Using external HD in addition to internal HD

I have an iMac that has a 30 GB HD, and I wanted to upgrade to 10.5, but there wasn't enough room on the existing HD. So I bought an external HD to use in conjunction with the HD on the iBook. I can't seem to figure out how to shift things over to that external HD so I can clear some space off the internal HD to do the OS update. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
Russ

What might be best is to figure out what is taking up all the space first, then look at moving items to the external drive.
The iTunes library can be moved to the external drive, as can the iPhoto library if either of those is several GB in size.
You can use the program OmniDiskSweeper to get a look at the size of folders. It's designed more for file deletion, but it will give you a good idea for what you could move and/or delete.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/8667
If you need help, ask away!
~Lyssa

Similar Messages

HT201250 how do I disable time machine? I want to use my external drive as additional storage. But it mirrors everything I edit. If I remove a document, it removes it from the external drive as well.

how do I disable time machine? I want to use my external drive as additional storage. But it mirrors everything I edit. If I remove a document, it removes it from the external drive as well.
I purchased a 1 TB WD passport drive, formatted for Mac. I set it up originally (mistakenly) to backup time machine. I went back and set it to "do not backup" It still backs up evey document I edit. If I add a document when the drive is disconnected, it automatically adds it to the external drive the next time connect to the passport drive. If I remove a document the same thing happens.
I need additional storage to free up space on my laptop hard drive. This is not working the way I want it to. Help!

Do not backup your startup volume to another partition on the same drive. If the drive fails you have nothing. Always backup to another drive or volume on another drive.
The I/O error usually means there's a problem with the drive. Clone ASAP, then repartition and reformat the main drive. Then restore the clone. Here's the basic process:
You will have to backup your OS X partition to an external drive, boot from the external drive, use Disk Utility to repartition and reformat your hard drive back to a single volume, then restore your backup to the internal hard drive.
Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the external one.
Boot from the external hard drive.
Erase the internal hard drive.
Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
Clone the internal drive to the external drive
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After startup do the following:
Erase internal hard drive
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your internal hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Do not quit Disk Utility.
Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.

I used an external micophone and now the internal micophones can not be used

I used an external micophone and now the internal micophones can not be found or re-activated. Envy I7 17" win 8.1. When the new headphones installed software I saw a flash that it was uninstalling the internal micophone array. I was not given a choice and now I can't get the internal microphones back on reguardless of what I try...
I have a newer HP Envy Notebook running Win 8.1 and is a I7 with toch screen. I have not tried any restore options but I have already loaded a lot of software, Outlook, Adobe CS6 etc.

Hi Kenn62135,
I see that you are looking to reinstall your internal mic. I will be happy to help you. I will need some additional information, as there are several different versions of Envy 17, what is your product number?
Find your product number on a notebook:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c00033108
Thank you,
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue.
Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!
Thank you,
BHK6
I work on behalf of HP

I am using external drive for iTunes why does it put art on internal

I have my itunes library on an external drive which works quite well for the most part. However it keeps recreating an itunes folder and subfolders on my internal drive mainly artwork and .itdb, .itl and .xml files in user/music/itunes. this is quite annoying because I am trying to keep as much data as possible off my internal drive for space considerations. I have tried deleting these files but itunes just recreates them. Does anyone have any ideas?

pharmercist wrote:
Solved the problem. When I initially moved itunes to the external drive I copied the entire iTunes folder and seleted the appropriate library drive in preferences
This is not the correct way to do it.
This still uses the iTunes folder on the internal for the iTunes library file, artwork etc.
Holding Option and Choose library... tells iTunes to use everything in the iTunes folder you select.
Holding Option and Choose library... you do not need to change the Tunes prefs > Advance - iTunes media folder location.

I have a Mac pro(1 free bay) and a mac mini I need to back both of them Is it better to use an external NAS HD or an internal hard drive on my mac pro (mid 2010) What option has the faster GB/s?

I have a Mac pro(1 free bay) and a mac mini I need to back up both of them (time machine) Is it better to use an external NAS HD or an internal hard drive on my mac pro (mid 2010)
What option has the faster GB/s?

Disk drive using native SATA bus interface will allow the drive to copy and always present and ready.
But once you have backup any hourly changes should be smaller and as long as the NAS and your switch should allow enough.
You should always have off line backups and don't rely on just one backup set or just TimeMachine.
WD RED models are designed for RAID and NAS and 7.2k instead of your more standard slower green 5400 rpm green models while still costing less than WD Blacks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JJLW4M/
How to clone your system:
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone-backup.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-HowToClone.html
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
Using Cloning as a Backup Strategy
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
http://www.bombich.com/software/updates/ccc-3.5.html
Clone to internal, TimeMachine to NAS is one way to go at it.

Turning off internal monitor while using external one

Hello, Apple Support Communities.
Before OSX Lion, anyone could turn off internal monitor while using external one, by waking up computer with lid closed, and the internal monitor will be kept turned off. But now, -I wonder what made Apple to think this way- Lion will turn on the internal one back on.
I don't care about all sorts of reasons why should I or shouldn't I desire to this. I just want it, because I have nice big monitor, which is apparently bigger than my Macbook Pro. Besides using double monitor will just exhaust my poor laptop. -mine is bit old-
I found ridicoulus answer from community, saying I should try fridge magnet. Sorry, but I don't want risk my whole computer, especially my HDD from getting magnetic damage. It happened so many times, -thanks my little bro- so now I am sick of magnet. I don't think Apple will cover this AKA magnetic damage anyway. -It wouldn't just damage, just erase your HDD-
So.... Any helpful insights? Thanks.

Nevermind. I found solution. Though it cost me 24 bucks.
Now Apple is seriously making me to consider to roll back to sucking Windows.
Thanks Jobs!

[svn] 1590: Updating WebService RPC tests that previously used external endpoints at whitemesa . net to now use internal endpoints accessed through Tomcat server on localhost :8400/qa-regress/axis/services/{SERVICE_NAME}?wsdl

Revision: 1590
Author: [email protected]
Date: 2008-05-07 08:49:22 -0700 (Wed, 07 May 2008)
Log Message:
Updating WebService RPC tests that previously used external endpoints at whitemesa.net to now use internal endpoints accessed through Tomcat server on localhost:8400/qa-regress/axis/services/{SERVICE_NAME}?wsdl
Endpoints built from Axis SOAPBuilder tests in Perforce's /depot/axis/xml-axis/java/tests/
Modified Paths:
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/WEB-INF/server-config.wsdd
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/WEB-INF/web.xml
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/testsuites/flexunit/src/tests/flexunit/wscl/int erop/SOAPBuilderRound3Import1_WhiteMesaTest.as
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/testsuites/flexunit/src/tests/flexunit/wscl/int erop/SOAPBuilderRound3Import3_WhiteMesaTest.as
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/testsuites/flexunit/src/tests/flexunit/wscl/int erop/SOAPBuilderRound3RPCEncoded.as
Added Paths:
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/WEB-INF/lib/
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/WEB-INF/lib/javax_mail.jar
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/WEB-INF/lib/qa-services-wm.jar
blazeds/branches/3.0.x/qa/apps/qa-regress/testsuites/flexunit/src/tests/flexunit/wscl/int erop/SOAPBuilderRound3Compound1.as

Prob creating ABAP Proxy-Interface use external and interna msg definition

Hi,
I've created a service interface using external definition (message type for request and response), imported via WSDL file. However, while creating ABAP proxy in SPROXY, it gave the error message "Interface uses external and internal message definition". I searched through the forum, the questions were raised but no definite answer was found. Is it not possible to generate a proxy if there is any external definition used?
Details of the error message:
Message no. SPRX122
Diagnosis
In a message interface you can use messages from different sources:
Message types and fault message types edited in the Enterprise Services Repository
Messages imported into the Enterprise Services Repository (external definitions, RFC, IDoc)
In the current message interface, message types from different sources have been used. Since messages from these different sources must be handled differently during proxy generation, such a mixture of messages within a message interface is not possible.
System Response
The interface cannot be generated.
Procedure
Change the interface definition accordingly in the Enterprise Services Repository.
p/s: My external definition is actually derived from a ABAP FM web service. The reason why i used external definition is that i try to avoid the tedious steps of hard-coding all the data types for the request and response message types.
Any help would be highly appreciated.
- julius

Hi Arvind,
For technical reasons, proxy generation and the respective editors in the Integration Builder do not support the entire language range of XML schema and WSDL. For an overview of which language elements are supported, see the Excel spreadsheet in the SAP Service Marketplace at service.sap.com/xi ® Media Library ® Documentation: SAP XI 3.0 (SP11) u2013 Supported XML Schema and WSDL (EN).
I couldnt find the above document in the service market place. Any hint to find it?
Thanks.
- julius

Internally installed Outlook 2010 prompts for password using external smtp email as user id

Hi,
After exchange 2007 to exchange 2013 migration all internally connected outlooks 2010 (xp, vista, win7, win8) prompt for password using external email user address as user id.
Below some of my settings and informations.
Internal domain: contoso.local
External domain: contoso.com
Exchange is NOT published to Internet at all.
Internally OWA, ECP runs OK.
Test-OutlookWebservices with user.name(at)contoso.local or contoso\user.name - runs OK
Test-OutlookWebservices with user.name(at)contoso.com - fails
Common scenario - (all happens internally):
1.User starts Outlook
2.Outlook prompts for password with default user.name(at)contoso.com as id
- while user tries to authenticate using his domain password - outlook re-prompts
- while user changes id from user.name(at)contoso.com to user.name(at)contoso.local or contoso\user.name and authenticates - Outlook connets to exchange and till next Outlook it runs ok.
I am bus with that issue since 1 week and I am already bit tired. I was looking for answer via gogle/bing and went through tons of "Outlook perpetually prompts for password" threads and blogs. No success.
Do you have any clue where else start to play with that?

Hi,
Thank you for answer - no luck
>NExt og to Connection tab - Exchange Proxy settings - Proxy authentication settings - is it set
>to NTLM or Basic?Give it a try on one of them.(if set to NTLM change to basic and vise versa).
On both settings the same results - Outlook is prompting for password.
>Another thing you could try is og to Internet Explorer - tool -internet options- Security - click local
>intranet - >custom Level and scroll Down to bottom and put check mark on automaticly logon
>With current username >and password.
>Do this on Trusted sites as well,if Your domain is listed under trusted sites
The same results - Outlook isprompting for password.
Should not be some kind of mapping set somehow in AD between user.name(at)contoso.com and user.name(at)contoso.local?
I have impresion that issue is somewhere in the fact that outlook is trying to connect using contoso.com instead of contoso.local in ntlm credentials.

Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) using external HD - speed USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA - what are relative speeds - how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)_

    Hi All,
     I'm trying to resume regular scheduled Full backup ( ~ 1 TB ) of drives using external HD (to allow off-site redundant backup storage) .
     What are relative speeds of USB vs. Firewire vs. eSATA ?
     I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Thanks

Jim Bogy wrote:
...I suspect eSATA connection may be considerably faster … how to install eSATA on mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop ( dual hex-core processors)?
      ( The quicker and easier backup protocol is, the more likely one is to use it to backup on a routine repetitive basis.)
Adding a USB 3.0+eSATA PCIe card, which The hatter mentions, is the best solution that I've found. See http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/. The card is not cheap, but the USB 3.0 works flawlessly (which can't be assumed; ask me how I know) and the eSATA connection allows booting from the connected drive. Grant Bennet-Alder's point about HD speed is important to consider; in addition, the size of the individual files being backed up and where on the backup disk they're going will affect overall transfer speed. For example, using the USB 3.0 connection on that CalDigit card going to a Toshiba 3TB external, the transfer rate for a big file (say a virtual machine file) from an internal SSD boot drive was about 145 MB/sec while a bunch of little files might drop to 30 MB/sec and both rates decrease as an inner partition on the external is used. All told, a nearly 700 GB backup took under 1.5 hours. Using a HD as the source added almost an extra hour, though a WD external was used for that. Using a WD green drive plugged into this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/FWU3ES2HDK/ with an eSATA connection took about 2.5 hours also, but that was bootable whereas the USB 3.0 connection is not.
Another point to consider is that USB 3.0 is ubiquitous on PC's now so there's lots of price competition for externals; not so much for eSATA externals.

Can the G4 accommodate external drives in addition to the 2 ATA internals?

Hi all,
I have a G4 dual 1GHz machine (Sales Order Number: M8667LL/A) with two 120 ATA internal drives. I am happy with them but I want to have more HD space. I read Apple's pdf file on G4's capacity and seems to indicate that this tower only will accommodate either two ATA drives or 3 SCSI drives internally. Since I already have the 120 ATA internal, I think I need to hook up external drives. Is this technically feasible? Will my machine accommodate external drives in addition to the internals? And if so, what if any are there limitations on the size? Also, I read a thread debate between USB 2.0 and firewire. It seems that the poster recommends firewire for being technically faster. Would you recommend also?

Hi, Speed Racer -
Your G4 QuickSilver '02 model is designed to have up to four internal ATA hard drives - two in the rear position on the two-drive bracket (sled), and one each in the other two positions. However, in order to use more than two internal hard drives you will need to add a PCI controller card in order to have a bus connection for the additional drives.
Using an ATA/100 or ATA/133 card, one which is 48-bit LBA compliant, will also allow you to use drives larger than 128GB on that card.
You can also use an SATA (Serial ATA) card instead, and SATA drives. The advantage of this is that newer Macs use SATA drives, so the drives would be more likely to be usable on a new machine if and when you get one. SATA also does not have the 128GB limit.
As far as external drives go -
The 128GB limit does not apply to firewire or USB.
Although your machine is both firewire bootable and USB bootable, your machine has USB 1.1, which is far too slow for most things, especially for booting. You should consider firewire only.
You can daisy-chain several firewire devices together - up to 16 devices per firewire port.
Although the specs for firewire on Macs state that the first two devices in a chain can draw power from the firewire bus, it is better to equip all firewire devices with external power - this may be standard with a device, or an optional extra. Doing this relieves the power supply in the Mac from the burden of providing power to the devices.
Note - one of the advantages for having firewire drives is that they are hot-connectable (can be added or removed without shutting down the Mac), hence are very portable. However, disconnecting a firewire drive while it is still mounted on the desktop can damage the drive. Before disconnecting a firewire drive, either shut the Mac down, or dismount the drive - to dismount a firewire drive, either drag its icon to the Trash, or select its icon and press Command-Y (Put Away in File menu); once it has been dismounted (its icon has disappeared from the desktop), it can be disconnected without damage.

Using external firewire iSight with iMovie 8

I'm trying to use my old external iSight camera that I purchased for my old powerbook with iMovie, but only the internal iSight camera is showing in the drop down menu.
When I plug in my external iSight camera it will make the lens adjusting noise and the light will come up briefly.
Is there any way I can get that external iSight camera to work with iMovie 8?

You're welcome, adamrod
... My computer is not recognizing the external iSight camera ... I know the iSight works because I tested it on my old G4.
If you mean that TODAY your iSight works with one of your Macs but not the other, the problem is in your newer Mac, its Firewire or Firewire port connection, or the cable you are using with it.
A properly working iSight will be recognized as a Firewire device as shown in this image:
If your test with your old G4 was long ago, your iSight may have failed since last you used it. In addition to the Apple iSight troubleshooting link I posted earlier, you can use the additional suggestions in this link to test the current functionality of your external iSight:
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage4.html
One of those suggestions will get a faulty external iSight working unless it is beyond repair.
The only app I know to try it with would be iChat and I don't even see anywhere in the preferences where you could change it from built-in iSight to external.
The camera choices bar will show ONLY if more than one working, iChat-compatible, camera is connected. If the choice does not show, iChat is not recognizing more than one working camera.
Different apps use different methods of camera selection. In iChat, you can choose which iSight you use in the "Camera:" choices bar in iChat > Preferences... > Audio/Video that appears when more than one (working) compatible camera is connected. Although your camera choices will be different, the choices bar will look something similar to the Preferences settings shown here:
Most other applications also have settings that allow you to choose which camera to use. You already know that iMovie 7's camera choice is NOT set via Preferences. When you have more than one (working) compatible camera connected, iMovie uses the drop-down menu choice in the camera "Preview" window that I mentioned in my previous post to you.
For apps other than those above, see their Help or other documentation if you need help with selecting which camera the app will use.
When I plug the iSight the light comes on briefly, goes off and then it makes an auto adjusting noise.
This is normal behavior for external iSight.
What does your external iSight do when you plug it in?
The same thing you describe for yours.
Does the light stay on constantly?
Only when the iSight is actually in use. Otherwise, the light goes out on an external iSight that is working correctly but in standby mode.
The light should NOT be illuminated when no apps that can use iSight are running. Likewise, the iSight green lamp should extinguish when iSight is not actually being used by an app. Specific examples:
iChat connected but not in chat: *iSight light OFF*
iChat connected and in video chat: *iSight light ON*
iChat > Video > Video Preview w/iSight shutter open: *iSight light ON*
iMovie open but no capture Preview window open: *iSight light OFF*
iMovie Preview window open (whether capturing or not): *iSight light ON*
Because the light is merely an indicator that iSight is in use rather than any kind of functional necessity, whether the iSight light is on or off has never been of any serious concern to me.
Is there any other app I should try it with?
You can use any you like. There are suggestions in the Apple Troubleshooting link listed earlier, and there are more in this list:
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage7.html
EZ Jim
G5 DP 1.8GHz w/Mac OS X (10.5.8) PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11) iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9) External iSight

Error while using External Table

Hi Guru's,
I am using external tables in my procedure and the code to create it will be dynamically built inside the procedure itself. I have tested it so many times and it works fine only. But suddenly now it is throwing some error and i was not able to figure out the problem.
Additional Info:
1. I have provided the full rights to the input directory.
2. Working in Oracle 10g release 2
3. Unix OS in server
4. Error description:
<< UK_TRADINGDATA_LOAD >> ABEND : <<ABEND SYS-000 >> uncatched ORACLE-error : ORA-29913: error in executing ODCIEXTTABLEOPEN callout
ORA-29400: data cartridge error
KUP-04040: file EXTRACTION COMPLETED in EXT_UK_TRADINGDATA not found
           v_ac_sql:='CREATE TABLE VLDPROCESS'||gv_ac_schema_suffix||'.EXT_UK_TRAD_'||gv_ac_machineid ||'_'||gv_ac_retailer_id||'_ADHOC'||CHR(10)
                        ||'( AC_RETAILER_ID       VARCHAR2(2 BYTE),'||CHR(10)
                        ||'AC_DEPARTMENT_CD     VARCHAR2(20 BYTE),'||CHR(10)
                        ||'NC_PERIOD_FROM       NUMBER,'||CHR(10)
                        ||'NC_PERIOD_TO       NUMBER'||CHR(10)
                        ||')'||CHR(10)
                        ||'ORGANIZATION EXTERNAL'||CHR(10)
                        ||'(TYPE ORACLE_LOADER'||CHR(10)
                        ||'DEFAULT DIRECTORY EXT_UK_TRADINGDATA'||CHR(10)
                        ||'ACCESS PARAMETERS'||CHR(10)
                        ||'(RECORDS DELIMITED BY NEWLINE'||CHR(10)
                        ||'badfile     '''||v_ac_failed_files||'.bad'''||CHR(10)
                        ||'discardfile '''||v_ac_failed_files||'.dis'''||CHR(10)
                        ||'logfile     '''||v_ac_failed_files||'.log'''||CHR(10)
                        ||'FIELDS'||CHR(10)
                        ||'('||CHR(10)
                        ||'AC_RETAILER_ID   position( 1: 2) char( 2),'||CHR(10)
                        ||'AC_DEPARTMENT_CD position( 3:22) char(20),'||CHR(10)
                        ||'NC_PERIOD_FROM   position(23:29) char( 7),'||CHR(10)
                        ||'NC_PERIOD_TO     position(30:36) char( 7)'||CHR(10)
                        ||')'||CHR(10)
                        ||')'||CHR(10)
                        ||'LOCATION ('''||v_ac_file_name ||''')'||CHR(10)
                        ||')'||CHR(10)
                        ||'REJECT LIMIT 100'||CHR(10)
                        ||'NOPARALLEL'||CHR(10)
                        ||'NOMONITORING';
           EXECUTE IMMEDIATE v_ac_sql; Kindly help me!
With Regards,
VJ

Sometimes when troubleshooting issues like this it is helpful to output the dynamic SQL generated to the screen or spool it to a text file. From there it's usually easy to determine where the problem lies.
If you can provide that one of the forum members can figure it out.

Installing Windows XP on Lion using external DVD drive

Hi, this is my first time posting on a forum at all, so just keep that in mind when dealing with me.
I have recently attempted to install Windows XP by partitioning my drive using the disk utility (seeing as Bootcamp no longer supports Windows XP installations). The problems start when I boot from the installation disk; an error "no bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key" occurs. I am inclined to believe that this is due to me using an external DVD drive when doing all of this. I am using an external DVD drive because my internal DVD drive has been spoilt and is no longer useable.
Does anyone have a solution for me? It seems that it is not possible to install windows using an external DVD drive.

I am doing this after doing a full wipe of my hard drive and reinstalling lion.
Previously, I had lion, and made a partition using disk utility and booted from the disk (this time it was from my Mac's SuperDrive which was functioning perfectly at this point in time) and finished the installation completely fine. I then used the drivers that were in my Snow Leopard DVD (I have a Snow Leopard DVD from a previous Mac I purchased).
The only difference between then and now is that I am using an external DVD drive.

My final cut is running extremely slow after having for 6 months. I use external hard drives and save nothing on my computer. it takes a long time to render now. do you think something is wrong with computer. took it to mac store but they fail to help

my final cut is running extremely slow after having for 6 months. I use external hard drives and save nothing on my computer. it takes a long time to render now. do you think something is wrong with computer. took it to mac store but they fail to help me. I have a 13 inch mac book pro 10.6.8 8gb 2.3 gfz intel core i5

What did Apple tell you about what they did (or did not) find here?
See if working on the main disk is any faster.
USB2 is glacial, as I/O interconnects go. And USB2 disks have been known to fail, or sometimes to drop back to USB1 speeds, too. FireWire 800 is substantially faster than USB2, but still not as fast as the internal drive connections can provide.
Put another way, start varying your configuration, and see which configuration changes (still) have the problem, and which don't.

Using external HD in addition to internal HD

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