Replacing hard drive without losing information

I need to upgrade my hard drive on my MacBook and would really like to just transfer everything over to the new drive. Is there an easy way to do this? I'm pretty good with technology, but not great when it comes to the more technical side of things.

Both drives have to be in either a computer or an external hard drive enclosure. Then you can very easily clone one drive to the other and end up with two identical drives.
The smartest thing for you to do would be to buy an external drive enclosure from NewEgg (or various other places). Then you insert the new drive into the enclosure, plug the enclosure into your MacBook and then use Carbon Copy Cloner (free) to make the duplicate copy. Now remove the old drive from the Mac and insert the new drive. That's it.
Now you have the original drive to put into the enclosure to use for backing up your MacBook's internal drive. This is something that you should definitely be routinely doing anyway, whether you are upgrading your hard drive or not.

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If I donwload e-books from various e-book retailers and want to back them up on an external hard drive without losing the format, do I need a special hard drive?

If I download e-books from various e-book retailers and want to back them up on an external hard drive without losing the format, do I need to know anything special?

I just looked into this as I was moving my iPad to a new computer for synching. With no thanks to Kobo for any really useful information on their help site (this discussion was the most useful info I found), I think the following may address your issue with respect to Kobo.
1. There is not easy or official way to back up Kobo books from your iPad.
2. Kobo keep track of your personal library. Go to the Kobo website (Kobo.com) and sign in to your account. On the very top line is "My Library". That contains (or at least Kobo says it does) everything you have ever bought from Kobo. Kobo say that you may download any of this content to other devices you own at no charge.
3. I synched my iPad to the new computer. According to Apple, that will delete all my data as the apps are re-installed from the new compute. While all my apps got moved around from the order I previously had (many thanks Apple), all my books are still there together with my bookmarks etc. Looks like this did nothing to change any Kobo data.
While I do not like the idea that I cannot create a backup on my main computer, it is probably safer in the long run that there is a backup at Kobo. After all, I could lose all my equipment in a fire or something, and then personal backups would be of little use.

How do I partition my external hard drive without losing data?

How do I partition my external hard drive without losing the data already on it? I've been using it with Time Machine on my old computer, but want to use it as a regular drag-and-drop type back up on my new computer. Is there any way to basically split the hard drive so I can still access the Time Machine backups on my old computer, but also be able to use it with my new mac? Thanks!

If you reformat the drive all data is lost.
The only way to save the data is to copy it somewhere else during the reformat.
Drag & drop will not backup things correctly.
I suggest you set up partition for each Mac and then point Time Machine to each of the partition for each of the Macs.

How do I import images from my hard drive without losing resolution? My original files after import are significantly smaller. What should I do?

How do I import images from my hard drive without losing resolution? My original files after import are significantly smaller. What should I do?

Hi Keith, and all others chiming in, I do have the correct option checked in advanced settings telling iPhoto to copy the images into the library. What is a refernced library? Perhaps this is where I am getting confused. I exported my entire photo library from an old iMac5 to my external hard drive, from there I attempted to import the entire library to my new iMac. Am I overlooking an obvious and easy way to import from the hard drive to the new iMac--I dragged the entire photo pholder from the hard drive to the open window of iPhoto on the new computer. Now, I only get preview file sizes in iPhoto, unless I have my external drive open. Perhaps I need to import the original images from the hard drive in a different way...?! (This is making me feel pretty stupid.)

Backup new hard drive without losing old files?

My hard drive has had to be replaced and I now have a new one. All of my files have been backed up to a portable hard drive using Time Machine. Since getting my new hard drive, I have created some new documents. Can I use the same portable hard drive to back these up without losing the saved backups from my previous hard drive? please help!

Yes, assuming the drive has enough space to hold both. Just set Time Machine to back up to it.
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How do i reformat a hard drive without losing anything on it?

I just got a message that I need to back up and reformat my external hard drive. I know very little about this process and would like to know how to do so and if this is possible without losing anything on it.

If you reformat a drive, you will lose whatever information/files are on it. So, the only way to save your info is to copy it to another drive temporarily, reformat your drive (use Disk Utility and format using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the GUID Partition scheme under Options) and then you can copy your information back.

Partition ext hard drive without losing data

I have just bought my first MacBook. I have an external hard drive with data on backed up from a windows PC and from reading posts see that I cannot transfer files FROM my mac onto this drive as it is not formatted for use with a mac, although can transfer FROM the ext drive TO the mac.
Can I partition it to make a part for the mac and keep the other part for windows use WITHOUT losing any of the data already on there? I was hoping to use this drive to back up the mac using time machine.
Any replies appreciated in a simple form as I'm not that technical!
Thanks

Stress Test wrote:
On the fly formatting from NTFS to FAT32 is not possible without loosing data.
Not true. I have converted drives from FAT32 to NTFS, and vis versa, all while preserving the data on the drive. There is a number of ways to do it on a Windows machine. What I don't know is if there is the same software available for doing on a Mac. Since the OP mentions a WinPC, he might still have that capability himself. The one note of caution is that on an NTFS drive, you want to make sure that there are no individual files you want tot keep that are larger than FAT32 can support (4 GB). Here is one solution.

Envy 15: Replace Hard drive without voiding the warranty?

I am thinking about getting the Envy 15-1110EA.
Is it possible to replace the Harddrive without voiding the warranty? Since in the Envy I think it is neccessary to open the case.
If it does void the warranty is it possible to get a new hard drive installed without voiding the warranty e.g. through a service centre?

Hi
To install dual SSD's in an HP envy 15 in RAID 0 configuration you need to put 2 1.8" SSD's into the 2.5" drive bay.
To do this you need this bracket, and 2 connector leads. Here are some pictures I found during my searches on the WEB.
Question 1. Does anyone in HP know the Part Number for this dual 1.8" SSD Bracket?
I cannot find it anywhere on the web or via HP PartSurfer.
I would like to order this bracket if it is worthwhile.
Here is a picture of the dual SSDs inside an Envy 15 (lower RHS of picture).
My next questions.
Question 2. Is it worthwhile putting 2 SSDs in Raid 0 configuration in an HP Envy 15 (original release) today?
Question 3. Has SSD technology moved on in the past 1.5 years such that the read / write speed of the latest single 2.5" SSD is faster/ as fast as the motherboard in the HP Envy 15 can handle anyhow?
Question 4. Is there any documentation from HP on how to set up dual SSD's in RAID 0 if it is worthwhile today?
Question 5. Is there a recommended 2.5" SSD for the HP Envy 15?
I would really appreciate a response from someone in the HP Envy Technical Team on this if possible.
Thanks
colesdav

How do I swap out hard drives without losing all of my playlists?

I got a bigger hard drive to store all of my music, and can't do a mass switch. I could delete everything out of my itunes and then add all from the new, but then I would lose all of my playlists.

To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application SuperDuper. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html You'll need a cheap SATA external hard drive case. Put the new drive in the case then format and partition the new drive and clone your old drive to the new one. Check that it's set up right by booting up from the external drive. Then replace your old hard drive with the new one and put your old one in the external case.
Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=pd_cp_pc_0

How do you change out hard drives without losing all your software license keys

I have lots of cash tied up in software.

To transfer your current hard drive I like the free application SuperDuper. It makes a bootable copy of everything on your hard drive http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html You'll need a cheap SATA external hard drive case. Put the new drive in the case then format and partition the new drive and clone your old drive to the new one. Check that it's set up right by booting up from the external drive. Then replace your old hard drive with the new one and put your old one in the external case.
Here's a cheap SATA external hard drive case on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=pd_cp_pc_0

Reformatting External Hard Drive Without Losing Files

I recently switched from a crashed HP to a Macbook and am trying to reformat my external hard drive, but it looks like every option requires me to delete the files on my hard drive. Is there a way to avoid this? I'm a fitness instructor and ALL of my music is on the hard drive...
Thank you!!

Why are you reformatting the drive? Is it formatted in NTFS for Windows? If so, the Mac can read the files off the drive, which is what you'll need to do. Reformatting is a destructive process, so if you want the drive in a different format (such as Mac OS Extended) you will need to copy the files off to another location temporarily and then bring them back once the drive is reformatted. Since the Mac can read the old drive, an external drive formatted Mac OS Extended could be attached as well and the files moved over.
If you don't want to do that, there are some third party options that will allow the Mac to read and write NFTS drives. The downside is that it's more than a bit tricky to do, and the risk of things going wrong when writing is likely why Apple defaults to only reading the NFTS drives and not writing to them.
If you will need to use the drive on both Windows and Mac machines the one "common" format is FAT32. That has its own issues (including a hard and fast 4GB maximum file size) but either OS will read and write the drive without complaint.

How do i reformat a case sensitive external hard drive without losing data

I know there are a lot of posts about this, and i have spent hours trying to find a soloution / understand what people have responded to others, but i can't work this out.
I also have a Buffalo HD (let's call it HD1) that stores my itunes library.
I have a WD My Passport for Mac (let's call it HD2) that backs up my Mac Book Pro.
I have an older WD that has older TM back ups on it from previous computers (let's call it HD3)
I have one spare completely 'clean' WD hard drive (let's call it HD4).
My laptop was really slow and full so i went to Genius bar, they sold me the Buffalo HD and they moved my itunes to it and set it up so it now has my itunes. I used this disk to run two TM Backups before i realised the drive was nearly full, so i bought the WD My Passport HD2.
I now use WD My Passprt HD2 for TM.
I want to MOVE the backups on HD1 to My Passport HD2 as there is lots of space on it. I also want to move my itunes library from HD2 as a back up.
But i can't!!!
After reading for hours, apparently this is because my HD1 is case sensitive, journaled. And it needs to be Journaled to work with TM/OSX or something very confusing. I have read lots of threads about re-formatting / partitioning and all things that are way over my head. But the one thing i do understand is if i reformat HD1, it erases the data.
This is NOT an option as it holds my WHOLE itunes. The Itunes is WAY too big to drag onto my mac book pro and then move it over to HD2 and make that my itunes folder.
HOW THE **** ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BACK UP THE CASE SENSITIVE DRIVE BEFORE REFORMATTING IT IF IT'S TOO BIG TO FIT BACK ON YOUR COMPUTER? Surely that's the whole point of having an external drive... to back up AND give you more space?
I'm so mad that the apple store did this to me... they should know that case sensitve wouldn't work with a passport... that i would have problems. UGh.
I have options to move the files from HD1 as i have HD2 and HD3 and then also the completely unused HD4... but i can't move anything anywhere due to this case sensitive nightmare.
Someone PLEASE HELP ME.
thanks.

Hi Kappy,
Just wondering if you had any advice for my situation . . .
My time machine backup was backing up to a drive that was "Mac OS X Enteded Journaled, Case Sensitive." I had no idea what this meant, or that it would even cause issues.
I took my computer to the Apple store yesterday, and they wiped it clean. When they tried to restore it from the Time Machine backup drive, it would not work. Their guess is that Time Machine cannot restore from a drive that is "case sensitive."
Any thoughts on how I can convert my time machine backup data from a "case sensitive" state, to a "non-case sensitive" state? I've tried to just drag and drop the files from the case sensitive formatted drive to a new drive that I have that is formatted non case sensitive, but I get the following error message:
"The volume has the wrong case sensitivity for a backup"
I just really want my data back - I thought TimeMachine was the way to go (and was supposed to work) but unfortunately it is not.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

I want to move files on my hard drive without 'losing' them in iTUnes

I currently have lots of my music files stored in various folders in my hard drive (mp3 files created before I had an iPod and started using iTunes). I've got this music in my iTunes library, by using 'Add folder to library' prompt.
However, since getting my iPod and ripping lots of music using iTunes, I'm liking the way iTunes collates my files within my specified iTunes folder, and want to move all my music files into this one folder so these old files can be collated in the same way.
Obviously, if I just drap and drop these old files into my iTunes folder using Windows Explorer, iTunes will 'lose' the link to these tracks and I'll have to locate them again. My other thought is that I'd have to delete all these old tracks from my iTunes library, and then once I've moved them into my iTunes library, add them back in. I figure there must be an easier way.
Is there an easy way of moving my older music files into my iTunes folder, but in a way that iTunes realises that I've moved them? Once I've done this, will iTunes automatically collate them in the same way it does with songs ripped using iTunes, or will I need to do this manually?
Thanks in advance.

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/tip.html

Is it possible to rename an external hard drive without losing links to my media?

Hello all. I am new to Apple and FCP, so I may be going about this all wrong. I have a new Mac Pro, OS X version 10.9.5, running FCPX version 10.1.3. I have copied all of my data from a 1T external hard drive to a new 4T external hard drive, but FCPX doesn't recognize my media files unless I rename the new drive to that of the old one. The problem is I want to continue using the old one. Is there an easy way to relink my files and keep the original name of the new drive?
Thanks.

douglas57 wrote:
I just spent 4 months editing a feature length documentary and I only understand about 10% of FCP. Only thing we can do is keep plugging away.
Good luck...
I've been using Final Cut Pro (pre-X) since v1.0 and I only ever used about 29% of the capabilities. However, most of the lesser functions slapped onto Ye Olde FCP were lame, unfinished, niche-focused or broken.

How to re-download PS Elements (on replacement hard drive) without paying for software a 2nd time?

My hard drive completely died and I lost all my files and programs. (I usually have everything backed up but unfortunately my back up drive had had issues about a month before and I hadn't got around to getting it fixed - lesson learnt the hard way!)
I now have a brand new hard drive in my laptop and need to re-download and install PS Elements but I don't want to have to pay for it a second time.
How do I do this?

Have you bought the PS elements or you were using it as the trial?
If you have bought the software then you ca download and install the software as you did earlirer.
and also please tell us your OS and verison of PS elements.

Replacing hard drive without losing information

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