MBA (Gen 1) USB External Drive for Boot and Backup? Recomendations?

I just ordered a 1st generation MBA with the SSD. I want to order an external USB drive that I can use to back up and boot the MBA. I have read that the USB port on the MBA does not provide enough power to support some external drives(?).
I like the G-Technology drives, looking at the G-Drive Mini. Will the USB port on the MBA provide enough power to run that drive?
Any recommendations?

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ571ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MTgzNTAwMg
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TR043ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MTg5NDg1NA
I've used both of those drives on a MacBook Air for storage and a Time Machine backup without fail. The LaCie rugged is a personal favorite with the triple interface (as I use on a MacBook Pro with FW 800).
My experience with the G-Drive Mini that I had was a bit "unique." Whenever I'd plug the drive in, the backlight would not come on unless the unit was connected to power. I later found out it was my drive, drawing excessive bus power and G-Technology replaced it under warranty. But I did notice, when hooking the drive up to various port testers that it was drawing significantly more power across the USB port than my LaCie.
Ironically, a co-worker has been using his G-Drive Mini with his MacBook Air since March with nothing but praise.

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Most reliable external drive for booting and imaging

Hey everyone.
I'm looking for an external drive to boot from and create/distribute Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and maybe a couple iMac images. The hard drives range from 200-500GB maximum capacity. I'm assuming I need a firewire hard drive. The more reliable the better .

Im not sure i quite understand.
Are you saying you have external hard drives already or are they internal?
because basically my suggestion is this;
DIY. Get a firewire Sata enclosure, and obtain Sata drives for it.
heres what i recently got and it works marvels for me:
FW400 Case:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198004
very similar to the macpro drive sleds, a sled pops out screw in the drive slide it back in no cables to mess with plug it in and your good to go.
HDDS:
i picked up a 7500AAKS 750gb, a 5000AAKS 500Gb from newegg.com
they also have extremely cheap 250Gb drives for under 90$
thinking of doing that for a future project, cant go wrong there!
goodluck! andhope that helped!

External Drive For Windows And OSX

Hello!
I'm using an external USB/FW drive for back up. It's formatted as "OSX Extended".
1) If I copy the data off this drive, what format would I need to re-format it in, so as to be able to back up from both OSX and Windows?
2) Will I be able to reload the first set of data, once I re-format it in the other format?
Thanx!

I don't recall either of those being mentioned in the OP's question, Niel. Only "backup" which does not necessarily mean Time Machine.
You might mention how much it will cost to buy MacDrive: Standard is $50 and Pro is $70.00.
BTW, I know you can't use FAT for Time Machine nor bootable backups. But FAT is not limited for use as a backup drive using other utilities that haven't the limitations or reliability issues of Time Machine.

How to format an external drive for mac AND pc use

i want to format my external drive so i can use it on my mac and on pc's as well. i've gathered that the MS-DOS format is the way to go. my question is this: would this create any problems for my mac then?
can i partion one part for ms-dos and part for macos extended?
cheers
-j-

MS-DOS format (or FAT32) will be fine for both Mac and PC. However there is a 4GB file size limit with FAT32.
You could use a dual partition, however the HFS+ partition would not be readable by the PC unless you installed the third party MacDrive.
Look at this page for more information on a dual partition drive for Mac and Windows.
http://macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030613121738812
iFelix

Use external drive for Time Capsule backups AND file storage?

I have an external drive formatted by my MBP. I'm using it to store my iTunes music library and iPhoto pics. Can I use the drive for Time Capsule backups as well?

Yes, but that is not recommended. Storage and backup should be kept separate to reduce the chances of a disk failure. This is especially important because you cannot even partition a Time Capsule drive. Go get a separate drive for your storage needs. Get another drive for a second backup and use a different method of backup than Time Machine

Can i use my external drive for TM and files i don't want on my mac HD

my hard drive has a total of 232.57g which is not nearly enough space to save all my pictures, movies, etc. i've been using a 300g external drive to save my pictures, movies, etc. which is now full so i bought a maxtor one touch 4 750g to hopefully back up my computer using time machine, my 300g external drive, and whatever new pictures, movies, etc.
if i set up my new external drive for time machine can i still put the pictures, movies from my 300g external drive and whatever new pictures, movies, etc. on my new 750g external drive?
do i need to make a partition? if so can you tell me how?
should i not use time machine?
any information is appreciated

mac HD
capacity: 232.57g
available: 170.29g
iomega
capacity: 298.02g
available: 14.29g
one touch 4
capacity: 698.51g
available: 698.36g
thanks for the quick reply but i need to explain it better or ask, once all is backed up from my mac HD and my iomega external drive to my new one touch 4 i want to stop using the iomega since there isn't much room left on it
will i be able to add files directly to the one touch 4 without having those files saved to my mac HD like i do now?
or will TM remove my files the next time it backs up my mac HD since i won't have the iomega on anymore?

Use external drive for windows and mac

Hello,
I just bought a external 320Gb Western Digital Drive. I would like to use
the drive for windows and mac.I will not like to make partation on the drive
to use it on both operating systems. Is there any formating system with which i can use in both operating systems? I would like to use time machine feature on that drive also.
Thanx.

If you want to use a disk for both PC/Mac file storage and Time Machine, you will have to create two partitions. Partitioning is sort of like creating multiple virtual disks on the same physical disk. One partition should be formatted for PC (which the Mac can also use) and the other should be formatted for HFS+ (Mac only) which is what Time Machine requires. The Disk Utility application makes partitioning and formatting very easy.

When is Apple will make a Micro USB Flash Drive for iPads and iPhones ???

IIt's really a big help if Apple make their own Micro USB a Flash Drive for iPads and iPhones.

Apple would not tell people there are other brands on the market. It is my opinion that if Apple users keep asking for the USB for ipads, they might consider it. As for the iphone there MIGHT be a tiny slot inside where the battery is for an SD card, which expands the space. I know Android has that feature in their cell phones, but not sure about Apple.

Auto mount/eject external drive for time machine backup/restore

I have an Iomega ultramax drive connected via firewire 800 for my Time machine backups.
This drive will automatically spin down after a period of non-use. I like this as it means lower power usage and lower risk of data loss (head crashes etc..).
My problem is, when the drive spins down like this, some file open operations pause until the drive spins up again. I cannot remember exactly which applications I have had the problem with, but I assumed that this was part of the OS. This delay can be up to 5 seconds or so and is really annoying.
Assuming this is not just a specific third party application thing. My suggestion to Apple is to do one or both of the following:
1) Multi thread the file open dialog (process?) so that is comes up instantly, and then adds the drive when it has spun up.
2) Modify time machine so that it can automatically mount/eject the external drive just when doing backups and restores.
Currently I have a bit of a messy work around to this problem where I have a loadd scheduled shell script that runs every hour that mounts the drive, runs time machine to backup and the ejects the drive. It works, but is not perhaps as nice a solution as it could be.
Does anybody else suffer from this problem?

Yes that is correct, the drive spins down and remains mounted.
To be perhaps clearer. The problem is not essentially a time machine problem, it is to do with whatever implements the file open capability that other apps use. In the above sitation, there is always a delay for the drive to spin up when I go to open a file (perhaps five seconds) in other applications. I assume this delay is caused by the file open process waiting until some data is retrieved from the external drive before giving me the option of choosing a file. This delay is annoying, as I do not ever want to open a file from my external drive (this is dedicated to time machine backups) when I am using pages, or any other application other than a time machine restore.
This particular issue is similar (but I suspect nowhere near as bad) as one of my pet hates about windows XP. In windows it appears that the explorer will wait for a response on all its connected drives (hard disks, mounted cds, network drives), so any sort of network connectivity or hardware delay will cause explorer to freeze. As explorer seems to be embedded in most things you do with the OS, this can cause anything or everything to freeze (web browsing, you name it).
In my setup, as I have the external drive totally dedicated to time machine backups, another thing that would fix the problem for me is the suggestion number 2 I suggested where time machine auto mounts for the backup and then ejects after the backup. With the feature, then the external drrive will only ever be mounted for short periods of time (the above problem does not ocurr if the external drive is not mounted), and when it is mounted it will be spinning, so I will never have my file open delay. I would however have a short delay when doing a time machine restore for the mount of the drive, but this is a much rarer event the using file open in all my other apps.
Thanks for the info on the feedback link, I will post this to that.

USB External drive for PC & Mac Via Home Hub 2

Hi Guys,
I have a home hub 2.0, I also have a 1TB External USB drive, I have connected the drive to the USB port on my Hub and I can see the drive on my pc, wirelessly (Windows 7), I know nothing abouy MAC's, but my wife has one and it would be great if we can both use the same drive, I think I will need to reformet the drive when it is plugged into her MAC into some MAC Format (?), I am happy to do that, but will both my PC and her MAC be able to access the drive?
Thanks
Steve

Hi steve,
As nobody else has posted I've decided to step in with a bit of advice, limited though it may be on Mac's
You can map your network drive to the Mac as well as your PC; I don't think there's a specific file format you need to have your hard drive formatted to although I've read reports of Mac's having problems with NTFS - FAT32 apparently works fine. The link below should help you map the drive to your Mac - as far as I'm aware, the IP address assigned to the USB slot on the Homehub is 192.168.1.253, so enter this when prompted for an address/location.
http://osxdaily.com/2010/09/20/map-a-network-drive-on-a-mac/
Give this a go and get back to us to let us know how you get on, it might prove useful for other users (if it actually does work!).
Dean
BTCare Community Mod
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How to format external drive for mac AND pc use

hi
i want to format my external drive so i can use it on my mac and on pc's as well. i've gathered that the MS-DOS format is the way to go. my question is this: would this create any problems for my mac then?
can i partion one part for ms-dos and part for macos extended?
cheers
-j-

There are a couple of disadvantages with formatting a
disk as FAT32. Firstly, there is a limit on the file
size for FAT32. I think it like 2 GB so if you
capturing video the results will probably not fit
into this file limit. Secondly FAT32 will not be
bootable. I alway clone my system to a backup disk as
bootable. That way if anything goes wrong with my
system, I can just boot from my backup disk and fix
it.
The problem with doing this though is that the drive will not be usable with Windows (which was in the original posting) unless you use the third party MacDrive software on the PC.
iFelix

Format external drive for Mac and PC?

Can I format an external Drive to have 1 partition for OS X and another for my wife to use with her PC?
thanks!
ray

Yes, just use Disk Utility under OS X to create two volumes on it, one Mac OS Ext, the other FAT. Use a Master Boot Record partition scheme (also known as “fdisk”).

New external drive for mac and windows

Hello,
I am looking to buy a 500gb maxtor external drive. Partition it 250gb for winxp and 250gb for my imac. I am really looking to make these drives as backup drives. I currently have an old 250gb (not all used) formatted as os x entended. I use it for all my itunes, photos, movies... photoshop, you get the picture... I just want to drag and drop to that drive. The same for my windows.
Does this sound correct? Has anyone done it this way?
Another way, would be to have it formatted for windows and drop and drag into two different folders : win and imac. But then I will be losing the naming conventions from the os x? isn't that why and want to use os x extended?
Thanks for all ideas,
Charlie

Piece of cake!
For those who want to know:
usb connection to imac first. I started disk utility. Split the partition to two parts and formated only one partition as OS X extended. After done, copied my directories as a bkup.
usb connection to windows. I started computer management and saw that the usb disk had two partitions: the first was healthy but unknown. That was ok, I wanted the second partition to be NTFS and formated. Then copied my directories to that drive as well.
Connected back the imac and saw both partitions, imacbkup and winbkup. I forgot, just like what I do with the imac and winxp, I can see the c: drive via the mac.
Very cool and easy. Maxtor drives are very reliable and easy to use.
Thanks,
Charlie Cooperman
If anyone wants more detail info, you can email me at [email protected]

Best External Drive for MacPro and iMovie

In using iMovie, I find my existing main drives filling up, and need to get a fast external drive which works well with the Mac Pro and the snow leopard operating system. I note that there is a new usb 3.0 standard, but my understanding is that it does not work with os10.6 without additional third party hardware. Any suggestions on best mass storage (external) for iMovie which is fast enough so that the video is not negatively impacted when preparing a movie?

geo.adi wrote:
Are you saying that MacBook Pro 15" has slot that is not good for eSATA connection?
on this site (http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-2007/4507-3121_7-32465635.html ?tag=mncolBtm;rnav)
it says "*Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1.0 ( 1.0 ) x ExpressCard/34 - SO DIMM 200-pin*"
and looks like you've said that what one need for eSATA is ExpressCard/34 slot.
I'm confused...
Perhaps you should ask your question in the Computing Hardware > Macbook Pro section of this forum.
Type 'Express Card' in the search box and you will find plenty of reading material.
Useful links?:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12671141&#12671141
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/seritek2sm2e.html

Using a Second External Drive For Time Machine Backup

I have been using Time Machine for almost a year and the external drive I'm using is almost full. Can I switch to a second external drive? If I decide to keep using the same drive is there a way to keep my original backup? Is there information that I need from that first backup that I did?
Thank you!!!

bvasel900 wrote:
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
I have been using Time Machine for almost a year and the external drive I'm using is almost full. Can I switch to a second external drive?
Yes, if that's what you want to do (see below). If you start "fresh" on a new drive, your first backup will be a full one; everything on your system. Or, you can copy your current backups to it via the procedure in item #18 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum. TM will then continue making it's usual "incremental" backups, and you can erase the old disk and use it for other things.
If I decide to keep using the same drive is there a way to keep my original backup? Is there information that I need from that first backup that I did?
Probably not. As Mr. Peck noted, TM will automatically delete your oldest backups when it needs room for new ones (unless you have the +*Warn when old backups are deleted+* box checked in TM Preferences > Options).
But unless you've been deleting things from your internal HD, counting on TM to keep it's backup copies indefinitely, you won't lose anything you need.
That's because of the "magic" of Time Machine. Each backup is an "incremental" backup, copying only the items that have been added or changed since the last backup. But by using "multi-links" to the backups of items that did not change, each backup is, in effect, a full, complete copy of your entire system!
So when TM deletes your oldest backup, all it will be deleting are it's copies of things you changed or deleted long ago.

MBA (Gen 1) USB External Drive for Boot and Backup? Recomendations?

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