAP and XSLT mappings but not define Mesage interfaces.
So you can create message interface import appropriate External definition into it.Later use it during interface mapping.Hope you understand it.
Thanks,
Ram.

Is it possible to use aMacBoock Pro as a hard drive for my iMac?

Is it possible to use aMacBoock Pro as a hard drive for my iMac?

Yes, if both machines have FireWire ports (400 or 800, they're both OK):
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
Probably (maybe?), if both machines have Thunderbolt ports and you have a Thunderbolt cable:
http://www.cultofmac.com/thunderbolt-target-disk-mode-requires-apples-special-ca ble-tip/103270
If the same port isn't available on both machines, I don't think so.

The hard drive in my iMac is on its way out. I have an EHD (2TB), can i use this as my main (only) drive?

The hard drive in my iMac is on its way out. I have an EHD (2TB), can i use this as my main (only) drive? ie unmount the 'C' drive and use the external hard drive as 'Macintosh HD'?

If the EHD was, originally, formatted as an Mac OS extended (journaled) format with GUID partition scheme, then you can designate this drive as the startup drive in OS X preferences panel.

Possible? Using External Definitions for data type/message type definitions

Hi all,
i want to use external definitons in my own data type definitions. Is that possible? And if yes, how?
I imported many definitions via a mass import. Now I also want to use these definitions for further interfaces (than the imported ones). The most convenient would be of course to just use them as a custom created type. Can I somehow "convert" an external definition to a data type/message type?
KR
Felix

Hello Felix,
The External defination which you has been imported that cant use in DT and MT but yeah you can use this in Service interface.
you cant modify that External defination if you want to do that then 1st of all modify it and then reimport it as an another external defination.
and creating service interface with this ED you can use it in your message mapping .
i hope this will help to you to clear your doubt.
Monica

M92p SFF: Possible to add a 2.5" SSD boot drive in the 3.5" external card reader bay?

I recently bought a M92p Small Form Factor with model number 2988-A5U.
Is it possible to to add an additional 2.5" SSD as a boot drive while retaining the 3.5" 1TB SATA as the data drive?
I have searched many posts and datasheets on the internet but could't find an answer.
http://www.partnerinfo.lenovo.com/partners/us/products/downloads/thinkcentre-mseries/ThinkCentre-M92...
The above specs. states that it supports 2 HDDs but I can't find another 3.5" or 2.5" internal HDD bay.
My thought is to put a 2.5" SSD into the 3.5" card reader bay. Is it feasible?

I ordered a 2.5" General 2.5" SSD to 3.5" SATA Hard Disk Drive HDD caddy from Amazon that fit perfectly! General 2.5" SSD to 3.5" SATA HDD caddy It came with screws that fit the new SSD, and the caddy fit the blue plastic carrier that slides into the 3.5" bay. This caddy properly aligns the connectors off to the left side, supports up to 6GBs SATA, and is even hot swappable.

External Firewire as Main System Drive...

anyone have any comments on using an external Firewire drive as your main system drive? the stock 80GB internal drive in my mini is filling up at an incredible rate, actually had to offload my entire iTunes library just to clear some space, so i was thinking of using my 200GB Maxtor as my main system drive. any doing this? seeing any performance benefits and/or problems? thanks for any info.

from what I've heard from many articles re: MacMini before buying one for my GF, booting from an external FW drive (provided it's 7200+ RPM) you should notice a dramatic difference in performance.
place your install disc in the optical drive restart holding "C".
select the FW drive and use the Archive and Install option from your advanced tab before commiting to the install.
you keep your info on the drive and you get a faster machine!
if you decide to use the built-in drive to boot from make sure that you "re-bless" the internal drive from system preferences or you'll encounter an error screen the first time you try to boot with out the FW drive attached.
have fun with your faster mini!

External HD - setup for boot drive

How do I create a seperate sector on an external firewire drive and create a boot drive?
I will be sharing this drive with a PC computer....

If it's going to be a bootable drive, the partition will have to be formatted as "Mac OS Extended" (a.k.a. HFS+). Unfortunately, the way the Disk Utility n the Mac works, it won't allow you to reformat only ONE partition on a hard drive in HFS+ if another partition is FAT32. You will be forced to erase the entire hard drive and pick one or the other. If you get some software that allows your Windows PC to read HSF+ formatted disks, you may be able to format each of two partitions to do what you want. But, I've never heard of anyone, directly, who's done this.
-Doug

Using TM to backup multiple boot drives

hello all,
Relatively new to TM. I have new Mac Pro's each with 2 320 gig drives, each with a different OS configuration - 1 boot drive for Final Cut Pro, the other boot drive for Avid.
I want to use TM to backup both of these drives whithin each OS. It seems that no matter what OS i am in, the backup is always made to a folder named the same thing "John Doe's Backup".
Its seems though when i am in Boot drive 1 and backup TM names my back up the same things as when i am in Boot Drive 2.
Does this make sense. Can anyone help? Do i just change the name of the computer on one of the boot drives?
Any info would be most appreciated.
Thanks!
MB

MustafaEditor wrote:
i tried renaming my alternate boot drive
no, don't rename the drive. that will do nothing. rename the computer. boot from that drive, go to system preferences->sharing and change the name of the computer. that's the name that TM uses.
but when i instruct time machine to "back up now" the backup that mounts is still named the same as my other boot drive.
I don't understand what you mean by that.
not sure where the backups.backupdb folder is located?
the folder backups.backupdb is located on the backup drive and contains all TM backups. inside there should be folders with the names of the computers that are being backed up. if I understand yoursetup there should be two folders there with different names. however, there should normally be no reason for you to look inside that folder using finder.
as you said there may be different folders whithin there but i don't know where to find those folders.
thanks for any help you can provide.
best
Mustafa

Possible to use external HD with 2 machines?

Aloha all, I have been using an external HD with my MacBook to store librarys for iPhoto, & Aperture. It has worked great, but today I hit a snag. I cannot get the drive to show up when I plug it into my G5. I would like to be able to use it with both.

Do you have a LAN that you can connect the two Macs to? If so then log into the MacBook from the G5 and select the external HD. That will let you access any of the libraries on the external HD. Just be sure to set the ownership of the external HD to be ignored as seen here.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
Note: There's now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

Mountain Lion bug: Switching between virtual desktops not possible when using external screen only.

I think I have found a bug. I upgraded to Mountain Lion last week, 2 days after ML became available. My laptop is a Macbook Pro from November 2011. I ran Lion before and I did an upgrade on my laptop (not reinstall, but upgrade).
I have an external HP screen (24 inch) connected using DVI (standard connection). I also have an external Apple keyboard (bluetooth) and the external trackpad (bluetooth). I concider myself as a power user with long experience. I started using multiple desktops in Snow Leopard, and really liked the "4 finger swipe up" that came in Lion. By swiping 4 fingers up on the trackpad, I can see all "virtual desktops" on the top of the screen and select or more applications to the different screens.
This function does still work, but when I put the Macbook pro in "clamshell mode" (meaning the lid is locked and I am ONLY using the external screen), then this does not work. When I do the gesture (4 finger swipe up), the virtual desktops on top of the screen are not shown.
But if I open the Mac and then having 2 active screens, both the internal LCD on the Macbook Pro and the external HP screen, it works again. It does not matter which screen the "Finder many" is active on.
Picture below show how it is supposed to work. And it still works if no external screen is connected or if the external screen connected but the lid on the Mac is still open (not clamshell mode).
This is how it looks on the external screen when I do the "4 finger swipe up" and the Macbook Pro is in clamshell mode (lid down). Please also note how the background image is not minimized in the same way as before.
Have any other experienced the same problem ? Where do I report this to Apple ? Any e-mail or WEB pages where I can report bugs ?

As an update, I tried switching the main display to the MBP. Nothing changed.
However, I changed the rotation to 90 degrees and everything is back to Normal! Aside from the fact that I'm looking a 24" screen in the vertical position.

Possible to use external display with MBP on battery & in clamshell mode

i can use the extetrnal display with my recently purchased MB Pro - lid is closed and external display works.
but the moment i try to do this with the power not connected to the MB Pro - MB Pro goes to sleep. i can wake it up with the external keyboard but it goes back to sleep in a minute or two. and this problem goes away if power is connected.
anybody else face this? has a solution?

where do i find that option - this is what i have on my machine.
http://img.skitch.com/20090922-cpmepik2kewnsbm1g851drwryq.jpg
http://img.skitch.com/20090922-p4s3grein7kgxi3sqbsbm25kfm.jpg
Message was edited by: msim20

Is it possible to use external testing tools in SAP XI

Hi,
I have been working on file to file transfer of large size more than 1 GB. I have many doubts like:
1.Can I use Data compression techniques so that my files can be processsed(my scenario involves a lot of mapping)
2.Can any of the engines be stopped so that processing speed increases.
3.Can any of the third party testing tools like Load runner be used in to monitor the process.
Please help me with sloutions.
Thanks in advance.

One GB is a very huge file. First of all check ur XI hardware configuration.
1. U may write ur adapter module to zip the message.
2. It wont affect the performance much if the file size is 1 GB. Also u cant stop adapter engine (File Adapter) and the Integration Engine in ur scenario
3. U can do the load testing on XI using load runner
Regards,
Prateek

Possible to use Leopard disk to install Boot Camp on 10.4.1 ?

I have a MacBook Pro running 10.4.1, and I have a number of Mac programs that are not yet compatible with Leopard. I would like to install Boot Camp, but I can't install Leopard until those programs are updated. I have already purchased Leopard (but haven't installed it), so I do have the Leopard disk. (I was asleep at the wheel and didn't download the Boot Camp beta before it was pulled.)
Is it possible for me to use the Leopard disk to install Boot Camp on my 10.4.1 system now, but wait to make the Leopard OS upgrade later?
Thanks

Ah. There may be other mirrors around.
You may be able to install just Boot Camp Assistant from the Leopard DVD, but I'd be a little suspicious about how well it would work, and whether it would cause other problems. You should certainly be able to use the Leopard DVD instead of burning a drivers CD.
If you can't locate a copy of Tiger BCA, you might want to look at some of the posts that describe doing all of this manually - mostly that's creating a partition that Windows can use. Disk Utility will want to erase the entire drive to add a partition, though, which you may not be willing to do. Some third-party partition utilities claim to be able to do this without a reformat. Regardless of what path you take, be sure you have a good backup of anything not easily reinstalled or restored from other places!
Doug

Is it possible to use External HD as main boot drive? (Help!)

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for