Recommendations For MBP Portable External Drive To Back Up OSX & Windows

Just like the title says folks. I bought a new MBP a couple of weks back to use for work. For work, it will be used via Windows 7 and any other time I'll be using it via OSX. On a budget right now (150 or less), otherwise I'd be investing in a Synology NAS system to back up my Mac at home as well as the MBP. Looks like most people recommend a Seagate or Western Digital. I'm thinking of just getting a 500g to match the one in the MBP, unless someone thinks I should go for a TB and have some extra room. Just wondering what you folks think? Is there one better to backup both operating systems? It looks like the Seagate would do both. I just don't understand all the difference between the different models of the Seagate as well the Western Digital.
Also, is there any way to back up both at the same time? Doubtful from what I've read here unless I'm in a virtual environment, which I'm not as I'm using bootcamp to run Windows. Would I use Time Machine on OSX and then manually backup when I run Windows. Sooo confused!
Thanks in advance for your help!

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10554
http://www.newertech.com/storage/

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Recommendations for 1TB portable external HD

I'm looking for a 1TB @7200RPM portable external HD for my MacBook 7,1 [mini-DisplayPort and 2 USB 2.0 ports] and I'll be using it to transfer video projects to and from an iMac. I've been recommended to use something with Firewire 800 connections as it's apparently the most compatible with the iMacs that I'll be using. I'm unsure what model but I do know that none of the iMacs have Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 capabilities. I've also been recommended to use Lacie and Rockstor brands, but I'm fairly certain that was just because the University has a deal with these companies and isn't necessarily reflective of their quality and capabilities.
Any recommended products or advice?

Matthew Jackson wrote:
Hi, need an external portable HD for my new macbook. 160GB at least. Can anyone recommend a good one that maybe even looks nice?
Western Digital Passport. I have one (160GB) and it has so far worked off of a single port on every machine I've plugged it into. The white one matches the color and finish of the white MacBook. I've got the black one, although it wouldn't match the matte black finish of the BlackBook. You should be able to find it in Europe.

Recommendation for Large (4Tb) External Drive for Time Machine

I have a large library that I'd like to backup from my Mac Pro - 2T drives are not large enough - any recommendations on 4T drives for Time Machine?
Thanks
GJM

People have said to wait for version 8.2 of Retrospect which appears to be here.
http://www.retrospect.com/
Maybe time to move to RAID6 controller. I've seen folks on MacGurus talk about large, massive storage arrays and backups.
http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/BurlyRAID.php
People have said that they backup RAID A to B. Or mirror two arrays.
Did you not like SynchronizePro? From March '09:
After months of trying and testing we have settled on Areca cards.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9218286#9218286
I have not heard of problems (very many) with SuperDuper and their support is always helpful.
A linux NAS server running linux backup or even Windows Home Server. People even use Windows to run Retrospect (runs better). Anything you find will likely take some time to setup and configure in the beginning, this isn't your proconsumer type of need.

Portable external drive recommendations

I'd like to use a portable external drive to store my referenced masters (about 15k jpeg images and growing), which I would back-up periodically to a 1 TB LaCie drive. Other than getting a drive with FW800 (compatible with my MacBook Pro), should drive speed (5400 vs. 7200) be a consideration? I've noticed that 7200 rpm drives generally max out at 500 GB (and are generally more expensive), but I'd like to get a 1 TB drive. Any recommendations or suggestions?
Also, any suggestions for backing-up referenced masters from one external drive to another (frequency, approach, tools/software)?
Thanks

I buy memory and mass storage from OWC at
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/.
Plenty of 7200 rpm choices available including 1-TB size, and yes I consider 7200 rpm worthwhile. I recommend drives that allow FW800, eSATA and USB for flexibility. Slow USB-only drives for backup only can save a few bucks, but drives are cheap and I like to be able to repurpose drives instantly if the need arises so I pay extra to maintain multiple connectivity choices.
As to backup, I feel strongly that originals should be backed up before import into Aperture or any other app. Frequency of offsite backup depends on how important the image data is to you. Personally I do not erase CFs until the originals are both on the hard drive they will live on and backed up to an offsite drive (which can be as simple as a drive that lives in the car). The point is that one theft or one fire or one whatever cannot forever lose enterprise-critical photos.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

Can anyone recommend a good 2TB external drive for my iMac 10.9 ?

can anyone recommend a good 2TB external drive for my iMac 10.9 ?

The Griffin Survivor is a military-grade case that I use. It's $40 and I purchased it at Best Buy. It has a rubber piece that covers the charging port, but can be easily removed for charging while still in the case. The only downside of the case is because of the added girth, it makes the iPod unusable with iHomes or other docks unless you take it out of the case.

I want to upgrade from OS X 10.5.8 to Snow Leopard. When trying to back-up to a WD 1 TB external drive, the back-up process stalls at about 4 GB. Grateful for any clues to assist with the backup issue please.

I want to upgrade from OS X 10.5.8 to Snow Leopard, then to Lion. When trying to back-up to a WD 1 TB external drive, the back-up process stalls at about 4 GB download. I would be very grateful for any clues to assist with the back-up process please.

That disk is very probably formated as FAT 32, the normal format for PCs. FAT 32 cannot support files larger than 4 GB; also, it corrupts some types of Mac OS files. If you want to securely backup your mac files, you must have a disk prepared for Mac OS.
Therefore, open Disk Utility, choose again 1 partition for your external disk and, under Options, GUID partition map (it may also be a boot disk for an intel mac), then format it as Mac OS Extended Journaled. Y0u are done.
If you want to exchange data with PCs, you should chose Master Boot REcord and NTFS format, for this you must use a additional utility like NTFS-3G. But note that mac files may also get corrupt in NTFS format.

Portable External Drive functions

Hi to all, i am scouting for external hard drives.
I know there are some hard drives that need power and some that are portable.
questions:
1. on portables, can I remove the external drive (i.e. WD pocket drives) from my home desktop (given that it is configured as back up via time machine?) and use it as an external drive to back up other files like in any notebooks?
2. when i plug in again the external drive to my home desktop, will i be required to do the initial set up again? or will the mac recognize it as an existing back up via time machine?
3. should i partition the drive> if yes, when do i partition it? before setting up time machine at home? and how do i partition?
Thanks for any reply.
Message was edited by: iSphere

A portable drive that runs on bus power is the [OWC Mercury On-The-Go|http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go]. If you are using Time Machine you don't have to do any partitioning and just plugging it into a computer will cause Time Machine to start backing up automatically. However, if you are backing up multiple machines you are going to want a 500GB drive if you are going to portable 2.5" HDD route.
If you get a 3.5" HDD enclosure then you can get a much higher capacity drive for less price. However, it will require power from an outlet and won't be portable. For that, I'd recommend the [Mercury Elite-AL Pro|http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATAFW800_FW400USB].

Trouble Exporting QuickTime on to portable external drive

I bought a portable external drive (Lacie) and I am unable to transfer my project on to it in the form of a self contained quicktime video export.
I tried to copy it from the Lacie external drive that I first exported the project to and I got an error message, "type 36" that said it couldn't copy or read part of the file and it aborted the copy. Then I tried twice exporting the project straight to the portable drive, and each time, instead of exporting one self contained QT file, there are three files: the origional file name and the second and third files have: "av1" and "av2", added to the origional file name. So it looks like its exporting the video and audio seperately?
I imported the main file back into Final Cut to see if it would play on a timeline and it did. But it is one third the size (2 gig) of the origional exported self contained video (5.5 gig). So something's not right.
I am trying to give my editor one file so that he can make a DVD.
Does anyone understand what's going on? It seems to me the problem lies with the new portable drive but I'm not sure what to do. Thank you for any help, guidance, or further trouble shooting.

Reformat the drive Mac OS Extended with Disk Utilities found in the Utilities folder in the Apps folder. (Click on the erase tab) if you haven't already done this.
Jerry

Using an external drive with shared files (iPhoto, iTunes), attached to a Time Capsule, can the contents of the external drive be backed-up to the internal Time Capsule drive? Perhaps a RAID1 mirror to a partition?

Using an external drive with shared files (iPhoto, iTunes), attached to a Time Capsule, can the contents of the external drive be backed-up to the internal Time Capsule drive? Perhaps a RAID1 mirror to a partitioned Time Capsule? I understand that the Time Machine (software) cannot backup a networked drive (the external) and that Time Capsule (the router/wireless hard drive) does not have its own backup software... so it won't backup the connected drive. What I would like is an alternate solution for having an automated backup of a networked drive. A 2TB Time Capsule has more than enough space for Time Machine backups of my family of Macbooks, so I had hoped to mirror a 500GB external drive (with shared media files) to a portion of the Time Capsule internal hard drive. I assume this would require a partition of the Time Capsule drive. If not, would the sparse file from the various computers being backed up need to be copied to the external drive as part of the RAID1 setup? This seems like overkill for the Time Machine backup, but it would cover the media files.

The complexity with this idea is the software has to run from a Mac computer on your network.. so you need a Mac turned on, probably most of the day.
It isn't possible to partition the TC although you can create a image area.
The software would have to copy the material, that means all files to be copied, go from USB drive, back to the Mac, then back to the TC, and written to the drive. In other words you have just added Network congestion, although a proper incremental backup type software will not actually use a lot of capacity.
Finally it will be slow.. network drives are slower than internal drives. Well USB connected drive is much slower than the same drive connected directly to the computer.. and if the drive is connected directly to a computer it can be shared with the network.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4577/airport-extreme-5th-gen-and-time-capsule-4th- gen-review-faster-wifi-/4
Read carefully the speed of the USB drive plugged into the TC.

HT201250 I've just used an external drive to back up my Mac with Time Machine. I have Lion, but didn't click and check the "Encrypt Backup Disc". What should I do? Can I delete the external drive and start again, or can I encrypt later?

I've just used an external drive to back up my Mac with Time Machine. I have Lion, but didn't click and check the "Encrypt Backup Disc". What should I do? Can I delete the external drive and start again, or can I encrypt later?

I guess if stolen or lost it would protect my "stuff", and if I'm travelling would protect my privacy.
You must understand the purpose and implications of encryption before deciding whether to use it.
Encryption locks your data with a password. If you forget that password, the data is lost beyond any chance of recovery. Neither Apple nor anyone else will be able to help you recover that data if you don't know the password.
By the same token, the password must be strong enough to provide the security you want. For example, if you're the potential target of industrial espionage by a government or large corporation, you need the strongest possible password. To create and manage such a password safely is a task in itself, not to be undertaken lightly.
If you're only concerned about casual snooping by someone with no special skill, a weak, easily-remembered password is appropriate.
But regardless of the strength of the password, if you lose it, the data is gone forever.
Another point to remember is that if you encrypt your data on one storage device, you must also encrypt it on all other storage devices that would be accessible to the same attacker. Otherwise the data isn't protected. For example, if you keep your computer and your backup drive in the same room, and the internal drive of the computer is not encrypted, then there's no point in encrypting the backup drive.

Why is my external drive nt backing up my computer???

why is my external drive nt backing up my computer??? i tried endless time to set up time machine in order to automatically back up my files. it starts backing up a few MB's of files and then i get a message that an error occurred while backing up files thus making the backing up a failure. what gives? i tried formatting the external drive. checked utility disk for restoring permissions, etc....

hi there, i'm afraid i dont know what u mean. i can copy files manually and open them in another mac, but to copy all the files will take me forever. i want to erase everything on my mac so that i can re-install the software...

ITunes Settings for Media on External Drive via Airport Extreme...

iTunes Settings for Media on External Drive via Airport Extreme base station versus plugging directly into laptop.
My current configuration is that my iTunes Media (700gb) are all stored in an External Drive that's plugged into my Airport Extreme Base Station. This works great for me having wireless access to my iTunes external drive.
Whenever I need to back up that hard drive with Time Machine, I just plug it directly to my laptop...
But how do I let iTunes (or iTunes library) know that this is the same hard drive where all my media is stored when it's plugged directly into the laptop as opposed to trying to access it from my Airport Extreme network?

No there isnt any files call library in the folder i created I am now in the process of copying them back but I guess I will loose all my playlists and playcounts. I do have a Copy of my drive that i made with carbon copy cloner. So maybe it will be best to boot from there, restore and start again.
Chris it was just the media folder. I was following the instructions on the apple support page. Got to point 14 didn't get the warning but did seen to have a brand new itunes, so emptied the trash as they said expecting everything to be fine but it wasnt.

TS1394 is mac os x 10.4.11 compatible with my passport for mac portable hard drive?

is mac os x 10.4.11 compatible with my passport for mac portable hard drive?

The specs for the Passport Essential HD says:
Macintosh
Available USB port
Mac OS X 10.5.x
Don't know why it wouldn't work with Tiger.
 Cheers, Tom

HT2963 I have a 1 TG external drive that is formatted to Windows NTFS and is read only, how do i get it to read and write on my Mac OS X 10.6.3?

I I have a 1 TG external drive that is formatted to Windows NTFS and is read only, how do i get it to read and write on my Mac OS X 10.6.3?

Install software such as Paragon NTFS, or reformat it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or FAT32. Mac OS X 10.6.5 and newer can also read and write exFAT partitions.
(97498)

How do I back up my mbp using external drive...

that has been used to backup my macbook?
I have the G Drive usb.
I don't plan to use it back and forth between my mbp and mb.
I did the final back up for my mb now I wanna use it for my mbp.
How do I do it without having to delete its content?

This one (Hitachi) has partition tab
But when I click the g drive (whick is the name of the external drive) it has no partition tab
So I guess it's the Hitachi one?
However when I change the partition layout to 2 as below
when I click apply it says that it'll delete my data
How do I solve this?
I'm sorry I have to put pics as I don't know how to explain it

Recommendations For MBP Portable External Drive To Back Up OSX & Windows

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