What should I put on an external hard drive?

So I have a 13" Macbook Air with a 128 GB SSD. I installed a few games and I'm now at half full. I wanted to install WoW today (I know macs aren't meant for gaming) but seeing how it takes up 20GB, I decided against it.
Now I want to get an external hard drive to put any excess stuff on there so I can free up my SSD space and install WoW and SC2.
What should I put on my external hard drive? How would I go about putting the stuff on there? Obviously it'll load slower but for example I'd put photos and music.
Can you run games from an external drive? I know it'd be best if I just left the games on the SSD for the load time and to not have any lag but I'm just wondering.
Can you run programs such as iTunes from an HDD?
Finally, can make a windows partition on the SSD and put all my windows stuff on the same HDD that I'd use for my OSX?

Yep:
http://www.cultofmac.com/172491/move-your-iphoto-library-to-an-external-drive-to -save-space-os-x-tips/

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What should i do if my external hard drive is not detected by my mac

what should i do if my external hard drive is not detected by my mac?
need to have the files saved on it and be able to backup via time machine

Hi:
Here are some of the options I've read about on here that may or may not work:
1. Reset the NVRAM as it may need to be reset to recognize the drive. See below:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
2. If the drive is a USB drive, put a USB hub between the drive and the unit. As ridiculous as that may sound in some cases it works.
3. If you have some types of hardware problems and want to test them this works:
http://scsc-online.com/Scannerz.html
That's a test tool only. It isn't going to fix anything just diagnose a bunch of possible hardware problems and it costs money, too.
What format is the drive in? Is it a Mac native format like HFS or is it some other format, like NTFS or FAT?

What should I format my wd external hard drive to to use with my new Mac Pro?

What format should my wd external hard drive be in order to use with my new Mac Pro?

If you're going to use it only with Macs, use Mac OS Extended (Journaled). It's the fastest filesystem to use on Macs.
If you're going to use it with PCs and Macs, use exFAT or FAT. I recommend exFAT because it hasn't got limitations as FAT and it's faster, but you need Windows XP Service Pack 3 or later to use it on PCs

Advice on what might be the best networked external hard drive to create my own cloud storage?

Anyone have any advice on what might be the best networked external hard drive to create my own cloud storage? That way I can have access to all my stored files, songs, pictures and most of all movies on lets say my laptop or iPad. Since there is not very much storage on the iPad. I want to be able to access my hundreds of movies that I have from in my home on my network or away from my home as long as I have an internet connection. I know there is a Seagate one and a Western digital one, does anyone else know of any others or have any advice on which is the best? A plus would be for an external storage device that I would be able to access my movies through my apple to tv? Please help been looking for almost a year and cant make up my mind on what product to buy for what I am trying to do and create my own personal cloud storage.

SM66 wrote:
Or, I might have to do the old technique of using the Pen Tool in Illustrator and tracing over the filligree.
That's probably what I would do. If you're not well-practiced in Illustrator, this will be a good exercise. Just place the image you have, lock it down (either the object, or you can put it on it's own layer and lock the layer) and start with the pen tool.
Everyone probably has their own method, but I like to start by placing all the points I think I'll need as corner points (click, but don't drag to make the point curved). I then pick the Direct Selection tool (white arrow) and then the Convert Anchor Point tool. If you click on a point, you can drag it to be curved, but if you hold the Command key (on Mac OS) it will temporarily switch to the Direct Selection tool, which will allow you to move the point if necessary. Others would just make curved points as they go, but this is how I like to do it.
For the pointy shapes on the end, you could probably make one then rotate a copy. For the curvy parts in the middle, you may be able to make one and scale copies, or use the blend tool. As you go, you can switch the visibility of the placed graphic on and off to see how your creation looks on it's own, and when compared to the original.

Do i have to select what i back up onto my external hard drive, or does it back up everything automatically?

do i have to select what i back up onto my external hard drive, or does it back up everything automatically?

It depends on the app you want to use to make backups.
If you are going to use Time Machine (recommended because it's the easiest), you just have to set it up and it will back up the whole OS X partition on the external drive, so don't worry. However, you can exclude items if you want. Read > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427 Also, have a look at Pondini's site > http://pondini.org
Another option are the cloning apps, like Carbon Copy Cloner. These apps also clone the whole hard drive, but you can manually select the things you want to back up. The advantage of the clones is that you can start up your computer from them

My iphoto has 90gbs of pictures can I put on an external hard drive to free up space

my iphoto has 90gbs of pictures can I put on an external hard drive to free up space

Yep:
http://www.cultofmac.com/172491/move-your-iphoto-library-to-an-external-drive-to -save-space-os-x-tips/

Do macs keep a record of what files are copied to an external hard drive?

Is it possible to set up a MacBook to keep a record of what files are copied to an external hard drive?

Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t start in safe mode.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
You may now be able to log in and move the files off the Desktop. Then restart as usual.

What type and how many gigabyte external hard drive do I get for my iMac?

What brand and what features and how many gigabytes do I need in an external hard drive for my new imac?

I am sure if I spent the time reading those pages, I would lose more time than I would save with a Firewire drive if I ever had to do a complete restore. If you ever have to do a complete restore, just run it overnight. Do like I do, save your money, maybe buy some Apple stock, and you will make more than enough to compensate yourself for the extra time it might take.
The only time you might need extra drive speed is for the operating system, or if you do a lot of heavy graphics and video work, or do a lot of work on a disk-based database. (If speed is an issue with a database, consider using memory-based software instead.) Backup is not on that list, unless having the computer up and running is so critical that you should be using a RAID backup system instead. For the vast majority of computer users, speed will not be an issue. After all, many people backup to Time Capsules over WiFi, and that is slower than USB2.
When it comes to backup, people should be speedy about getting a backup drive. If the extra cost of Firewire causes a delay doing that, it could easily cost more time and trouble than the extra speed will ever save them.
macjack wrote:
Bruce De Benedictis wrote:
USB2 ... It may be a touch slower if you should ever have to recover a volume
Please check your information...
http://www.lyberty.com/tech/terms/usb.html
http://www.firewire-1394.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm
These were my first 2 hits on Google, there are pages more you can read at your leisure.

What format is best for an external hard drive for video editing on a mac?

What's the best format for an external hard drive for video editing to be use with a mac only? I need to format my new hard drive and want to be sure I choose the right format.

I concur with Kappy. His suggestion is correct.
Allan

What is the best pre-installed external hard drive for my macbook pro?

I need advise on what kind of pre-enstalled external hard drive which supports both usb and firewire to get for my new macbook pro? I would like to stay in the $100. range but am willing to go higher .

giftshopgurl wrote:
pre-enstalled external hard drive
Pre-installed with what?
Your best bet is to always format a new hard drive, so there are no surprises.
If you buy an external HD specifying ready for Mac ( or some such) it will cost you more for nothing.

How do I put library on external hard drive

I want to put some of my photos in my iPhoto 6 library on my external hard drive. I've tried exporting, dragging, etc but my originals never end up on the external hard drive. How do I do this?
I'm a novice with the external hard drive. I have an iMAC, Powerbook and external hard drive. I've been putting the external hard drive on the iMAC and when I want to use it with the Powerbook then I just eject it from the iMAC and attach it to the Powerbook. How do I hook everything thing together at once? Do I just USB the Powerbook to the iMAC? Then how do I move things from one machine to the other?

If you can get the two computers connected together with an ethernet cable and get the computer with the external HD to see the other you can create a 3rd library, located on the external HD and merge the other two libraries into it to create a primary library. You will need to use the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager to copy the rolls of each library into the new one on the external HD like iPLMRollXfer.mp4.
Once you get the two libraries merged into the one on the external HD you can do the following on each machine to link to it:
1 - move the library from the Pictures folder to the Desktop.
2 - launch iPhoto with the Option key depressed and, when asked, select the option to locate a library.
3 - navigate to the external HD and select the iPhoto Library folder there.
Once you've done that with each machine and are satisfied that the library on the external HD is complete you can delete the two libraries from the two Macs.
REMEMBER the previous is to create one library on the external HD for use by both Macs and to remove the old libraries from the Macs when done.

Should I set up my external hard drive as HFS when copying PC files to MAC

I have just purchased an external hard drive and hooked it up to my PowerMac G5 running OS X. My Mac is networked to a PC via Wi-Fi. When using my Mac I can open/delete/save files to my PC and drag them to my Mac.
I would like to back up my whole PC onto the firewire external drive. I only have a firewire connection on my Mac, so I don't want to unplug it and set it up on the PC as well.
Are there any issues if I format the drive using Disc Utility and format it as HFS, then simply drag the files and applications from my PC to my external hard drive. If the PC fails, will I have any issues when I drag the files back to a networked PC via my Mac?

Backing up an entire hard drive via Wi-Fi would be very slow and perhaps unreliable. I would really look into getting a firewire interface for the PC to accomplish the back-up. These cards are not very expensive and it would be a good investment.
You may have trouble when returning files from an HFS drive to your PC. Some of the files may appear doubled as ._FILENAME and FILENAME. The ._ file is used by Mac OS and is hidden, but is not used by Windows and shows as a separate file. MacDrive6 from MediaFour (http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive6//) can solve this problem, as well as allow an HFS+ formatted drive to appear in the Windows explorer when connected via Firewire, but there may still be problems with a backup procedure using drag and drop. It is probably best if you want to do this to format your drive as a Windows drive.
Also, backing up PC application and system files (or Mac ones for that matter) by dragging and dropping is a bad idea. Especially on the PC, but also occasionally on the Mac, applications install files in various system locations that are not easily accessable. It is best to restore applications and system files from the original software installation CD's or DVD's. If this is not possible, or inconvenient, look for a PC backup utility that is similar to Carbon Copy Cloner for the Mac (http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html). Utilities such as this can create an image of a hard disk for backup purposes on any drive recognized by the system. I am sure there are many good PC backup utilities available, many probably as freeware.

How do I transfer multiple pics from my photo stream to camera roll so I can put on portable external hard drive?

I try to transfer multiple pics from camera stream to camera roll so I can
Upload to my home pc to save on external hard drive but they don't show
Up in camera roll after selecting multiple. I have nearly 800 photos.
Any easy way to do this??

Hello and THANKS! Copying ALL the pics works doing the Command+A, but if I want to do a group of pics the Shift key does NOT work the same way as my PC. On the PC I can click on the first one in the group and the last one in the group, then the Shift key. All the pics in-between will be highlighted. Then I can right click to copy or move to the external hard drive. I have had soooo much trouble making the transition from a PC to a Mac........it is frustrating. And one of my hard drives is older and I don't think it is formatted right so I can only view the pics on it---not copy or change it in any way........

I want to transfer my Windows files from my Clickfree external drive to my new iMac. iMac recognizes the drive but won't read the files. What should I do? My PC hard drive is dead so I can't hook up my iMac to that.

I'm switching from Windows to iOS. But my new iMac won't allow me to transfer my Windows files on my Clickfree HD425 over to the iMac. It initialy didn't even recognize my hard drive during set up, so I manually went through Finder where it recognized the Clickfree drive. But my files wouldn't appear. I can't go back to my original Windows computer because the hard drive crashed, and that's why I bought this new iMac in the first place. What should I do? As a Mac newbie who was reluctant to exit the Windows world, I don't want my original babystep into the iOS world soured by my first experience.

Hi Rick, & a warm welcome!
In Disk Utility on the Mac, what Format does it say the drive is?

What format should I made a shared external hard drive between Mac and bootcamp?

We have a small office running both macs and windows 7 on macs in bootcamp.
Currently we have 1 "master computer" which is a mac that stores all the data formatted in mac os extended (journaled). But we are always having rights issues with that and if that users machine is off, or having network problems we loose access.
The proposal is to get a new router with USB port and have a networked disk on where all the shared files are stored. The question is, what should the disk be formatted to?
As I have said the mac machines run bootcamp with 1 employee perminantly on windows 7. His hard drive is NTSC. As a side note I don't understand How can he open the networked shared files from the master mac!?
Ideally we want to search the folder for its contents from both mac and PC and I think this won't be possible if it is FAT32 formatted.
1 machine is the master mac
another is runs both mac and boot camp occasionaly.
3rd machine runs bootcamp constantly.
all macs are Lion 10.7.5
all bootcamp is windows 7.
we are in the uk
router is also our internet connection
we don't want an expensive server if we can help it.
Suggestions?

Fat32
Extfat or fat16bit is just poor Mans fat32 where you get more then 8 chars filenames but not support for large volumens
And msdos is fat8 which is useles

What should I put on an external hard drive?

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