Transfering video files to external hard drive

I'm trying to transfer videos off my macintosh HD and onto an external hard drive. Using cut and paste, and the drag and drop method. When using the drag and drop the OS pop up box says "could not be moved because "movie" cannot be modified". Also Videos within the hard drive cannot be moved. Anyone have any advice how I can get these files off my mac hard drive and into an external?
Thanks
Mike

Is this with any file or only with video files?

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How to move huge HD video files between external hard drives and defrag ext drive?

I have huge high definition video files on a 2TB external hard drive (and its clone). The external hard drive is maxed out. I would like to move many of the video files to a new 3TB external hard drive (G-drive, and a clone) and leave a sub-group of video files (1+ TB) on the original external hard drive (and its clone).
I am copying files from original external drive ("ext drive A") to new external drive ("ext drive B") via Carbon Copy Cloner (selecting iMovie event by event that I want to transfer). Just a note: I do not know how to partition or make bootable drives, I see suggestions with these steps in them.
My questions:
1.) I assume this transfer of files will create extreme fragmentation on drive A. Should I reformat/re-initialize ext drive A after moving the files I want? If so, how best to do this? Do I use "Erase" within Disk Utilities? Do I need to do anything else before transfering files back onto ext drive A from its clone?
2.) Do I also need to defrag if I reformat ext drive A? Do I defrag instead of or in addition to reformating? If so, how to do this? I've read on these forums so many warnings and heard too many stories of this going awry. Which 3rd party software to use?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions, tips, advice. This whole process makes me SO nervous.

Here is a very good writeup on de-fragging in the OS environment that I borrowed
From Klaus1:
Defragmentation in OS X:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1375 which states:
You probably won't need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X. Here's why:
Hard disk capacity is generally much greater now than a few years ago. With more free space available, the file system doesn't need to fill up every "nook and cranny." Mac OS Extended formatting (HFS Plus) avoids reusing space from deleted files as much as possible, to avoid prematurely filling small areas of recently-freed space.
Mac OS X 10.2 and later includes delayed allocation for Mac OS X Extended-formatted volumes. This allows a number of small allocations to be combined into a single large allocation in one area of the disk.
Fragmentation was often caused by continually appending data to existing files, especially with resource forks. With faster hard drives and better caching, as well as the new application packaging format, many applications simply rewrite the entire file each time. Mac OS X 10.3 onwards can also automatically defragment such slow-growing files. This process is sometimes known as "Hot-File-Adaptive-Clustering."
Aggressive read-ahead and write-behind caching means that minor fragmentation has less effect on perceived system performance.
Whilst 'defragging' OS X is rarely necessary, Rod Hagen has produced this excellent analysis of the situation which is worth reading:
Most users, as long as they leave plenty of free space available , and don't work regularly in situations where very large files are written and rewritten, are unlikely to notice the effects of fragmentation on either their files or on the drives free space much.
As the drive fills the situations becomes progressively more significant, however.
Some people will tell you that "OSX defrags your files anyway". This is only partly true. It defrags files that are less than 20 MB in size. It doesn't defrag larger files and it doesn't defrag the free space on the drive. In fact the method it uses to defrag the smaller files actually increases the extent of free space fragmentation. Eventually, in fact, once the largest free space fragments are down to less than 20 MB (not uncommon on a drive that has , say only 10% free space left) it begins to give up trying to defrag altogether. Despite this, the system copes very well without defragging as long as you have plenty of room.
Again, this doesn't matter much when the drive is half empty or better, but it does when it gets fullish, and it does especially when it gets fullish if you are regularly dealing with large files , like video or serious audio stuff.
If you look through this discussion board you will see quite a few complaints from people who find that their drive gets "slow". Often you will see that say that "still have 10 or 20 gigs free" or the like. On modern large drives by this stage they are usually in fact down to the point where the internal defragmentation routines can no longer operate , where their drives are working like navvies to keep up with finding space for any larger files, together with room for "scratch files", virtual memory, directories etc etc etc. Such users are operating in a zone where they put a lot more stress on their drives as a result, often start complaining of increased "heat", etc etc. Most obviously, though, the computer slows down to a speed not much better than that of molasses. Eventually the directories and other related files may collapse altogether and they find themselves with a next to unrecoverable disk problems.
By this time, of course, defragging itself has already become just about impossible. The amount of work required to shift the data into contiguous blocks is immense, puts additional stress on the drive, takes forever, etc etc. The extent of fragmentation of free space at this stage can be simply staggering, and any large files you subsequently write are likely to be divided into many , many tens of thousands of fragments scattered across the drive. Not only this, but things like the "extents files", which record where all the bits are located, will begin to grow astronomically as a result, putting even more pressure on your already stressed drive, and increasing the risk of major failures.
Ultimately this adds up to a situation where you can identify maybe three "phases" of mac life when it comes to the need for defragmentation.
In the "first phase" (with your drive less than half full), it doesn't matter much at all - probably not enough to even make it worth doing.
In the "second phase" (between , say 50% free space and 20% free space remaining) it becomes progressively more useful, but , depending on the use you put your computer to you won't see much difference at the higher levels of free space unless you are serious video buff who needs to keep their drives operating as efficiently and fast as possible - chances are they will be using fast external drives over FW800 or eSata to compliment their internal HD anyway.
At the lower end though (when boot drives get down around the 20% mark on , say, a 250 or 500 Gig drive) I certainly begin to see an impact on performance and stability when working with large image files, mapping software, and the like, especially those which rely on the use of their own "scratch" files, and especially in situations where I am using multiple applications simultaneously, if I haven't defragmented the drive for a while. For me, defragmenting (I use iDefrag too - it is the only third party app I trust for this after seeing people with problems using TechToolPro and Drive Genius for such things) gives a substantial performance boost in this sort of situation and improves operational stability. I usually try to get in first these days and defrag more regularly (about once a month) when the drive is down to 30% free space or lower.
Between 20% and 10% free space is a bit of a "doubtful region". Most people will still be able to defrag successfully in this sort of area, though the time taken and the risks associated increase as the free space declines. My own advice to people in this sort of area is that they start choosing their new , bigger HD, because they obviously are going to need one very soon, and try to "clear the decks" so that they maintain that 20% free buffer until they do. Defragging regularly (perhaps even once a fortnight) will actually benefit them substantially during this "phase", but maybe doing so will lull them into a false sense of security and keep them from seriously recognising that they need to be moving to a bigger HD!
Once they are down to that last ten per cent of free space, though, they are treading on glass. Free space fragmentation at least will already be a serious issue on their computers but if they try to defrag with a utility without first making substantially more space available then they may find it runs into problems or is so slow that they give up half way through and do the damage themselves, especially if they are using one of the less "forgiving" utilities!
In this case I think the best way to proceed is to clone the internal drive to a larger external with SuperDuper, replace the internal drive with a larger one and then clone back to it. No-one down to the last ten percent of their drive really has enough room to move. Defragging it will certainly speed it up, and may even save them from major problems briefly, but we all know that before too long they are going to be in the same situation again. Better to deal with the matter properly and replace the drive with something more akin to their real needs once this point is reached. Heck, big HDs are as cheap as chips these days! It is mad to struggle on with sluggish performance, instability, and the possible risk of losing the lot, in such a situation.

ITunes 11 won't import .mov video files from external hard drive but will from internal.

Hi Everyone
I'm having a problem with iTunes 11.0.1. I can't import .mov video files stored on an external hard drive. I can however import .m4v files from the same external drive. Using either the add to library option or dragging files from the finder.
I can add .mov files from the internal though. Strange I know.
The reason behind this posting is that I'm using iFlicks to convert my TV and movies from my external drive for Apple TV and add all relevent meta data, keeping the files on the external drive and having iTunes link to them.
I would like to be able to simply create a general iTune compatiable file using iFlicks which only takes a minute or two per file to convert. I'm currently converting them to .m4v just for the sack of being able to import them into iTunes from an external drive takes 45 minutes per file.
Has anybody else had this problem? Any ideas on a fix to allow me to import .mov files from an external drive into iTunes without copying it to the iTune library file.
Many Thanks
Dave

This might be worth a shot - basically seeing if Vista permissions could be the culprit.
Give yourself FULL control and ownership of the exHD, let's call it M:
How to Take Ownership and Grant Permissions in Windows Vista
Take control of the top level folder and ALL subfolders.
Try creating a new blank ITL file on M: by pressing *and holding* the shift key while itunes starts. See if you can add everything again.

How to save Flip video files to external hard drive (and need new vid camera rec)?

I am trying to back up my Flip videos from my MacBook OS X 10.5.8 on to my external hard drive. They will not drop & drag directly from the flipshare software and I did locate all the mp4 files in my finder under "All Videos" where I think I can copy them over but they are not organized by title or anything and I only want to back up the clips I've edited and the movies I've created, not all the raw footage.
I'm wondering if I'm going to have to import all of these files into iMovie in order to do this in a way that will be helpful? that seems like it will take forever since *I think* you have to do them one at a time and I have almost 2 years of footage of my kids...Is there a quick way to import video into iMovie?
Side bar, anyone know of a good video camera that is small & easy like Flip but not part of a phone? My flip has died & since Cisco is abandoning the brand, I need something new.
Thank you!

I am trying to back up my Flip videos from my MacBook OS X 10.5.8 on to my external hard drive. They will not drop & drag directly from the flipshare software and I did locate all the mp4 files in my finder under "All Videos" where I think I can copy them over but they are not organized by title or anything and I only want to back up the clips I've edited and the movies I've created, not all the raw footage.
I'm wondering if I'm going to have to import all of these files into iMovie in order to do this in a way that will be helpful? that seems like it will take forever since *I think* you have to do them one at a time and I have almost 2 years of footage of my kids...Is there a quick way to import video into iMovie?
Side bar, anyone know of a good video camera that is small & easy like Flip but not part of a phone? My flip has died & since Cisco is abandoning the brand, I need something new.
Thank you!

How to import video files from external hard drive?

I receive an error "You're trying to import a file from a DVD or Removable Media. Please use Video Importer for importing Videos..." however when I try this I still cannot import video files. This is extremely frustrating as we have 32 copies of this software and this is sarting to become a common issue. Please help and many thanks.
Attached is a screenshot...

jasonkmtr
Premiere Elements 12 Mac
A few more questions for now.
Taking your particular .avi files out of the equation, can you import any other format from Add Media/Files and Folders pointed to this external hard drive? What is the format of the external hard drive? NTFS or FAT32?
It is my recollection that AVCHD.avi has always been reported as highly problematic. Yet you seem to be saying that you have no problem importing them in to the project from the desktop with the program's Add Media/Files and Folders/Project Assets to Expert workspace Timeline.
Did you purchase your Premiere Elements 12 from the Mac App Store or from Adobe? If Mac Store, what do you have Adobe Premiere Elements Editor or Adobe Premiere Elements Quick Editor or some variation thereof?
You wrote
A number of users are experiencing this issue - they connect their hard drive, load Elements, start a new project and go to add media (from the ext hard drive) using the files and folders option.
Could you supply more information on this via link(s) which have reported this issue.
Thanks.
ATR

How do you move video files from external hard drive?

I moved video files that were originally from Flip Video recorder and uploaded to my Macbook to an external hard drive to save space. However, I can't seem to figure out how to get them back onto my computer, so I can start burning DVDs. I tried dragging and dropping, but that doesn't seem to work. Please help!!

Copy /Home/Pictures/iPhoto Library to your external drive. Delete the one on your internal drive. Now create an alias to the iPhoto Library's new location and put the alias in the original location. Be sure the alias is named "iPhoto Library".

Itunes with 10.3x not transferring large files to external hard drive

I have been unable to transfer any large files, basically anything over over two artists or so from old external hard drive for my old windows xp computer to my new external hard drive (both iomega and western digital have been tried) without the transfer cutting out and popping up a message to effect of itunes can not copy or add file to folder...something like that. am i missing something that i need to be doing? ive got about 33,000 items, and the thought of doing them 10-15 at a time really isn't something i want to do. But as of this point, i can't find a way to simply xfer the whole itunes library from the old external to the new one. Thanks for any help.

You can transfer purchased content ONLY! Unfortunately, you have no choice as to what gets transferred. Here are some work arounds
1. Delete off iPod Touch/iPhone/iPod then transfer
2. Transfer all content then delete from computer

Transferring MP4 Files to External Hard Drive

I have a MacBook Pro and would like to transfer all of my MP4 movie files to my External Hard Drive, then trash the MP4 files on my laptop so I can free up space on my laptop. How can I do this safely?

That will only happen if you are creating aliases to the files. It will not happen if you are copying the files themselves. Here's an example of an alias icon:
Notice the curved arrow in the lower left corner? That's the indicator an icon is an alias. You will know the difference by looking at what you have copied. Or you can use a backup utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.5 to backup the originals to the external backup drive.
To be sure just drag those files to the Trash, but do not Empty the Trash. Check to be sure you can open the files on the external drive. If so then you can Empty the Trash.

Transferring iTunes files to external hard drive - now iTunes can't find them

I believe I have really effed up my iTunes library. My basic question is once the links in iTunes have been broken are there only two ways to get them back (one being going through every title and locating it on the drive vs two starting fresh and copying all the song files into iTunes and recreating all the play lists).
I have over 10,000 titles accumulated over many years and sorted into a couple dozen playlists to keep track of each family member's music on various pods / phones etc. I was running out of internal hard drive space so I tried moving the files over to an external drive in order to free up the internal drive. I thought I was following the instructions correctly, but something has gone horribly wrong. I'll try to take you through the steps as best as I can.
I had changed the iTunes preferences to show the external drive, and when importing new songs they were stored on that external drive. I thought everything was working fine as all the files showed in the Finder on the external srive so I deleted the files from the internal drive. Of course this was the wrong thing to do as at that point iTunes could only locate the newly imported files and none of the old ones.
So I began to panic and searched the support and communities and tried a number of things that were recommended including copying the files back to the same spot on the internal drive, changing the preferences, and I also tried consolidating the files under the File / Library / Consolidate FIles. This made another folder in the iTunes folder called music (my previous folder was called iTunes music inside the iTunes folder). I have tried these steps on both the internal drive as well as the external drive. So now on either drive, iTunes will reconzie maybe 20-25% of the files. I think these 25% have been moved to the new folder iTunes and the file number has a 1 appended to the end. So now for each file I have 2 to 4 copies. One copy is in the Itunes music folder on the internal drive. A second copy is in the iTunes music folder on the external drive. I believe that iTunes cannot find either of these ones. The third copy with a 1 appended is in the Music folder on the internal drive and the fourth copy (also with a 1 appended) is in the Music folder on the external drive and as I said I think iTunes "sees" these files.
So my question is, is there only two ways to fix this (both of which are incredibly time consuming) - one to point each unknown file to the external drive (about 8,000 files at least to do), or the other is to start from nothing and drag all the music files in and recreate the playlists (I think this would be more work since some of the songs were on multiple playlists). Is there nothing else other than a month of solid work in front of me!?!

just download one of the following apps which will solve your problem of converting videos as this apps plays almost every video files, first 2 apps are paid ones
GOOD player (very good)
AV player
VLC player (free in tunes)

Transferring Video from an external hard drive onto a mac pro via USB

Hi,
I am planning to buy a Mac Pro in the next couple of weeks, mainly for video editing. Can i trasfer video files onto my mac via usb, or can it only be via Firewire? Also what formats will it accept? I was planning on using AVI or MPEG2

Can i trasfer video files onto my mac via usb, or can it only be via Firewire?
If you mean copying or moving files using the Finder, there is no problem at all.
But if you mean capturing or editing video while media files are stored on an external disk, than Firewire is the right choice, since USB doesn't guarantee sustained throughput (I use USB disks to backup video files, and FW disks to capture/edit video).
Since I guess you'll be using either iMovie or +Final Cut+, the format will be either DV Stream in .dv files for iMovie or .mov (with DV codecs for video and linear PCM for audio) for FCE/FCP. At the end of your editing process you can always convert to AVI or export to a DVD authoring application (e.g. iDVD) that will compress to MPEG2 before burning.
Piero

I have purchased itunes tv series, movies and music and have transferred them onto an external hard drive and tried to play them on my tv on a media hub. The file will not load. Is there some form of blocking by itunes or another p[roblem and how d

I have purchased itunes tv series, movies and music and have transferred them onto an external hard drive and tried to play them on my tv on a media hub. The file will not load. Is there some form of blocking by itunes or another p[roblem and how do I fix it?

You can't fix it. iTunes bought content is DRM protected. so it can only be played on authorized devices. i.e devices associated with the apple Id used to purchase the content. Its copyright protection that the rights owners demand.
Circumventing it, is illegal in most countries, and as such cannot be discussed here. If you want to play the content you'll need to connect your computer directly to your TV, or use some other device you can authorize for iTunes content such as an iPad, iPhone , iPod touch or Apple Tv.

Got a new external hard drive. Transferred all files from old hard drive to new hard drive. Connected hard drive to macbook. How do I get all my files to be recognized by iTunes and my already made playlists??

Got a new external hard drive. Transferred all files from old hard drive to new hard drive. Connected hard drive to macbook. How do I get all my files to be recognized by iTunes and my already made playlists??

Trying to download photos from IPHONE, IPAD to IPHOTO in IMAC after installing new hard drive.
How did you import the photos to iPad and iPhone?
If the photos have been synced to the iPhone and iPad using iTunes, you cannot sync them back.
See this document: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4236
You can't reimport pictures synced from your computer to your device back to your computer. You can only import pictures in the Camera Roll or Saved Photos from your device to your computer. If you need to retrieve synced photos from your device:
If your photos are not in the Camera Roll on your devices, save them to the Camera Roll, share them to the Photo Stream, mail the photos, or, if you have iPhoto on the devices, use iTunes Photo Sharing.
http://help.apple.com/iphoto/iphone/2.0/?handbuch#blnkee26bc1
Save photos to your computer using iTunes
Connect your iOS device to your computer.
Tap a photo, album, event, web journal, or slideshow and tap Share> iTunes.
Tap Selected, or change the photos you want to save (if you are saving a slideshow skip to step 4):
Select different photos: Tap Choose Photos, tap one or more photos, and tap Next.
Select a range of photos: Tap Choose Photos, tap Range, tap the first and last photos in the range, and tap Next.
Select all the photos in an album or event: Tap All.
In iTunes, click the button for your device and click Apps at the top of the window.
Below File Sharing, select iPhoto (in Apps).
Select the Shared Photos folder under iPhoto Documents.
Click Save To and select the location on your computer where you want to save the items.
To view your photos, go to the Finder and look in the location you selected above.

When I download videos (from an external hard drive), they appear to be downloaded (file sizes look correct) but they all stop playing a few minutes in!

When I download videos (from an external hard drive), they appear to be downloaded (file sizes look correct) but they all stop playing a few minutes in!

Try the following in the terminal
ls -alh filename
du -chs filename
And what happens if you play the files directly of the external drive?

My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive

My mac air says hard drive full and 90% is full of 'other' which I cant work out what 'other' is as i Have transferred most to my external hard drive.
Do you know how I can tell how large each file is taking up and what my 'other' category could be?
thanks

Initial easy steps to gain disk space:
- Delete all files in the Downloads folder.
Empty the Trash.
- Start iPhoto.
Empty its trash.
Restart.
Backup:
Run a Time Machine (or other) backup since you are about to delete and move files and you may need to recover from any inadvertent mistakes or decisions. You will need one external hard drive for your Time Machine (or other) backup and a second if you plan to offload some files. (See suggestions for where to purchase hard drives at the end of this message.)
For more about backups:
Time Machine Basics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Most commonly used backup methods:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6031
Deleting files:
Then use the free application OmniDiskSweeper http://www.omnigroup.com/more to explore your volume in descending order by size so you can attack the problem from the top down, deleting the largest unwanted files first. Delete with caution and do not delete any system files. Remember to empty the trash after trashing the files.
Additional reference on freeing disk space:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
Offloading files:
Consider moving some of the no-often-used large files or directories to an external disk. Use ODS again to find them. This will be at least your second hard drive. Your first one(s) is/are for your Time Machine (or other) backup(s). Do not offload files onto a Time Machine disk.
Format the second drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled). Using OWS to find large files/folders and copy them from the system drive to the external hard drive and delete them from your internal drive.
Then  > System Preferences > Time Machine > Options… > Remove the offload HD name from the exclusions list.
Now both your system disk and your external offload disk will be backed up onto your Time Machine disk.
From: http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/freeingspace.html
To move your iTunes Music folder to another disk or partition:
To change the location of your iTunes Music folder, carefully follow the instructions in the AppleCare® Knowledge Base document "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Music folder."Additional information can be found in iTunes Help.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.thexlab.com/105/ 00000849.html
Laptop users may want to consider having two iTunes libraries: a small library of current favorites on their computer, while their complete library resides on an external hard drive. Utilities like iTunes Library Manager enable you to easily have multiple iTunes libraries you can use with your account. https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7689/itunes-library-manager
To move your iPhoto Library folder to another disk or partition:
To move the iPhoto Library folder to a new location, employ the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document from http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506 corresponding to the version of iPhoto you are using. Additional information can be found in iPhoto Help.
Laptop users may want to consider having two iPhoto libraries: a small library of current, favorite photographs on their computer, while their complete library, or archives of older photos are saved on an external hard drive. Utilities such as iPhoto Buddy and iPhoto Library Manager enable you to have multiple iPhoto libraries that you can use with your account.
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12175/iphoto-buddy
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7158/iphoto-library-manager
Hardware — Bigger disk/SSD:
OWC sells 120, 240 and 480 GB SSD upgrades for MacBook Airs. A 240 GB upgrade costs $265. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/ . If your Mac is under warranty or AppleCare replacing the SSD will void the warranty.

Will Time Machine delete files on external hard drive?

I have all my itunes music and videos on my external hard drive. Will Time Machine delete these files. The hard drive is already formatted for mac.

Note from Time Machine Help files:
Time Machine works best if you use your backup disk only for Time Machine backups. If you keep files on your backup disk, Time Machine won’t back up those files, and the space available for Time Machine backups will be reduced.
So it will not overwrite the files but it also will not back them up.

Transfering video files to external hard drive

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