Merging and storing files and folders on external hard drive

Merging and storing files/folders - I have a MacBookPro3,1 & a MacBookAir1,1 both running OS10.6.8 and then files from backups and archives on a LaCie 250 and LaCie 500. I want to improve my productivity by merging all files/folder into one place.
I have a WesternDigital 1T to move files/folders to and do my duplicate deletion work.
The end result I'm seeking is to have all my files/folders stored on the LaCie 500 - with space for expanding iPhoto Library and Movies then that LaCie 500 Backed up on the 1T. As my computers are older models the internal drives are smaller - MBA 80GB and MBP160. The Air in particular gets full up quickly and doesn't work efficiently.
What steps/software have you had experience with, and would recommend to merge all my files/folders, delete duplicates, and get it all in one place - including iTunes, iPhoto.
What are the pros and cons of keeping & working with files/folders on an external drive rather than on the internal drive?
I'm aware of sluggishness in iPhoto if the library is too large, and looked into iPhoto Library Manager as an option for my photos.
Thanks in advance for your help with this way past due Spring cleaning activity.

Plugins have to be in specific locations for the application to load them. If you're just storing plugins you're not using you can store them anywhere.

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iTunes>Preferences (Cmd+,)>Advanced
Choose the Ext HD (and the appropriate folder) as the location for your library.

Hi! I have a WD my book external hard drive plugged into my imac and I want to share it over my network with my apple tv. I went into system preferences sharing, checked "file sharing" and added my external hard drive to the shared folder. So now it is

Hi!
I have a WD my book external hard drive plugged into my imac and I want to share it over my network with my apple tv. I went into system preferences > sharing, checked "file sharing" and added my external hard drive to the shared folder. So now it is listed in "shared folders" but under "users" everything is grayed out (it says "read and write" for "everyone" - but "read and write" is grayed out, and it doesn't let me add or subtract users). Now I can access all of the folders I shared from my imac except for the externalhard drive. What's going on?

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HT201250 I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive. The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc). Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

I have two external hard drives. One is my Time Machine backup drive. The other I use for external storage of files (documents, photos, movies, etc). Can I set Time Machine to backup BOTH my Mac hard drive and my other external hard drive?

Yes you can make multiple backups on one hard drive, for example if you’ve 1TB hard drive installed in your PC and you’ve two Mac Machines with 500GB drive each then you just make two backup images with size of 500GB each.
http://www.halfspot.com/use-your-pc-hard-drive-for-time-machine-backup/

I want to take files from my PC (using a Seagate external hard drive) then plug this Seagate External hard drive into my Mac Book Pro and move the files from the Seagate External Hard drive onto my Time Capsule. I do not want to put these files on my Mac

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Mixing files with data is not always great idea.
See info here.
Q3 http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
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It is hugely faster and much less mucking around.
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There is more info here.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1331

HELP!: How to read and write to External hard drives? What file system to use?

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Read this, you don't need to install any software unless you have no choice.
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3044
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

I have an eMac and am trying to copy/move movie files from eMac to external hard drive for backup. The eMac will not allow me to do this. Keeps reading error -61. Any suggestions are greatly appreciate. Thanks!

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Good advice from Keith.
wrPermErr
= -61, /*write permissions error*/

Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?

Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?
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You will have to engage a split library which means you will have to start answering questions on this forum because you will need to learn a lot about how iTunes works in order not that have a big mess at the end of it all. It also won't be easy when the time comes to relocate it all to different drives.
You can go to advanced preferences and turn off organize media and copy to items to media folder when adding items to library. Next read about how to selectively consolidate items to the external drive.
Sept. 2010, Consolidate selected content - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2589812 and April 2014, https://discussions.apple.com/message/25414357
"...selected the new tracks directly in iTunes, Control-clicked on the selection, and saw that now you can consolidate selected items." - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090919000326840
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Okay, I am going to stop typing because you might just reply to me, "Oh, okay, forget it," and I don't need the exercise.
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

I am planning on using my time capsule as a network and essentially an external hard drive - not just back up, is this ok?

I am planning on using my time capsule as a network and essentially an external hard drive - not just back up, is this ok?

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If either the Time Capsule or the hard drive on your computer fails, there are at least copies of your important data on the other drive.
If you are asking if you can place "original" files on the Time Capsule, do you have a plan to backup those files?
If the Time Capsule drive has a problem....and your only copy of your important data is on the Time Capsule....you will lose everything.
If you are asking if this is OK, the answer for most folks would be "no".
Can you clarify if this is what you are asking?

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That would be mounted as an internal drive and hence the corresponding option is not checked during Import.
Once you import the media form this drive, you can select all and go for File >> Copy/Move files option and copy them wherever you want to.
Hope this helps
Thanks
Andaleeb

Hallo ,why is it that when I delete a photo ,which is backed up by time machine and western digital external hard drive , that I am able to restore the photo okay but not the titles and descriptions . I have a Macbook 4.1, mac osx 10.5.8 . Iphoto 7.1.5 ,

QUESTION.
Hallo , my question is ;whenever I delete a photo and restore it through Time machine and Western digital external hard drive , I am able to restore the photo but not the titles and descriptions . Western Digital inform me that it isn't their external hard drive problem and suggest that it is an Apple software problem ?
I am using a Macbook 4.1 , with Mac OSX 10.5.8 . I photo 7.1.5 , last modifie4d 01/05/2010 -universal . Should I be upgrading Iphoto ?
I hope that someone is able to help in this matter , as i have to restore 12000 photos !
Thanking you in anticipation.
Alan from Wigton

Hallo Kieth ,
I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
Thanks for your interest and advice.
regards - Alan

I just need to know how you get an iTunes library off the original hard drive of a mac and onto an external hard drive and still have it work normally?

I just need to know how you get an iTunes library off the original hard drive of an imac and onto an external hard drive and still have it work as it normally would?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

I just got a new mac and use my external hard drive to save all my images to but whenever I go to save my photo to my hard drive it says I do not have write access....Whats wrong how do i fix this or do i need a new hard drive??

I just got a new mac and use my external hard drive to save all my images to but whenever I go to save my photo to my hard drive it says I do not have write access....Whats wrong how do i fix this or do i need a new hard drive??@

This is a Mac question not a Photoshop question, and I am a Windows users, but I can Google and this might be what you need to do:
http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/change-read-permision-external-hard-drive-mac/

How can I get all of my music off of my laptop and onto an external hard drive? I bought a new hard drive for it but it got turned into a Time Machine drive...

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Hello lramospsych,
To move your iTunes media library to a different location, take a look at the article below to walk you through that process. Make sure that you have everything organized before you move everything over.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1449
Regards,
-Norm G.

Hey! Can any one recommend a good quality and user friendly external hard drive?

Hey! Can any one recommend a good quality and user friendly external hard drive?

Most reliable/highly recommended are those from Other World Computing (OWC):
http://eshop.macsales.com/

Merging and storing files and folders on external hard drive

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