Should i get a flash drive or external drive to back up my computer?

i want to back up my 2 year old macbook. i have 1gb memory. capacity 119.69gb and 98.31 available with 21.38 gb on disk. i want to not lose everything now on my computer--bookmarks, downloads ,documents etc. i have snow leopard. should i buy a flash drive or an external drive? i don't really know the difference except in the price.

Hello...
Good information here for backup and recovery.
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html
You need an external drive for back up.
Carolyn

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Can I get a flash drive recovery Lion

Can I get a flash drive recovery Lion

You cam make your own:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848
Regards,
Colin R.

I exported my passwords to a flash drive, and have a new computer. How do I get those passwords moved to the NEW machine?

I exported my passwords to a flash drive, and have a new computer. How do I get those passwords moved to the NEW machine?

Firefox doesn't have an "export" feature built into it for password data.
Exactly what did you do to "export" your passwords?
Did you use this extension?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/password-exporter/
If so, see the screenshots on that page to see the Import function.
If you copied the two files that are used for storing passwords from the old computer to back them up, just copy those 2 files into the Profile folder on the new computer to restore them.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles

Can I use a flash drive to back up my iTunes?

Did a search on backing up my iTunes, and only get the option of backing up to a disc (Which is what I've done over the past 3 years. I now have 6 discs accumulated).
Can I use a flash drive to back up my apps, music, and videos?
I only have a total of 1.6 GB of apps, music, & video.
If so, would I then be able to transfer everything from the flash to a new hard drive when I replace the current one?
Thanks for any advice or help.

The backup built into iTunes works only with CDs and DVDs, but you can back up onto a flash drive or hard drive manually. Just drag the entire iTunes folder (normally in your user's Music folder) onto the backup device.
would I then be able to transfer everything from the flash to a new hard drive when I replace the current one?
Yes. If you back up the entire iTunes folder, you should be able to just copy it back to the new drive in the same location (user -> Music folder).

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...

USB ports stop recognizing external or flash drives during back up, dv7 2185 laptop

HP Pavilion dv 7 2185 dx, Windows 7 64 bit
After one of the updates over the last 7 months my computer lost the ability to complete a systems back up. The back up will complete about 25 percent (using external hard drive or flash drive, any of the 3 USB ports) and then stop. The My computer page will then not show free space info. for the drives like when it did when they were first plugged in. It's like the drive became unrecognized during the back up.

I AM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE SAME MODEL. I GOT THE SERVICE
MANUAL AND I'M THINKING TO OPEN IT AND SEE IF THERE'S SOME PHYSICAL BAD CONNECTION
INSIDE. BUT LIKE YOU SAID. IT'S ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD.!!! I DON'T WANT TO RUIN THE WARRANTEE.
BUT THIS IS VERY FRUSTATING. I WANDER IF TOSHIBA DOES THIS ON PURPUSE.!!! KEEP IN TOUCH AND
IF YOU NEED THE SERVICE MANUAL CONTACT ME AT [email protected]
THANK YOU.!!!!

Can a flash drive be backed up?

I've been running Time Machine for a while and I think it's great. What I want to know is if a flash drive can be backed up onto my external drive. I can't remove it from the list of things not to back up so it's not looking good, but I figured I'd ask here just in case there was still a way. Thanks.

When the item is grayed out in the Options to exclude, it means it is NOT backed up; hence, you cannot de-select it for backing up. Hopefully once it is re-formatted HFS+, you will be able to confirm via TM Preferences -> Options that you can include/exclude that drive.

How can I get my music from my nano 5th gen. back onto my computer?

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See this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering the different methods and software available to assist you with the task of copying content from your iPod back to your computer.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
B-rock

Should I get an SSD drive?

Hello.
I'm thinking of buying a new MacBook for school. I've come to the conclusion that I should get either the MacBook Air 13" or Retina MacBook Pro 13".
In either case I definitely want the specs to be: 8GB Ram and 256 GB SSD Drive.
However:
During my research I've come across a lot of articles saying that you should be aware of 'how to use' a SSD drive in order to 'make it last as long as possible', and that you should write as little data as possible to it.
How big of a deal is this really?
Since I'll be using my MacBook for school I obviously need to do a lot(!) of text editing, which means a lot of writting to the disk (since I'll be opening the same document several times and edit it). I'll be using it for light video (iMovie) and audio (GarageBand) editing as well.
After reading all these articles on the SSD Drive I'm thinking if it's better to just stick with a HDD Drive (the non-Retina MBP)?
Please help me out here guys.
Thanks.

With all of the estimated "mean time before failure" tests I've seen regarding SSDs, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out - after SSDs have been installed in consumer computers for a longer period - if SSDs didn't come out on top versus the short lifespan of hard disk drives.
So if I were you, realizing that you're going to upgrade your computer within the next 7-10 years, I wouldn't worry about the read/write figures that you see with SSDs. My oldest SSD is 3 years old and it's still going strong. The current SSDs that I have are less than 4 months old, tops. I've yet to have a problem with an SSD (although all four of mine have been manufactured by Crucial).
I don't think you've anything to worry about - the SSD will long outlast the computer, I'm certain.
Clinton
MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS Mavericks 10.9.4, 16GB Crucial RAM, Crucial M500 960GB SSD, 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display

Should I get standard hard drive or fusion drive on a new 21.5" iMac?

I'm thinking about getting a new 21.5" iMac. How do I decide whether to get the standard hard drive (5400 rpm) or the Fusion Drive? Besides Web surfing and email, I would be using it to play flash games, listen to Internet radio, and stream movies occasionally on Netflix.

@TmanW:
Technically you cannot control where data goes on the Fusion drive 100% of the time as in the case of a two drive setup (SSD + HDD), but you can tilt where the data goes by watching disk usage and also partioning. My understanding how the Fusion drive works from MacPerformanceGuide.com (where they tested the Fusion on a late 2012 27" iMac) is that as long as you do not have more the 112GB filled on the Fusion, the drive won't kick data to the HDD when peforming tasks that use more than the 4GB buffer. I interpret this to mean as long as I keep the capacity below this 112GB threshold, I am more likely to get SSD performance. And to keep things under this threshold, one could just use the Fusion drive for system and apps only and perhaps targeted file usage (working Photoshop files that would be transferred back to non-SSD storage afterwards).
MPG also tested the Fusion drive with a partition method that biases the first partition to be 2/3 SSD and in this scenario a user can effectively (though once again not 100%) target SSD usage most of the time.
Once I get my new iMac, prior to cloning my existing system on to the Fusion drive, I will see firsthand if these tests are true to form with their results.

Should I get two hard drives-1, OSX and 1, XP? (help please)

I'm configuring a Mac Pro. If I get two hard disks, can I set up one to run OSX and the other to run XP?
Does anyone know if this works and how to do it (i.e., both to install and to boot).
Thanks for your help!!
G5 + MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Yes, you can have one drive each for Mac OS X and Windows. All you need to do is install the Boot Camp 1.1 beta and follow the setup assistant.

HT1338 where can i get a flash drive for my powerbook G4? or where can i go to get help with my powerbook G4

CAn someone help me?

You mean an SSD drive to replace the internal drive? Won't work. Your powerbook has an IDE/ATA drive interface so you need an SSD with a PATA interface. I know www.Newegg.com used to sell Transcend PATA SSD drives, but they do not seem to stock them anymore.
Current SSD drives are all SATA, and again, some places used to sell bridge cards for those to hook up to IDE/ATA devices, but those would not fit into a laptop.
You could check Amazon or places for Transcend IDE SSD drives.

How can I get my hard drive icon back on the desktop

I just erased my hard drive on my Intel MacBook getting ready to give it to my daughter. I had the Snow Leopard install disc in the drive and used Disc Utility to erase the drive. I then installed Snow Leopard and everything went smoothly without a hitch.
Other than -- the icon for the hard drive is not on the desktop! I can open a Finder window and see everything that should be on the drive after an erase and reinstall, but the drive is not there.
How can I get it back?
TIA
I am so sorry! This question has been answered more than once. I searched but didn't find it. When I posted this, however, the list of similar questions that pops up next to the message sent me to a simple fix and now all is well.
Again, sorry for having cluttered up the board with this question.
Thanks.
Message was edited by: Martin Rice

Choose Preferences from the Finder menu, click on the General tab, and check the box for it.
(98814)

Getting my hard drive shipped back to me?

So, I should probably just call Apple on this, but I'm at work and I figured I'd post the question to the users first and see if anyone else has been successful in this.
So, after downloading the most recent updates from Mac a few nights ago, my computer experienced a kernel panic and then got stuck on the boot up screen at restart. After restarting again, my hard drive wouldn't show up. I called tech support, and they were unable to get it to come up either, but I was told if I took it to a Mac store they might be able to retrieve my information. The Mac Genius at the store was unable to do anything about it either, but he did give me a card for a Data Recovery Service that he said could help. Now I'm in the process of making the difficult decision of whether or not to spend 1/9 of my yearly salary to get four years of my pictures back after I just spent 1/9 of my yearly salary to buy this brand new computer. I understand that it was my fault for not having a back up of this information on another computer...but I'm still pretty upset. Now, even if I do decide to send my old hard drive to a data recovery service, I'd like to have my laptop up and running as quickly as possible, even if it doesn't have any of my data on it. My question is:
Would Apple send me back my old hard drive along with the repaired laptop so that I could then send the drive on the data recovery service or am I going to need to send the whole laptop to the data recovery service first, wait for them to do what they do, and THEN send it on to Apple? Additionally, is there any chance in **** that the Apple technicians would be able to retrieve my information for me and save me 2700 dollars? I honestly don't think there's a physical problem with the drive, and perhaps if the drive was extracted and put into another laptop, it might work fine. It's so frustrating because I know the information is on there...my computer just won't recognize it. I appreciate the help...I'm pretty upset about being in this position with a brand new computer.

How could a failed security update have fried your hard drive? Did you try all suggestions at Macfixit to get it working? Who determined your hard drive is faulty? I think you need to keep investigating a solution before resorting to hard drive replacement.
Tutorial: Startup will not proceed after a system or security update; solving
Many times after a major system update (such as an incremental Mac OS X update, i.e. Mac OS X 10.4.5 or a Security Update) can cause an inability to properly startup -- you may see a blank grey screen, pause indefinitely at the Apple logo, see a blue screen, or experience other symptoms.
There are a variety of potential solutions for this issue.
Delete Caches/.plist files If you experience startup problems, first try starting in Safe mode (hold the "Shift" key while you startup), then delete some cache and .plist files to make sure their corruption isn't at fault.
This can most easily be accomplished with a shareware utility like Tiger Cache Cleaner or Panther Cache Cleaner, but also bears a manual process which involves dragging the following files to the trash:
com.apple.kernelcaches (a folder in /System/Library/Caches)
Extensions.kextcache (a file in /System/Library)
Extensions.mkext (a file in /System/Library/)
com.apple.ATS (a folder in /Library/Caches/)
com.apple.loginwindow.plist (a file in /Library/Preferences/)
Files that start with com.apple.LaunchServices (in /Library/Caches)
You will be prompted to enter your administrator password when dragging these files to the trash. You may need to restart after moving them to the trash.
Check for problematic login/startup items Startup in safe mode (hold the "Shift" key while you startup))
Next, go to the Accounts pane of System Preferences and click the "Startup Items" tab. Select all the login items and click Remove, then restart.
Also, check the /Library/StartupItems and /System/Library/StartupItems folders and remove any third-party items.
Repair drive damage In the case of drive directory damage or problems with permissions, the solution is usually to use Apple's Disk Utility to repair the disk. Of course, you won't be able to perform this operation normally (simply launching the Disk Utility application, located in Applications/Utilities, and initiating a disk repair) if your system will not startup. So two options exist:
Insert your Mac OS X 10.4.x (Tiger) media (DVD or CD) and restart the computer while holding down the "C" key. Once the computer has booted from the installation disc, select "Utilities" from the menubar and open Disk Utility. Repair the disk, then quit Disk Utility and restart your system.
Alternatively, you can repair the disk while booted in single user mode if you do not have access to a retail Mac OS X 10.4.x (Tiger) DVD/CD. To startup in single user mode, hold down the "Command" and "S" keys simultaneously at startup. Once properly booted, type the command fsck at the prompt. Repeat these process until no errors appear.
Disconnect network cables The cause for delay in some instances of this issue may be network related -- as Mac OS X tries unsuccessfully to ping an active connection. Temporarily disconnecting any ethernet cables -- then re-connecting them once Mac OS X has started up -- may resolve the delays.
Uninstall the update An extreme measure is uninstallation of the most recently applied update.
This can be accomplished via the following process; adapted from our tutorial on reverting to a previous iteration of Mac OS X. Note, however, that reverting your system will remove any refinements brought by the update and leave your system open to potential vulnerabilities.
First, make a backup of your current Mac OS X installation with the Security Update applied, problematic as it may be. If there is an issue along the way, your valuable data will be safely intact in its current form.
Next, you'll need to perform an Archive and Install process to remove all of the Security Update's (and potentially problem-causing) components, and replace them with the components of a fresh copy provided by the Mac OS X disc that shipped with your system, or a retail Mac OS X disc. Unfortunately, this means you will lose some system settings and some or all third-party system add-ons.
To begin the process, insert your Mac OS X CD or DVD, as indicated above. Restart your machine and hold down the "C" key to boot from the newly inserted disc. Follow the on-screen instructions, and after accepting the license agreement, click "Options." Select "Archive and Install," and check the "Preserve User and Network Settings" option if you'd like to do so.
After the installation process is complete, you will be left with an earlier Mac OS X system that (hopefully) does not suffer from the problems generated by the Security Update. Use Software Update or Apple's download page to download the update that brings your system to a state directly prior to the Security Update

HT2173 i get a flashing face and question mark when switching on, but computer stays on this screen?

help please I have two other Imacs and when I switch them on I get a flasing face and question mark come up in the middle of the screen, and they continue to flash with nothing else happening apart from a loud fan noice after a while?

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Should i get a flash drive or external drive to back up my computer?

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