New Mac user-External Hard Drive question...

Just purchased my 1st Mac/the new Mac mini. Arrived today & am very impressed.
Set-up, right out of the box, was incredibly SIMPLE and I cant believe what a little dynamo this thing is! I've thought about 'switching' to a Mac from PC for quite a while, but was always a little nervous, so I've patiently watched & waited from the sidelines- until now - and it was well worth the wait.
My 'question' is, can anyone recommend a good external hard drive I can use interchangeably between my PC & my new Mini? Still using the PC until I get completely acclimated with Mac platform/etc - I'd like something with at least
1TB storage. Thanks!

derosky wrote:
I'm a new Mac user. My question is: Do I need a external hard drive to create a back up? Can I create abackup on a DVD or Hard Drive in MB. Please explain this to me. When I want to configure Time Machine it displays me no Drives to create a back up.
Time Machine requires an external hard drive
You can back up by other means to CDs or DVDs
If you are a .MAC customer you get a decent backup program that backs up to your iDisk and/or to CD-DVD
You would NOT want to back up to your internal drive since that would accomplish nothing - a dead or messed up HD is no good for either the beginning part of the other part where the backup is
LN

Similar Messages

How do I transfer imovie projects and events to new mac from external hard drive

bought a macbook pro retina. backed up 3yr old macbook pro to external hard drive. how do I transfer imovie projects and events to new mac? thanks!

Hi dalbatross,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
Did you set up your new computer by creating a Time Machine backup and restoring from it?
If so, the Events and Projects that were on your internal Macintosh HD would copied to your new computer.
Here is another way to copy the events & projects to the new computer from the external drive:
iMovie Help: Work with multiple libraries
http://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.0/#mov3fa25bae7
Copy or move projects, events, or clips between libraries or hard disks
Connect a hard disk that contains the target library to your computer, or copy the target library to your computer.
Choose File > Open Library, and choose an option from the submenu.You can choose from recently opened libraries at the top of the submenu, locate an existing library on your computer, or create a new library.
The selected library is opened in the Libraries list, with the first event selected and its contents displayed in the browser.
In the Libraries list, select the event that contains the item you want to move or copy.
In the browser, select the item you want to move or copy.Note: To select multiple items, hold down the Command key as you click the items you want to select, or drag a selection rectangle around the items.
Do one of the following:
To move items between events or libraries: Drag the clip or project to another event or library.
To copy items between events or libraries: Option-drag the clip or project to another event or library by first starting to drag and then holding down the Option key as you drag.
Cheers,
- Judy

HT1338 I was backing up my MacBook with Time Machine on my new (correctly formatted) external hard drive. It was going fine when my 2 yo knocked the hard drive. Now TM said "failed" and the Mac refuses to recognize the external hard drive. Help please?

I was backing up my MacBook with Time Machine and using my new (correctly formatted) external hard drive. All was going well when my 2 yo knocked the disk leading to a "failure" by time machine (Latest Backup: Failed). Now the MacBook will not even recognize the hard drive. I have rebooted, tried all I can think of, but no acknowledgement of the drive. The drive itself makes noise and vibrates as if working, but nothing from the Mac. Please help or $100 down the drain... Thank you.

You may have already done these resets in the "tried all I can think of " portion of your post.....if not then here they are.....
PRAM
support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
SMC
support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
.....hopefully that is all that is required.....

I am new to mac and have an external hard drive question

Hello
I am new to mac. I used a PC before and stored all of my files (documents, photo's and music) on an external hard drive. The new mac is communicating with my external and is allowing me to open word/excel documents into pages/numbers. However when I go to save the document to my external the mac tells me "your document could not be saved. you can duplicate the document or discard your changes to close it."
Is this happing because the external is formatted to PC and not mac? Will I need to get a mac external hard drive if I wish to continue to save my documents like this? or will I need to get Miscrosoft office for mac for me to continue to use my existing external? or will i need to duplicate everything to save?
Please help.
Thanks
Janice

Is this happing because the external is formatted to PC and not mac?
Yes that is correct.
Will I need to get a mac external hard drive if I wish to continue to save my documents like this?
If you no longer use a PC you could format this drive for the Mac. However be aware that formatting a drive will erase all the data on it. So you would need someplace to copy the data off this drive to while you did the re-format and then you could copy the data back.
You could get another drive, format it for the Mac and copy the data to it. Then re-format the original drive and use it as a backup drive. Always good to have backups.
Post back with the drive type and size of the current drive, if you are doing backups now and how and if you still need to access this drive from a PC.
regards

New to Macbook Pro, External hard drive question.

I've just made the swirch to an Apple Macbook Pro from a PC. I've used the PC since the early 90's and all I know is Windows. However I'm finding myself more at home in Lion. My question is probably a simple one so I'll get to it. I have a 1TB Seagate Mac/PC external usb powered hard drive that I've used on my PC for all my iTunes media, 95% of which was purchased from Apple (who the **** knows if that matters but information could be crucial and besides I saw someone else say that in a post, only he found his music, whatever that means, anyway....). Now I have added all files to the library of my iTunes on the Mac while still running them from the external hard drive and everything transferd smothly (see not a complete idiot) but for some reason I can not write to the hard drive. If I try to update an app, delete a fie, rename or otherwis change the file in itunes I get an error claiming I don't have permission to do so. When I look at the drive itself, sure enough it says I may read only. Now the drive was formatted and used on a Windows PC prior to today. What do I need to do on the Mac end to make it read and writable (is that the right word?) so I can enjoy updating my apps or plain getting rid of some old things? Thanks in advance for any help.
New Mac User

Your external harddisk uses the NTFS file system which is common for Windows PCs.
Mac OSX can read from NTFS harddisks but cannot write to them.
For full access you need a third-party helper tool like the free NTFS-3G or Fuse4X or the commercial ones from Paragon or Tuxera NTFS for Mac.
In the long run and when you don't need a "Windows-PC-compatibility" of the external harddisk anymore you should consider reformating/repartioning the external harddisk using the Mac OSX native partition and file system formats. (GUID and MacOS Extended (Journaled)).
But such an action would delete everything that is on that external harddisk so it is not that easy.
Stefan

Mac Mini has crashed - Disk Warrior and External Hard Drive Question.

I have Mac Mini that has crashed. I purchased Disk Warrior and was able to boot from the CD. Disk Warrior allowed me to see my files again but there is no way I can move them back onto my hard drive. I cannot grab them. Before I go into specifics....If I purchase an external hard drive and try to hook it up to my Mac Mini, will I be able move these files to this new external hard drive? Is this a possibility?
Or will my new external hard drive need to go through a set up phase - which might be impossible since hard drive I'm trying to take the files from is technically dead?
Sorry - I'm a novice at these things.

Hello, no apologies needed for being a novice, great you asked!
YES, depends where you buy the Drive, it may need Formatting first to Mac OS Extended...
How to format your disks...
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/partitioning_tiger.html
(To Install OSX on an IntelMac the Drive it needs the GUID Partitioning scheme mentioned at the bottom.)
Thanks to Pondini, Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks...
http://Pondini.org/OSX/DU.html
These generally come Mac Ready, & get Firewire if you have a Firewire port, much faster...
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Then in DiskWarrior, hold Option or alt key when selecting Internal to repair, that will do the best job of Scavenging the directory & provide a whole new Drive icon to copy or clone your info over to the external drive.

PC to Mac external hard drive question

Hi All,
I have an external hard drive that I used as a backup for pics and music from my old PC. I've read about there being issues transferring between a PC formatted external HD and a Mac, so wanted to ask the community if there is anything I should know before plugging it in. Just don't want to lose everything. Thanks!

You should be able to read from it however it is formatted, write as well if it is FAT (read only if NTFS). Plug it in and try.

Open thread for new purchase of external hard drive

I have 4x 500 GB drives and 2x 250GB drives that I want to consolidate to one drive. I have trusted LaCie and recently (in the past 2 years) have been happy with the G-Drives as well.
To my suprise (and shock really) the Mac geniuses I spoke to at the Calgary Apple Store said their techs use the WD 500GB Passport drives all the time. Super durable etc etc. but I was in need of 2 TB. I was torn between the G-Drive and the WD My Book Studio. The difference in cost was about $70. Historically, I've had the "don't trust western digital for Macs" running through my head ever since I heard it.
However, I was convinced to go with the Western Digital My Book Studio 2TB (it's not a "new" company), but I've found that every time I boot up the drive, it runs the proprietary software which I don't intend to use. So far, I'm not finding any luck on how to get around this as I'm told it's "built into the firmware". Also, after my iMac goes to sleep, the drive disappears and I have to shut it off and turn it back on to bring it back.
What would you recommend for an external hard drive for long term storage (not to be used for time machine or iPhoto or iTunes)?
Would you recommend I take the WD drive back and get my head checked?
Purchased this:
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/TX880ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MTY5NDk2NzI&s=a lpha
Was looking at this:
http://store.apple.com/ca/product/TX538VC/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MTM3NjM5NTg&s=a lpha
Thanks.
Message was edited by: Middleborn

I'd return it for something else or a refund, but that's just me.
I too was shocked upon a recent visit to an Apple Store when I saw WD external drives for sale. One salesperson told me she was shocked that they were carrying them but that other staff member had told her that the WDs were now performing well for Mac users. I don't know what to make of it.
I find the external drive market to be confusing. I'll just say that I've been happy with an Iomega 250 GB triple interface drive that I bought 4 or 5 years ago and am happy with a 1 TB OWC Mercury Elite triple interface drive that I bought a couple of months ago.
Both these drives came WITHOUT any of the proprietary software so I didn't have to face the hassle of removing any of it.
Regards,
Steve M.

How to share files between pc and mac via external hard drive

how can i share my files(mp3,mp4,documents) from my harddisk with mac. i am a new mac user and i have a harddisk of NTFS format(as i was a pc user).I learned that mac supports FAT32 format and therefore i can't write data on my external hard drive.
but, reading a section of OSX yosemite(under compatibility) it is said that now we can easily share files between pc and mac.
So please suggest me easier way that how can i share files between macs and pc as my friends uses pc and in future i really want to share my data with them without any hustle and i dont wanna loose my data in future

You can format the HDD to a common one like ExFAT or Fat32 but a reformat will delete all data off of the HDD.
Your other option is to use a third party software such as Paragon or Tuxera that will allow you to write to a NFTS formatted HDD.
Ciao.

How do I import music files to new computer from external hard drive containing them

Have an older computer(G5 iMac) with Tiger 10.4.11 and iTunes that crashed. Have that computer and older version of iTunes residing on an external hard drive. I want to import music to new comptuer with newer version of iTunes. External hard drive is partitioned with just iTunes section. Any one done this before?

If you want to use the old iTunes library that you have from the ext HD then just drag the iTunes folder to the new Mac.
By default the iTunes folder Is Located - HD>Users>Your Account>Music>iTunes - if the internal HD has no iTunes library then just replace the iTunes folder with the one from the ext HD.
Launch iTunes with the 'option' key down and point iTunes to the iTunes Library that you want to open. It will remember the next time.
MJ

Partitioning External Hard Drive- questions about software & filing system

I just got my macbook and I want to use my older external hard drive to transfer data between the macbook and my PC desktop. I have a Maxtor OneTouch II 300gb with only one partition. I have about 80gb of data already on the Maxtor. So my two questions are . .
1. What is the best software (prefer freeware) to partition my Maxtor and keep the data I already have on it? Or is there a better way?
2. What is the best setup for the filing system for the partitions? NTFS for one and FAT32 for the other or something else? I want to be able to both read & write to the Maxtor from both the PC and Mac. Appreciate any help anyone can throw my way.
Macbook- Black model Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I'm not quite sure of what you mean by:
I would like to avoid
moving all the stuff from the external drive to the
mac, and then having to move it all back onto the
external drive.
But most external drive was formated using fat 32 which theoretically limit to 2 TB and file size limit to 4 GB. Just put a useless file from your pc, and connect your external to your MacBook ,and see if you can copy and or delete that file from your Mac.
You can also check your HD format on PC side by: go to my computer, right click the external HD icon and select properties, and it will shows you the hd was formatted with,...
If you mean you want to format to mac format "on the fly", they might be some utilities for that on Mac side, but I'm not aware of, but why you want to re-format it if the external work for both sides without getting new format, since format that using MAc extended journaled wight result unreadable on your PC side.
Good Luck

Mac Update/External Hard Drive

Today I finally let my software updater do it's thing and it installed these 4 updates:
Quicktime (7.6.2)
Java for Mac OS X 10.4 Release 9 (1.0)
Itunes (8.2.0)
Security Update 2009-002 PowerPC (1.0)
I then rebooted and tried to plug in my Seagate External Hard Drive and I get a prompt that says:
DISK INSERTION
The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
What gives? It was working 10 minutes before... any ideas?
BiddyB

Hi BiddyB, and a warm welcome to the forums!
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Tiger Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
The usual reason why updates fail or mess things up, is if Permissions are not fixed before & after every update, with a reboot... you may get a partial update when the installer finds it doesn't have Permissions to change one obscure little part of the OS, leaving you with a mix of OS versions.
Some people get away without Repairing Permissions for years, some for only days.
If Permissions are wrong before applying an update, you could get mixed OS versions, if Directory is the slightest messed up, who knows!
If many Permission are repaired, or any Directory errors are found, you may need to re-apply some the latest/biggest updates.
May even need to do an Archive and Install if you have room on the HD, but saves all your files and gives a new OS...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
I only use Software Update to see what is needed, then get them for real via...
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/
That way I can wait a week or so, check the forums for potential problems, and get Permissions & such in order before installing.
If all the above fails, then it appears to be time for a relatively painless Archive & Install, which gives you a new/old OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc., as long as you have plenty of free disk space and no Disk corruption, and is relatively quick & painless...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
Just be sure to select Preserve Users & Settings.
Then see if Disk Utility can see/repair the external Hard Drive.

Sync-ing iTunes with another Mac &/or external hard drives?

Can u use iSync or another app 2 sync iTunes music between 2 different macs &/or an external HD? If so how? I have an eMac & an iBook & it's a pain in the a@@ 2 always have to transfer music files back & forth using an external HD or downloading 2xs. Does anyone else have this problem & agree?

No, you cannot - using either iSync, .Mac Sync or the Backup application available to .Mac registered users.
iSync synchronizes only Calendars and Contacts, with mobile handsets and Palm handheld organizers or smartphones.
.Mac Sync synchronizes only Bookmarks, Calendars, Contacts, Keychains,
Mail Accounts and Mail Rules, Signatures and Smart Mailboxes with other Macintosh desktop and portable computers through .Mac, and with the .Mac servers themselves.
Backup will back up and restore your iTunes library to and from .Mac, external hard drives or removable media, but will not synchronize your library.
You are really asking the question in the wrong forum. You should consider posting your message in of the subcategories of the iTunes forum, here:
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=149
You could use an application like ChronoSync to synchronize your libraries, but you are liable to get the best advice about iTunes synchronization in the iTunes discussion areas. More information about ChronoSync is available here:
http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html

Moving from PC to MAC - Existing external hard drive

I purchased a new iMac yesterday. This is a change from always using PCs. I have three external hard drives - one connected via USB and two connected to my internal network. All three are NTFS partitioned drives. From what I've read, it looks like I can read the contents of the drives, but not write to them from the new Mac. Is this correct? It sounds like I will need to move the contents off of the drives and then reformat them from the new iMac. Is that correct? Any better suggestions on how to work with these drives and the new Mac?
Thanks
Bill

yeah you are correct if they are in fat32 both osx and windows can read and write
if they are in ntfs osx can only read
if they are in apple file system only osx can read and write

From PC to Mac via external hard drive

i really need some advice please...
i have recently moved out of my parents house to live with my partner
i bought a compatible external hard drive for PC and Mac so i could transfer all my music/iphone data etc
the hard drive works fine with the mac so there is no issue there
however, my partner also has an external hard drive. itunes only works when its plugged in and all of his music library comes up etc
i tried to get itunes to do that for my hard drive so that i wont lose any of my iphone data etc...
i am yet to succeed and now whenever i put my partners hard drive it and click itunes, itunes is now blank
is it possible to have to seperate libraries and for itunes to recognise them? i.e when i plug my hard drive in and click itunes all my files and music appear
then if i take mine out and put my partners in, for his music to appear etc
i would really appreicate any suggestions?
thanks

When you connect a different hard disk, launch iTunes while holding the option key down and you'll get a prompt to select a library or create a new one. Select the library on your HD. Alternate iTunes library: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1589
This could become cumbersome, so check some of these alternatives:
How to use multiple iPods, iPads, or iPhones with one computer, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495

New Mac user-External Hard Drive question...

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