Portable External Hard Drive / Steroids for MacBook Pro

Hi.  I recently purchased a (Non-Retina display) 13-inch, Mid 2012 MacBook Pro.
Processor: 2.5GHz Intel Corei5
Memory: 4GB 100 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 384 MB
Software: OS X 10.8.2 (12C54)
I love my new laptop, but am not exactly tech-savvy.  I'm pretty computer illiterate, so I don't exactly know the difference between USB 2.0/3.0 or Firewire 400/800.  I know what I want to do, but I'm not sure if it's possible.  Basically, even though I love my MacBook, I'm curious if I can love it even more and want to know how to max out its potential.  Eventually, I want to:
A.) install the maximum amount of memory and internal hard drive capacity possible.
B.) get the largest, fastest, yet PORTABLE, external hard drive possible.  I've got a ton of music in iTunes, and I want to get my huge DVD collection digitalized.  Something in the TB range.  I keep reading mixed reviews on WDs and Apple's Time Capsule.
Any help will be much appreciated,
Mike

Hi Myke,
If you want to shop for a bigger hard disk or more memory, I recommend you go here: OWC / MacSales
Their prices are about as good as you're going to find, but more importantly their Mac support is superior, especially if you are not completely confident in knowing exactly what you need to buy. Macs are particular about memory but if you buy from OWC they know what to supply and will guarantee it will work.
The ultimate upgrade is an internal Solid State Drive but these get expensive in a hurry.
The Time Capsule is not a portable external hard disk. If you want an external portable HD, shop for one at OWC.
I have heard mixed reviews on WD also, but the same mixed reviews apply to all consumer grade hard disks these days, without exception. Basically, they are all cheap. Consider them disposable, which means you should always have a backup. Time Machine is included with your MacBook Pro and is as easy to use as plugging in an external hard disk. Time Machine does the rest. Use it! There is no excuse not to.
USB is preferable to FireWire these days.

Similar Messages

  • How do I transfer an imovie from an external hard drive to my macbook pro iMovie 9

    How do I transfer an iMovie from an external hard drive to my macbook pro iMovie 11?

    The easiest way would be to just attach the external drive to the MacBook Pro. iMovie should see it next time you open iMovie.
    If you are going for portability, you can attach the external drive to the MacBook Pro. Then open iMovie.
    Then click VIEW/EVENTS BY DISK. You should see your external drive listed in the Project Library and the Event Library.
    To make a COPY just drag the icon for your project to the icon for the external drive in the Project Library List.
    To MOVE it, hold down the command key while you drag.
    If you want to edit the project, you will also want any Events, Photos, or Music referenced in the Project. To get those, click on the Project to select it (it is now on the MacBook Pro) and click FILE/CONSOLIDATE MEDIA.

  • Can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop to use files on the airport?

    can this device be used as an external hard drive with a macbook pro laptop and use files on the airport time capsule?

    If you mean an AirPort base station other than the Time Capsule, it doesn't have internal storage.
    If you mean a Time Capsule, its internal drive can be used for regular file storage but shouldn't be; as with all drives, it'll eventually fail. You're better off using a standalone drive and setting Time Machine to back it up as well.
    (112309)

  • External hard drive compatible with macbook pro 10.5.8

    external hard drive compatible with macbook pro 10.5.8, i need a hard drive that will work with 10.5.8 to back everything up before upgrading to 10.6. a hard drive that is compatable with 10.5.8 has been impossible to find, a hard drive that works with both opperating systems is what i am looking for, any information that can help is appreciated

    You can buy just about any USB2.0 hard drive and use it with your MacBook Pro.  Many older external drives come pre-partitioned and formatted FAT32 for use on Windows.  Your Mac can use that file system as well, but it has limitations on file sizes.  You can always re-partition your external drive and re-format it as HFS+ (MacOS Extended Journaled) then your old Mac OS version and your new one should both be able to access it just fine.  One thing to keep in mind is that many older OSes don't really handle drives larger than 2TB well, so you would probably want to try to keep your external drive to something smaller than 2TB...

  • How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro?

    How do I a setup an external hard drive on my Macbook Pro to my primary hard drive for my iTunes library?
    I ask this because every time I try to do this it my Mac book pro always wants to use the external hard drive I plug in as a time machine back up rather than my primary hard drive. I figured it would be cheaper and more efficient to use an external hard drive rather than have apple charge me an arm and a leg to replace and upgrade my current hard drive in my Mac book pro.

    I responded to this in your duplicate posting at: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2690347
    I recommend giving a first post a chance before posting a second time, especially since it may result in a lot of duplication in effort from the people volunteering their time here.

  • How can I move my project from external hard drive to my macbook pro?

    How can I move my project from external hard drive to my macbook pro? every time I try to do some editing, the sequence is very slow, thanks in advance

    Try here...
    Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC

  • How can I restore files from a time machine back-up of my iMac to an EXTERNAL hard drive connected to MacBook Pro. Using Migrat

    I would like to restore files from a time machine back-up of my iMac to an EXTERNAL hard drive connected to MacBook Pro. When I tried using Migration Assistant it only gives me my internal hard drive as an option to restore to. The internal hard drive on my macbook isnt large enough to store the files.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    OS X can only restore data to the drive where Time Machine backed up files from.
    If you want to restore files from the Time Machine backup onto an external drive, your only option is to access to the Time Machine drive manually (open a Finder window and choose your Time Machine drive in the Finder sidebar), navigate through its folders and copy the files you want to the external drive

  • External hard drive to my macbook pro , doesn't work properly.

    i connect my external hard drive to my macbook pro , but it doesn't allow me to drag my documents on to my hard drive , but it works before i upgrade to mountain lion OS X.

    my external hard drive is WD My Passport.

  • Copying saved iphoto library from external hard drive back to Macbook Pro

    Please help, I have accidentally managed to permanently delete my iphoto library and by this I mean that I somehow dragged my library into trash and then emptied it.  I don't know how this happend but I quite quickly found out I had done it and shut my computer down.  I have since done a recovery with disk drill and have hopefully recovered most of my photos though I havent had time to look through all the 1000's of photos yet.  I do have a copied version of my library on an external hard drive that I did in 2012 and I have tried to copy this library back to my pictures folder so i at least have my photos up to 2012 back but it is not working.  I have read through some of the threads on here regarding iphoto library back ups and I think the issue might be that the external hard drive is formatted Fat32 and not os extended.
    I am hoping someone can help me get this working.  Here are the facts.
    1.  I am running iphoto 11, version 9.2.3 on a macbook pro running os x 10.6.8
    2. The copied iphoto library is on an external hard drive that is fat32 formatted.  I can open the package contents and see the originals folder with all the yearly folders inside and all the numbered folders inside that with the pictures in them, so I know the pictures are there.
    3.  If I try to copy the library folder over to the pictures folder on the macbook i just get a pop up window saying 'preparing to copy iphoto library' and the scrolling bar but the copy doesn't actually start.
    4.  If I try to open the library through iphoto by holidng down the option key, iphoto tells me that the library has to be upgraded but i am reluctant to upgrade the original copy of the library.  I would prefer to copy it first in case anything goes wrong but then i have the problem above that the copy doesn't work
    Thank you in advance for any help.

    The copied iphoto library is on an external hard drive that is fat32 formatted.
    Therein lies the problem.  iPhoto libraries need to be stored, placed on a disk formatted OS X Extended (journaled).  The FAT format doesn't support the complexity of an iPhoto library and can, and more often than not, corrupt a library.
    Try the following:
    Using iPhoto Library Manager  to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    1 - download the free version of iPhoto Library Manager and launch.>Click on the Add Library button,
    2 -  select the library you want to add from those in the selection window.
    3 - make sure that in the rebuild window the checkbox  "Scavange orphaned photos" is checked.
    4 - now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the Library ➙ Rebuild Library menu option
    5 - in the next  window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed, i.e. in the Pictures folder of your MBP. Click on the Create button.
    Note 1: This creates a new library based on the LIbraryData.xml file in the library and will recover Events, Albums, keywords, titles and comments. However, books, calendars, cards and slideshows will be lost.
    Note 2:  Your current library will be left untouched for further attempts at a fix if so desired.
    OT

  • How do i transfer external hard drive content to macbook pro?

    How do i transfer external hard drive content back to my macbook pro?
    I do not see the hard drive icon or a back up icon, where should it be?

    What kind of drive is it - a large drive with a power cord, or a portable drive? Can you tell if the drive itself is actually on? (Is there a light, or a power switch, etc, can you hear it?)
    How is it attached to the Mac?
    On your Mac, click on the desktop, then go to the Finder menu (top left), click Preferences, then under the General tab, make sure that everything is ticked.
    If that works, you should then get the external HD icon appearing on your desktop.
    Hope that helps.
    Matt

  • Can I use a Usb external hard drive on my macbook pro?

    I have a new macbook pro and have tried to connect my usb external hard drive , it shows up on the home screen and i can view and read only i cannot save anything into the external hard drive can anyone help.

    Yes. You have to prep it for your Mac. Currently it's setup for Windows.
    Drive Partition and Format
    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 Apply 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.

  • Can I migrate from an external hard drive to new Macbook Pro?

    Can I migrate my Macbook 13" Aluminum Late model 2008 data from it's external hard drive to my new Macbook Pro?  I have a complete back up of my old Macbook on that drive, but there is no way to connect that to the new Macbook Pro (no firewire etc on old Macbook).
    Thanks for any help!

    Yes; if it's an USB drive, you can just plug it in, and there are adapters to connect a FireWire drive to a Thunderbolt port. You'll be given the option to migrate data from it when setting up the new computer or by launching the Migration Assistant in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder.
    (113054)

  • I need help on how to properly use my external hard drive on the macbook pro

    Whenever I try to store some files (e.g. images)
    The image I've copied and pasted into the external hard drive disappears or gets deleted as well when I delete the original image from the internal hard drive, why is that?
    Is it because it was just a copy of the original image that if you delete the original image the copied image in the external hard drive will get deleted as well?
    So does that mean I have to put the original image in the drive or will that get lost too?
    Sorry for the multiple questions,
    I'm just struggling with my new external hard drive.
    Model of the external hard drive: Seagate Backup plus slim portable drive 1 tb

    What are you trying to accomplish here?  Time Machine is used for backing up files on a regular basis but you don't have to use it.  You're getting ahead of things.  Have you managed to drag a file from your main drive to the new one successfully?

  • How do I boot from an external hard drive if my MacBook Pro only recognizes the internal drive?

    Hi there, I recently got the white screen of death (w/ circle slash) on my 13" 2009 MacBook Pro. Most people are saying that it is hard drive failure, so I am trying to boot it from an external hard drive to save some of my data before having it repaired. Unfortunately, every time I press "option" while it boots, it only shows the internal drive on the grey screen. I have my external drive connected, but it won't recognize it. What should I do?
    Thanks!

    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
    You can only start from an external drive if OS X is installed there. If not, it won't appear as a bootable volume because there isn't any operating system inside it.
    As you have a Mid 2009 MacBook Pro, it's better to start from the Mac OS X disc that came with your Mac. Insert it and hold the C key while your Mac is starting. After starting, go to Utilities menu > Disk Utility, select "Macintosh HD" in the sidebar and repair it. If you can't get it repaired, take the computer to an Apple Store.
    If the hard drive can't be repaired, the only option to recover your files is to use an application as DiskWarrior, but it's expensive and it's not sure that it will work, because it may fail

  • ITunes from Macbook Pro not connecting to iTunes Match unless external hard drive plugged in Macbook Pro?

    Hi,
    I uploaded my entire iTunes library from an external hard drive connected to my MacBook Pro and now it seems anytime I want to play music from iTunes on my MacBook Pro the same external hard drive has to be connected? What am I missing so I can play my music library on my MacBook like I do on my iPhone?

    juanmateus wrote;
    I uploaded my entire iTunes library from an external hard drive connected to my MacBook Pro
    How did you do this?
    What exactly was copied?

Maybe you are looking for