Limit on number of folders or files on an external drive?

I have an external disc (firewire, 1.5TB, IcyDock) that has 22,000 folders and 155,000 files on it (I'm an audio engineer and photographer). The folder structure is very shallow (only four deep for the most part). My problem is that only a subset of the folders show up and they are one layer down; I can't get to root. I can get at the other files through spotlight; I just can't get at them from the finder. Does anyone have an idea of what is going on? I've run disc repair and it tells me that everything is wonderful. This is backup, I can reformat the disc if I need to, but I would like to end up with all my files instantly available.
Thanks.

Considering that my startup volume has in excess of 100,000 folders and more than 600,000 files I don't think you are near any practical limit on this external drive. Perhaps you need to repair this drive in case the directory tree has become corrupted:
Repairing a Hard Drive
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. After DU loads select the hard drive volume and click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

Similar Messages

I have been dragging my files to a external drive to have a back-up for them and I lost some of my folders. They just went completely missing. I didn't delete them, and it was all stuff that I have worked on in the past month. How do I get them back?

I have been dragging my files to a external drive to have a back-up for them and I lost some of my folders. They just went completely missing. I didn't delete them, and it was all stuff that I have worked on in the past month. How do I get them back?

You really should be doing backups with an actual backup application, especially one that will work automatically, and, if your external HD is large enough, back up your entire system. These can automatically back up only what's changed since the previous backup, and some will keep "archive" copies of things you've changed or deleted, also.
Too many things can go wrong, such as your internal HD failing, and you'll have a major project to reinstall everything.
You already have Time Machine, built-in to OSX. You might want to review the Time Machine Tutorial, and perhaps browse Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
#27 in the second link mentions some alternatives, too.

I have my iTunes Library on and external hard drive. I have a new computer and want to use iTunes and KEEP my files on the external drive.

My iTunes library is on an external hard drive, and I was able to access / add to the library from my windows laptop.
I now have a new laptop, and want to be able to KEEP the library on the external drive while being able to use iTunes from the new laptop.
I have selected "choose library" in iTunes, and have chosen the iTunes Library.itl file on the external drive.
My media populates in iTunes on the new laptop version of iTunes, but when I click on a song iTunes says that it cannot locate the song.
Your help is kindly appreciated!

Thanks. Were the settings shown in your last screenshot in force when you added the song that's shown on being on the C: drive? It is also possible that at some point you ran iTunes with the external drive disconnected, in which case it will have defaulted to the library on the C: drive, or that you've run iTunes without explicitly selecting the library on the E: drive. To make sure the latter is the case, hold down SHIFT while starting iTunes, then when you get this prompt:
click on Choose Library..., navigate to the location of your current iTunes Library.itl file, and click Open.
Part of your issue may that its not obvious where that current database file is located. The folder layout on your E: drive isn't the one that's most easily managed - so its possible that the database file could be in:
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes
E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes 1
I suggest that a lot of your issues can be addressed by reshaping your library into the reliable "portable" layout as described in tt2's Make a split library portable user tip. Comparing your screenshot with the equivalent on my system (where I have a "well-formed" library on an external drive):
where:
there is just one iTunes folder with everything used by iTunes inside it
all media is held within subfolders of the iTunes Media folder
The way you have yours set up, where the iTunes Media Folder location is set to E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes rather than E:\xxxx\Files\iTunes\iTunes Media is probably why some of your media is not being located correctly - the extent to which iTunes can correctly resolve locations is, to an extent, reliant on the folders for the different media kinds (Music, Audiobooks, etc.) being inside the iTunes Media media folder. One common misunderstanding (not helped at all by Apple's documentation!) is that the iTunes Media Folder location setting in Edit > Preferences > Advanced does not tell iTunes where to find anything; rather it determines where iTunes will put new additions to your Library, in conjunction with the Copy files to iTunes Media folder ... flag:
I would definitely take the time to work through the steps to bring your library into the "portable" shape - there may be few remaining issues with broken links when that's complete but this will be much easier to fix if your library is in a more standard structure.

Moving LR files from one external drive to another

How do I move LR image files from one external drive to another external drive?

Move the photos using your operating system and then re-connect in Lightroom following these instructions: Adobe Lightroom - Find moved or missing files and folders
Do not use this as an opportunity to re-arrange folders or move photos from folder to folder. Just move the entire "tree" of folders.

IMac is not booting - How can I copy my files to an external drive

Hello,
my iMac (late 2009 model, OS X 10.7.4) is not booting anymore. The iMac stopps booting at the Apple logo and the spinning gear.
I tried a couple of things that I found here in the community but nothing worked.
start in safe mode => iMac shuts off after a couple of seconds
start with safe boot (Shift-Command-V) => I'll get a couple of error messages, e.g. disk0s2: I/O error. SATA WARNING: Enable Drive PHY PM failed
reset the NVRAM/PRAM => no change
But when I try to get access on the HD with the FireWire Target Disk Mode, I can see the following folders: Applications, Library, System, Users. But the statusbar shows 0 items for each folder and it shows that the HD has 650 GB available. I have the original 1TB HD. When I try to start OS X from an external drive I can see the same folders. I tried Data Rescue 3 to scan my files, but the software stopps with an error.
My TimeMachine backup was not working, so I have no actual backup and need to find a solution to copy my files to an external drive.
Instead of Data Rescue 3, I can use TechTools Pro 6 alternatively.
Would Data Rescue 3 find files if I erase and create a new partition on the HD?
What I found out so far, it looks like a corrupted file system.
Have anyone an idea or a tip, how I can copy my files?
I would be more than happy if someone can help me.
Thank you very much for all answers in advance.

The internal drive is failing, or has failed. You may not be able to save the data.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
1. Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup) or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
How to back up and restore your files
2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

How can I backup my files to an external drive

how can I backup my files to an external drive?? Can't seem to drag files to the external drive icon

Is the drive formatted for the Mac? Is it a new drive? If so it's not formatted properly:
Drive Preparation
1.Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Trying to backup one of my iPhoto libraries I keep getting a error message that basically says that the file could not be backed up because there is another file on the external drive with the same name, etc. There is no other file.

While trying to copy one of my iPhoto libraries to an external hard drive I get the following error message "You can’t copy “iPhoto Library old” because it has the same name as another item on the destination volume, and that volume doesn’t distinguish between upper- and lowercase letters in filenames." There is no other file on the external drive with this name. I have asked this question before and was told that there are some duplicate photos (files) in my library and I needed to go to "show file contents" and look at certain files to find duplicates and delete the duplicates. I did all of this and the library will still not copy and always stops copying in the exact same place on each attempt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You've been deleting your actual Photos.
Don't change anything in the iPhoto Library Folder via the Finder or any other application. iPhoto depends on the structure as well as the contents of this folder. Moving things, renaming things, deleting them or otherwise making changes will prevent iPhoto from working and could even cause you to damage or lose your photos.
Best way forward now is to recover the surviving Originals from this library and start over from scratch.
Regards
TD

HOW Do I Store All My MP3 files on an external drive, and point iTunes?

I see on this forum that folks are storing byte-hogs like MP3 and MP4 files on an external hard drive, leaving the internal drive with more room for processing.
My internal drive is full, so I got a 2 Tb external drive where I want to store my MP3 and MP4 files.
After I move the files to the external drive, HOW do I point iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie to the external drive?

Type "move itunes library to external drive" into the search bar at the top of this screen next to "Support".

.DS_store won't let me move files from one external drive to another

I am trying to move some music files from one external harddrive to another. They are both connected to my mac mini.
In the "from" harddrive I have a folder with a bunch of music files in it and it also has a new file in it called DS_store. When I open this folder and select all, it naturally selects all of my music files and this DS_store file. When I try to drag all of this to the "destination" harddrive I open the folder that I want to drag them to which already has some music and it has the DS_store file too, it won't let me drag the files to it   It says something like there is already a DS_store file there. So I tried deleting that file from each external drive and it just reappears.
If I create an empty folder in the destination drive, I can drag all of the files to it. The problem is I want the new files to be in the same folder with the older files.
In addition there are a few other ghost type files that have shown up too.
Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

If you're copying from a FAT-formatted volume, do as below.
Back up all data.
Select the text on the line below by dragging across it. Don't include the blank space at the end of the line. Only the text should be highlighted.
dot_clean -m
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
Now switch to the Finder and and select the icon of the FAT volume. Drag into the Terminal window. More text will be added to what you entered.
Click in the Terminal window to activate it, then press return.
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear. Then quit Terminal and try the copy again.

HT2518 how do i or can i drag and drop files from one external drive to another ???HOW

how do i drag and drop files from one external drive to another, i cannt get both drives to open up. only one at a time.. i have alot to learn i know but that is where i am at the time...

You posted here so would assume you are also talking about running Windows.
Are the drives NTFS and use on Windows?
Are they Mac HFS formatted?
You likely will need NTFS for OS X in one case. to mount PC and use under Mac OS Lion
MacDrive to mount and WRITE to HFS drives under Windows

Moving LR files to an external drive

I know this has been answered a zillion times, but help me out.
My internal drive is filling up and I want to move some of my LR files to an external drive. How do I move them? Do I need to reindex? How do I do that? thanks

I suggest you move them within your library so that LR will keep track of them.

Moving Lossless files to an external drive

How do I move Apple Lossless files to an external drive & still have iTunes know about them?
When I started ripping my CD collection I encoded them with Apple Lossless. Then I converted each track to AAC.
Why? Well, on the basis that I wanted to have a high quality version of each track (you never know when it might be useful). Of course, I wanted the AAC version for my iPod.
Now my internal drive is getting full so I want to be able to move all the Lossless files to my Lacie Drive BUT not loose them from my iTunes library.
Any help and advice would be very much appreciated.

I think I've figured out how to do what you want. Here are some steps. The following assume that you don't use the "part of a compilation" option or don't care if this option gets reset.
1. Move all of your music to the external drive. To do this:
1.a. Open iTunes preferences, Advanced panel. Make sure "copy music into itunes library" and "keep itunes library organized" are checked.
1.b. Still in iTunes preferences, change the location of your iTunes Music Library (under Advanced) to the folder on the external drive where you will eventually want to store all of your lossless files.
1.c. Choose Advanced|Consolidate library, and wait while iTunes copies all of your music to the external drive.
2. In iTunes, select all of your lossy files (i.e. the files you want on your internal drive). Press Command-I to get info about these songs and then check the "Part of a Compilation" option. Press "ok". (iTunes may take some time to complete this step.)
3. In iTunes, select all of your lossless files, and un-check the "Part of a Compilation" option.
4. Re-open iTunes preferences, and change your iTunes library location back to the place (probably on your internal drive) where you'd like to keep your lossy files. If it asks you something about copying files to be consistent with your options, choose "no".
5. Now, open finder and find the folder you specified in step 1. Open it and the "iTunes Library" folder inside it. You should now have a folder for every artist in your iTunes library. There should also be a folder entitled "Compilations". Drag this folder into the "Library" icon in your iTunes window. Wait while iTunes copies all of your lossy songs back onto your internal drive.
6. If the "Compilations" folder you dragged in step 5 still exists, you should be able to delete it, as all of its contents should now be in a similar "compilations" folder in the folder you specified in step 4. (Check this before deleting, though!!!)
You're done. All of your lossless files are on the external drive. All of your lossy files are on the internal drive and you shouldn't have lost your ratings, etc. (At least, these steps worked for me, using the latest version of iTunes.) You can even change the "part of a compilation" settings as much as you please.
Good luck!

Copying large file sets to external drives hangs copy process

Hi all,
Goal: to move large media file libraries for iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie to external drives. Will move this drive as a media drive for a new iMac 2013. I am attempting to consolidate many old drives over the years and consolidate to newer and larger drives.
Hardware: moving from a Mac Pro 2010 to variety of USB and other drives for use with a 2013 iMac. The example below is from the boot drive of the Mac Pro. Today, the target drive was a 3 TB Seagate GoFlex ? USB 3 drive formatted as HFS+ Journaled. All drives are this format. I was using the Seagate drive on both the MacPro USB 2 and the iMac USB 3. I also use a NitroAV Firewire and USB hub to connect 3-4 USB and FW drives to the Mac Pro.
OS: Mac OS X 10.9.1 on Mac Pro 2010
Problem: Today--trying to copy large file sets such as iTunes, iPhoto libs, iMovie events from internal Mac drives to external drive(s) will hang the copy process (forever). This seems to mostly happen with very large batches of files: for example, an entire folder of iMovie events, the iTunes library; the iPhoto library. Symptom is that the process starts and then hangs at a variety of different points, never completing the copy. Requires a force quit of Finder and then a hard power reboot of the Mac. Recent examples today were (a) a hang at 3 Gb for a 72 Gb iTunes file; (b) hang at 13 Gb for same 72 Gb iTunes file; (c) hang at 61 Gb for a 290 Gb iPhoto file. In the past, I have had similar drive-copying issues from a variety of USB 2, USB 3 and FW drives (old and new) mostly on the Mac Pro 2010. The libraries and programs seem to run fine with no errors. Small folder copying is rarely an issue. Drives are not making weird noises. Drives were checked for permissions and repairs. Early trip to Genius Bar did not find any hardware issues on the internal drives.
I seem to get these "dropoff" of hard drives unmounting themselves and other drive-copy hangs more often than I should. These drives seem to be ok much of the time but they do drop off here and there.
Attempted solutions today: (1) Turned off all networking on Mac -- Ethernet and WiFi. This appeared to work and allowed the 72 Gb iTunes file to fully copy without an issue. However, on the next several attempts to copy the iPhoto and the hangs returned (at 16 and then 61 Gb) with no additional workarounds. (2) Restart changes the amount of copying per instance but still hangs. (3) Last line of a crash report said "Thunderbolt" but the Mac Pro had no Thunderbolt or Mini Display Port. I did format the Seagate drive on the new iMac that has Thunderbolt. ???
Related threads were slightly different. Any thoughts or solutions would be appreciated. Better copy software than Apple's Finder? I want the new Mac to be clean and thus did not do data migration. Should I do that only for the iPhoto library? I'm stumped.
It seems like more and more people will need to large media file sets to external drives as they load up more and more iPhone movies (my thing) and buy new Macs with smaller Flash storage. Why can't the copy process just "skip" the parts of the thing it can't copy and continue the process? Put an X on the photos/movies that didn't make it?
Thanks -- John

I'm having a similar problem. I'm using a MacBook Pro 2012 with a 500GB SSD as the main drive, 1TB internal drive (removed the optical drive), and also tried running from a Sandisk Ultra 64GB Micro SDXC card with the beta version of Mavericks.
I have a HUGE 1TB Final Cut Pro library that I need to get off my LaCie Thunderbolt drive and moved to a 3TB WD USB 3.0 drive. Every time I've tried to copy it the process would hang at some point, roughly 20% of the way through, then my MacBook would eventually restart on its own. No luck getting the file copied. Now I'm trying to create a disk image using disk utility to get the file from the Thunderbolt drive and saved to the 3TB WD drive. It's been running for half an hour so far and appears that it could take as long a 5 hours to complete.
Doing the copy via disk image was a shot in the dark and I'm not sure how well it will work if I need to actually use the files again. I'll post my results after I see what's happened.

Is it possible to store all iTunes files on an external drive?

Is it possible to store all iTunes files on an external drive? I'd like to free up space on my Mac Book Air and iTunes is the largest space hog. What can I store on my 1TB external drive and delete from the laptop's hard drive?

Drag the iTunes library there, launch iTunes with the Option key held down, click on Choose Library, and navigate to that instance of it.
(85793)

Adobe Bridge shuts down when I try to access files on my external drive. Have been using the drive for months with no problems.

Adobe Bridge shuts down when I try to access files on my external drive. Have been using the drive for several months with no problems.

Due to the current unavailability of clairvoyants and mind-readers in the forum, we respectfully request you supply sensible, complete details.
A lot more information about your hardware and software is needed.
BOILERPLATE TEXT:
If you give complete and detailed information about your setup and the issue at hand,
such as your platform (Mac or Win),
exact versions of your OS, of Photoshop (not just "CC", but something like CC2014.v.2.2) and of Bridge,
your settings in Photoshop > Preference > Performance
the type of file you were working on,
machine specs, such as total installed RAM, scratch file HDs, total available HD space, video card specs, including total VRAM installed,
what troubleshooting steps you have taken so far,
what error message(s) you receive,
if having issues opening raw files also the exact camera make and model that generated them,
if you're having printing issues, indicate the exact make and model of your printer, paper size, image dimensions in pixels (so many pixels wide by so many pixels high). if going through a RIP, specify that too.
a screen shot of your settings or of the image could be very helpful too,
etc.,
someone may be able to help you (not necessarily this poster, who is not a Windows user).
Please read this FAQ for advice on how to ask your questions correctly for quicker and better answers:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/419981?tstart=0
Thanks!

Limit on number of folders or files on an external drive?

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