Yet Another Hard Drive Question from a Mac Newbie

I apologize in advance for the length of this post -- as I state in the subject line, I am a complete Mac newbie.
I just took delivery yesterday on a new (early 2008) Mac Pro. I purchased and installed an additional 8GB RAM, and ordered it with a 500GB HD (Seagate, it looks like) and purchased two 750GB Hitachi HDs for bays 2 and 3. I will be doing a fair amount of photo editing, and also plan to partition the OS drive to run XP using bootcamp, but also plan to use VM Fusion.
I am thinking of partitioning the boot drive with 250GB for OS X and apps, 150 GB for XP and apps, and ~66 remaining possibly to be used as scratch memory for CS3, though it sounds like this may not be enough. The bay 2 Hitachi would be used for all my user data (photos, music, docs, etc.) bay 3 would be for backup initially, possibly using Time Machine? (other recommendations welcomed). As space becomes an issue in the future, I will invest in a fourth internal HD, and at least 2TB external HDs for backup.
Does this seem like a reasonable plan? If so, how do I go about formatting the drives and installing boot camp, Fusion, etc., and in what order? Also, how best do I organize my existing files from my current Windows machine as I copy them to the new user data HD, so they can be accessed as needed by both OS X and XP?
Thanks for your help.

I like the boot volume to never get beyond 50% used. Enough room for burning dual-layer DVDs can be 50GB for best results. And to force the system to use the first outer tracks.
I hope you are concurrently zeroing both drives. SoftRAID is my choice for driver for RAIDs and you can cancel safely at any time. There are also excellent tools for checking sectors and mapping out bad blocks.
I put Vista on its own 10K Raptor. I had it on the boot drive but I am always changing my mind, my drives and setup. Vista needs at least 40GB and that is with all my major documents and files on another drive which holds 150GB out of 450GB.
You set the preference for what drive to use as scratch in CS3 or other programs. And you want to disable Spotlight indexing on any scratch or editing partition. Scratch can be a drive, a volume, a stripped array. Any 'normal' partition though don't use the default (journaling) feature is all.
How large? I'd have to see and know how large files, work flow, and how long you work between projects. The nice thing, erase the scratch volume between projects but it is possible to use 300GB when you work on 1.5GB files and above.
One early Mac Pro owner wasn't able to work as they wanted until they had 10-12GB RAM, boot RAID0, and RAIDs for scratch and data (saving 2GB files and not having to wait forever, which even a minute can feel like forever).
Disk Utility: Partition. You can even partition 2+ drives, just make them the same, and first create 2 partitions (100GB on each?) and then stripe the first "Untitled 1" of each into 100GB x n array. Stripe or mirror the "Untitled 2" or leave those are two unique non-RAID volumes. Sounds harder than it is.
Scratch = temp space and designed to not be saved, to be erased as needed.
SoftRAID.com 3.6.6 makes it easy to create, delete, erase volumes and arrays as needed. Leopard has improved on non-RAID but not with RAIDs (for those that change their minds).

Similar Messages

  • Import photos without copying? I Have thousands of photos on a hard drive separate from my mac and i dont have enough space on my mac to copy them to. Any way to import without copying to the local hard drive?

    Import photos without copying? I Have thousands of photos on a hard drive separate from my mac and i dont have enough space on my mac to copy them to. Any way to import without copying to the local hard drive?

    Yes, but you might want to think carefully about it.
    A Referenced Library is when iPhoto is NOT copying the files into the iPhoto Library when importing. The files are then stored where ever you put them and not in the Library package. In this scenario you are responsible for the File Management.
    This is an attractive option for some users at face value, but it contains a significant number of issues that you might want to consider before making the decision to run a Referenced Library
    How to do it:
    iPhoto -> Preferences -> Advanced and uncheck the box at 'Copy items to the iPhoto Library'
    Now when you import iPhoto makes an alias in the Library Package that points to the stored file. Note: iPhoto still creates a thumbnail of the image and it makes a Preview of edited photos inside the Library Package.
    Issues?
    1. You are responsible for file management. That's more work:
    You must first move the files from your camera to the storage location before importing.
    If you want to delete files then you must first trash them from iPhoto and then afterwards find them in your storage and trash them.
    Thereafter, you cannot move the files on early versions of iPhoto at all, on iPhoto 08 and later you may move them on the same Volume or Disk. If you move them to a new volume or disk the aliases my break. If they are on an different volume and you move them the aliases will break.
    You cannot rename the files.
    Migrating: moving to a new machine, moving the files to another disk are all a lot more complex.
    2. You gain no extra functionality from running a Referenced Library. Nothing. This is just storage. You still manage the files via iPhoto. You edit them with iPhoto or via iPhoto's External Editor setting, otherwise you're changes will not be available in iPhoto. You don't save  byte of storage space.
    3.  If you have the Library on one volume and the photos on another you if anything changes in the path to a file (Like if you upgrade your machine, move the files on the NAS or on to another one?) then the alias will break, and you'll have to repair it manually. For every photo in the Library. One at a time.
    Why do you want to run a Referenced Library?
    Because my photos won't fit on my HD?
    You can run a Managed library from an external disk. Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    1. Quit iPhoto
    2. Copy the iPhoto Library from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
    3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
    4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.
    You're worried about accessing the files?
    There are many, many ways to access your files in iPhoto:   You can use any Open / Attach / Browse dialogue. On the left there's a Media heading, your pics can be accessed there. Command-Click for selecting multiple pics.
    (Note the above illustration is not a Finder Window. It's the dialogue you get when you go File -> Open)
    You can access the Library from the New Message Window in Mail:
    There's a similar option in Outlook and many, many other apps.  If you use Apple's Mail, Entourage, AOL or Eudora you can email from within iPhoto.
    If you use a Cocoa-based Browser such as Safari, you can drag the pics from the iPhoto Window to the Attach window in the browser.
    If you want to access the files with iPhoto not running:
    For users of 10.6 and later:  You can download a free Services component from MacOSXAutomation  which will give you access to the iPhoto Library from your Services Menu.
    Using the Services Preference Pane you can even create a keyboard shortcut for it.
    For Users of 10.4 and 10.5 Create a Media Browser using Automator (takes about 10 seconds) or use this free utility Karelia iMedia Browser
    Other options include:
    Drag and Drop: Drag a photo from the iPhoto Window to the desktop, there iPhoto will make a full-sized copy of the pic.
    File -> Export: Select the files in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Export. The dialogue will give you various options, including altering the format, naming the files and changing the size. Again, producing a copy.
    Show File:  a. On iPhoto 09 and earlier:  Right- (or Control-) Click on a pic and in the resulting dialogue choose 'Show File'. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.    3.b.
    b: On iPhoto 11 and later: Select one of the affected photos in the iPhoto Window and go File -> Reveal in Finder -> Original. A Finder window will pop open with the file already selected.

  • Another Hard Drive Question.

    Hey guys my uncle just gave me a powerbook g4 15 inch. I do not know what it has if it is aluminum or titanium but it is a 1.5ghz with a 80gb hard drive which is fried i believe. the laptop does not even start up. like i press the button and it is just a white screen forever. i hear alot of noise comming from the computer too which i think is the hard drive. so my question is I am probably gonna have to change the hard drive and i was wondering if this hard drive would work http://microcenter.com/singleproduct_results.phtml?productid=0258510 i mean it is a PATA so it should work. and then when i put a new hard drive i would have to format it and stuff? any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance

    It would be a huge advantage to have the original discs. Have your uncle ask his coworker about them. If the coworker still has them, he or she will no doubt be happy to pass them on.
    If you have the Applecare disc, it should contain Tech Tool Deluxe. See if you can boot to it by putting it in the optical drive and holding down "C" as you boot up. Tech Tool Deluxe is a somewhat primitive hardware test, but if it runs, you can get an idea of whether the PB functions otherwise. If the only problem is a dead hard drive, then it should be able to boot from a disc.
    At some point, you will need an OS to install. You can order a set of original discs from Apple for around $60, or you could consider a retail copy of Leopard if the PB meets the technical specs.
    Apple also has a flat rate repair program where they will fix whatever is wrong for a flat rate. I'm not sure if this PB would qualify, but if the problems are more extensive than just a dead hard drive it might be something to look into.
    Try booting from the disc you have, and see if you can.
    Good luck!

  • HELP! Hard drive removed from old Mac Pro won't work as external in USB enclosure...

    Hi guys,
    I guess we've all been in this position at some point with our music technology, but today it is my turn to panic!
    I have sold my Mac Pro (2010) and moved over to an iMac, now that they have great performance and internal SSD, etc.
    Before selling the Mac Pro, I removed the internal HDs I was using for audio, instruments, backup, etc...
    I have now installed the audio HD into an external USB3 enclosure, which I had assumed would mean I could access my audio work (pretty much all of it over the last 4 years) and move tracks over to the iMac or a new external HD as necessary.
    Unfortunately when I switch the enclosure on, I get the message "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"... pretty much what I would expect if it were a new drive, but not what I was expecting given this drive was fine in my Mac Pro, and was obviously Mac formatted.
    So I'm in a bit of a panic! I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can solve the issue - obviously without initialising the drive (which is the only option the warning message gives me!).
    I do have a friend who has a Mac Pro, so I have the option of taking the drive over to him and pulling the audio off onto a standard external drive... but if there is another way to solve the problem I would be pretty happy!
    Thanks in advance for any advice or info you can offer!
    Cheers,
    Mike

    yeloop,
    Well that depends...
    In the past I have managed to restore/repair drives with DW that nothing else would recognize let alone fix... so it's one of the 'tools' that I keep in my 'repair bag' and the few times i have needed it, it has paid for itself over and over again.
    However, the fact you can mount the drive with your MBP but cannot with your iMac, is a little strange and points to something else that maybe is not related to a physical issue with the drive but something else going on with either the enclosure you used or even your iMac and it's USB3 ports. If it wasn't for the fact you can mount it on your MBP I would have said disk corruption but I don't think that is the problem now....
    Got anything else you can plug into those USB3 ports on your iMac.. like another USB2 drive that you know is fine, just to test the ports themselves?

  • Some basic questions from a mac newbie

    hi,
    i have been using linux and windows all this while, and recently began using an apple too. have some simple questions here that i hope to get some answers for.
    1. is there something similar to /etc/hosts in linux where i can add the IP address of a server? this is for me to use the 'ssh' command in the terminal
    2. when i open up an application, say safari or chrome, i want the window to fill the entire screen automatically, instead of having to drag the bottom right of the window to fill the screen. how to configure that?
    3. when i close an application by clicking on the 'x' at the top left, why is it that it still appears in the list when i press command+tab? to remove the application from the list, i have to right click on its icon on the dock, then click 'quit'. this is rather troublesome.
    appreciate any help!

    1. is there something similar to /etc/hosts in linux where i can add the IP address of a server? this is for me to use the 'ssh' command in the terminal
    The /etc/hosts file is there, but the /etc/ folder is hidden. You can use the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/) to access it via Unix, or could enter "open /etc" in the Terminal to open that folder in the Finder.
    However, I'm not sure how this relates to ssh... I have not needed to modify that file, yet I can ssh all I need to. Are you trying to connect to your new Mac via ssh, or connect to other machines from the Mac via ssh?
    2. when i open up an application, say safari or chrome, i want the window to fill the entire screen automatically, instead of having to drag the bottom right of the window to fill the screen. how to configure that?
    Just drag the window out to full-screen and the browser should remember and open new windows at that size in the future. There are also some utilities (one called "Right Zoom" IIRC?) that will make the zoom button (green + button) behave more like the Windows zoom button.
    3. when i close an application by clicking on the 'x' at the top left, why is it that it still appears in the list when i press command+tab?
    Applications shouldn't quit just because you close their last window, unless the application's entire user interface is contained within that window. That is the case with ALL Windows apps, since there's no global menu bar, but only in some Mac apps. This is something that always ticked me off big-time with Windows... there have been times when I carelessly closed a window I didn't need anymore, but wanted to keep using the app, and then had to wait for it to load again. That won't happen on the Mac.
    If this bothers you, just use the key combination command-Q to quit apps.

  • Internet/General questions from a Mac newbie

    Hey there. Well, after spending my whole life on a PC, I've decided to switch over to Mac. I'll be going off to college in the fall, and so I went with the Macbook Pro.
    Alright, to the questions. I've always only had ONE computer in my house. And so, I have one cable modem attached to it, no router. I want to get on the net on my MBP just in the upcoming months before I'm off to college, where they'll have plenty of net connection options.
    So my question is: should I go with wireless? If I do this, would I need to get a wireless router? How exactly does it work, i.e. do I plug just any cable cord into it, and bang, wireless throughout my house? I was looking into the Linksys WRT54G for this, but I hear mentions of Airport Extreme. I guess I'm just pretty confused by routers in general.
    Now, my main computer is downstairs, but I'll want to use the laptop upstairs. There's a cable cord up there...can I somehow use that to connect to a box or anything to connect as an ethernet plug? Will that be much faster than wireless?
    I have an EVDO phone with DUN that I plan on using if none of those options work out. Will the previous methods be much faster than using the phone via bluetooth or USB?
    I'm obsessed with speed.
    That's it for the internet portion...but I'm going to throw in a few extra questions instead of starting a whole different thread; they're pretty miscellaneous.
    If I want to transfer files from my old computer to this one, what's the best way to do that? Could I (or should I) just access them remotely? You can point me to a thread where this is located if that's easier and already answered.
    Last one. I want to use boot camp. I have a Windows XP Home CD...but I've heard you NEED the CD to have SP2 on it. Mine does not. Could I just use the one I have, and install sp2 once windows is installed? If not, I'd need to get a brand new copy of Windows Home or Pro? Are there advantages to Pro over Home, if I go that route (I hear talk of dual-core...)?
    Thank you so much, these are very important (yet way too plentiful) questions.

    This is really very simple despite the fact that the others dragged the thread off in some direction.
    So my question is: should I go with wireless? If I do
    this, would I need to get a wireless router? How
    exactly does it work, i.e. do I plug just any cable
    cord into it, and bang, wireless throughout my house?
    I was looking into the Linksys WRT54G for this, but I
    hear mentions of Airport Extreme. I guess I'm just
    pretty confused by routers in general.
    Apple sometimes makes up their own cutesy names that are confusingly different than what everybody else calls something. AirPort Extreme is merely Apple's brand of 802.11g, which is a standard all new wireless routers support, including Linksys.
    If you have a cable modem, you can use an Ethernet cable to plug in a wireless router, which will take your cable modem signal and blast it all over the house. At that point, you are like an internet cafe. Your Mac or PC laptop should recognize the signal and you're off and running (subject to the limitations of wireless, which you should know about since you're obsessed with speed).
    I very much doubt that a second cable modem is a practical option. You will probably have to pay for a second cable account. The router is the standard solution, because it takes one connection and routes it to multiple computers.
    Now, my main computer is downstairs, but I'll want to
    use the laptop upstairs. There's a cable cord up
    there...can I somehow use that to connect to a box or
    anything to connect as an ethernet plug? Will that be
    much faster than wireless?
    A good wireless router like the Linksys WRT54G also has wired Ethernet ports. You can plug your desktop into that. Your desktop and cable modem are downstairs, so it will make sense to plug the wireless router into the cable modem and connect the desktop to the router. That way, the router will do the job it's designed for: routing the cable modem signal to both the desktop and the wireless transmitter.
    You could possibly plug and play, but it will be best for you to read the router manual to learn how to open the router's internal home page in your Mac or PC web browser and look through the router settings. If you are concerned about network security, then you will also want to turn on the password for the wireless portion of your network.
    I'm sure you could use that EVDO phone...but wouldn't the Internet airtime cost a lot of money? The speed depends on your phone connection. I hear it varies. The cable modem is almost certainly faster, though.
    If I want to transfer files from my old computer to
    this one, what's the best way to do that? Could I (or
    should I) just access them remotely? You can point me
    to a thread where this is located if that's easier
    and already answered.
    You can use the network wizard in Windows to set up a share and then get to it from the Mac, or turn on file sharing on the Mac and get to it from the PC. My Macs and PC can all share files when needed.
    Last one. I want to use boot camp. I have a Windows
    XP Home CD...but I've heard you NEED the CD to have
    SP2 on it. Mine does not. Could I just use the one I
    have, and install sp2 once windows is installed?
    This is not official word but I hear you MUST have SP2 on the CD.
    not, I'd need to get a brand new copy of Windows Home
    or Pro? Are there advantages to Pro over Home, if I
    go that route (I hear talk of dual-core...)?
    Try this comparison.

  • Yet another Optical drive question

    A few months ago I upgraded to a Samsung lightscribe DVD/CD burner, It was working pretty decent (i had osx 10.3.9). Then I upgraded to osx 10.5.8 and I began to notice a slight problem with disk ejecting. At this point this was just a nuisance. Now, I tried loading Final Cut studio 2 and I popped in dvd and everything started ok but when it came time to load the next disk it failed to eject the dvd. I couldn't get it out, I eventually had to manually eject. Upon doing so, I put in the next DVD and nothing happened. The installer was still asking for the next DVD. What gives?

    Hey Daddypaycheck, here is the latest on this issue, once I was able to extract it and restart, the drive seem to work like a champ. I tried loading the software but I ran into the same problem..... I will try the SMU if you think that will help.

  • Question from a Mac Newbie Regarding Managing Photos

    Hi all,
    I just moved to Mac so I moved all my pictures from my external HD to iPhoto. Now, after I have done that I realized that iPhoto doesn't give you the option to easily access your pictures and make changes or delete like when using Windows, unless it's thru iPhoto. Im serious photography hobbyist and im between buying Lightroom or Aperture. I like iPhoto and its ease of use but Id like to edit my pictures on a serious software so I setup iPhoto to edit pictures on a trial version I have for LIghtroom. I guess my question is, would it be easier to manage my pictures on iphoto and aperture instead of lightroom? Also, which software (lightroom or aperture) will allow me to have a backup of my pictures in the way they were on my Windows PC?
    Thank you in advance for all your help

    Yes, if you do "referenced" files in Aperture, and are using the latest versions of Aperture (3.3+) and iPhoto (9.3+) then they'll all be visible in the Finder.
    They're not all in one big folder in the Finder.  Aperture has lots of options (and I mean LOTS of options) for how and where it stores the files on disk.  You can choose the folder naming structure, all sorts of subfolder options, etc.  Honestly, there can be an overwhelming number of options.  Easiest for your sanity is to choose Finder folder names that  match your project names in Aperture.  I have mine organized in subfolders by year/month/date, but that's Aperture 201 and I'm offering 101 advice because you're a new user and it can be complex.  Aperture makes it trivially easy to move from one naming structure to another in Finder whenever you want... the only issue with that is if you're pointing Lightroom at the same files on disk, if you move them in Aperture, Lightroom will totally freak out.
    Basically you NEVER want to change the folder structure on disk via Finder... EVER, if your're using iPhoto, Aperture, or Lightroom.  You should always use the application to do that.  And if you're using Aperture and Lightroom, and use one to change the folder structure, it will break the other.  So be careful with that.

  • A few questions from a Mac newbie

    1. What kind of maintainence should I be doing on the mac? Do I need to defrag or run system cleaners (like ccleaner for windows)?
    2. Will it eventually get messed up like Windows, or should be running as good as new years from now without reformatting?
    3. Am I correct in assuming Software Update only updates the System and the official mac applications (iChat, iMovie etc.)?
    4. I know viruses aren't as much of a threat, but should I install antivirus just to be on the safe side?
    5. When I install new software, I'm assuming settings are saved somewhere else besides the Applications folder. Do these remove themselves when I delete the software?
    6. If I eventually update to Leopard, will that do a clean install over Tiger, not corrupting anything? On Windows I know that upgrading Windows basically screwed over everything and messed up the registry permanently, and I'm hoping this isn't an issue with Mac OS.
    7. Lastly, I've noticed that the longer the system is running for, the more memory is used (according to iStat at least), regardless of how many programs I'm running. Is this normal behavior, and is it slowing down the system?
    Thanks, and I'm loving Mac OS, my only regret is that I didn't switch years ago.
    Macbook (2 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM)   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    1. What kind of maintainence should I be doing on the mac? Do I need to defrag or run system cleaners (like ccleaner for windows)?
    After any system update or security update, use DiskUtility to repair permissions. Maybe/maybe not necessary in all instances, but a good plan. You may also boot from an installer disk and run DiskUtility to repair the disk, maybe twice a year. You can also run fsck with the same frequency
    http://macs.about.com/od/osx/a/running_fsck.htm
    I follow the repair permissions rule, but seldom run fsck unless I notice problems. Opinions may vary.
    2. Will it eventually get messed up like Windows, or should be running as good as new years from now without reformatting?
    I lost my crystal ball
    Seriously, disk corruption is a cross platform issue. If you're not the type to install every shareware app you can find, and don't mess around with stuff unnecessarily, or fool around with files you aren't familiar with, you should be OK.
    3. Am I correct in assuming Software Update only updates the System and the official mac applications (iChat, iMovie etc.)?
    Yes.
    4. I know viruses aren't as much of a threat, but should I install antivirus just to be on the safe side?
    Again, with the crystal ball
    At this point, it's probably not necessary. However, you may wish to consider some course of action if you swap files with Windows users on a regular basis. Your Mac will be happy to host malware through infected emails, flash drives, web sites, etc...
    Many folks recommend ClamAV
    http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/24449
    There are commercial apps available, but IMHO, they're not the most polished apps, possibly because there's no real demand for a reliable av app for OS X at this point.
    5. When I install new software, I'm assuming settings are saved somewhere else besides the Applications folder. Do these remove themselves when I delete the software?
    Yes, no, and sort of. Most of apps are contained in a package. Control-click on an application's icon, and you can view the stuff in the package. Deleting the app's icon form the Application folder will get rid of most of it. There will be preference files, mostly in youruserfolder/Library/Preferences. There may be scattered files elsewhere, but generally, none of them are big files, nor should they hurt performance if they stick around.
    6. If I eventually update to Leopard, will that do a clean install over Tiger, not corrupting anything? On Windows I know that upgrading Windows basically screwed over everything and messed up the registry permanently, and I'm hoping this isn't an issue with Mac OS.
    In the past, OS X has allowed you to perform a simple upgrade when going from 10.x to 10.y
    I usually perform an archive and install, but that's just me.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120
    7. Lastly, I've noticed that the longer the system is running for, the more memory is used (according to iStat at least), regardless of how many programs I'm running. Is this normal behavior, and is it slowing down the system?
    Yes, and maybe. OS X likes memory. I recommend 1 GB for 10.4. 10.3 seemed pretty good with 512 MB. Apple Discussions policy says I shouldn't speculate about memory requirements here for Leopard, so I won't, but you can think about the possibilities. More is better. If you fire up activity monitor and notice that you're down to 10 MB of free memory, I'd consider adding more.
    hth
    Jeff

  • Stupid question from a Mac newbie: multiple users for webbased email

    This problem has infuriated me over the last 4 hours---likely a keychain/cookie issue--- but help has been hard to find. New computer Latest OS X.
    I use safari (or firefox) to log into a web based email account (happens to be an exchange server). initial screen comes up. Click on 'log in'. Up pops a username/password screen. Type in user name, password, don't click on "save password", get into my email account--- no problem. Check email, happy.
    My wife, wants to log into her account.
    I quit safari or firefox. She clicks on the icon. initial screen comes up. Click on 'log in' and up comes MY EMAIL. She did not log on.
    Not sure what to do. Want to set up the web-based email to not automatically log someone into another persons' email as I want to use this computer basically as one account, with multiple people logging into muliple web based email.
    Can this be done easily?

    Hi,
    I quit safari or firefox. ...
    Just to be devils advocate, mind if I ask how you quit the applications? If you just closed the window by clicking the red circle at the top left corner, then both Safari and Firefox would still be running with your login session details still active.
    Try pressing command+q to really quit the application (or click and hold the Dock icon and select Quit). Alternatively, select 'Logout' (or the equivalent option) on your web email account to close your active session.

  • Time Capsule question from a Mac Newbie

    Hi,
    I have a weird question. I plan on buying a new laptop for my switch to OSX. I was planning on getting a time capsule so I can use time machine, get N wireless and use it as a network storage device (store video files so it's accessible between my desktop pc and laptop).
    2 questions:
    1) I saw PC's and non-leopard users can use the TC as a external HDD, just wanted to confirm leopard users can do the same. I assumed it would be possible, but assumptions are the mother of all you know what.
    2) I saw some people stating they are using a TC and a external HDD connected to it. The only reasons I could come up with is the TC does not provide enough space or my assumption of being able to use the TC as a time machine backup device and networked external hdd is incorrect. Just wanted to ask if there are any other benefits / reasons one may choose a setup like that?

    Mikeyhp wrote:
    2 questions:
    1) I saw PC's and non-leopard users can use the TC as a external HDD, just wanted to confirm leopard users can do the same. I assumed it would be possible, but assumptions are the mother of all you know what.
    Leopard can absolutely use the TC HDD.
    2) I saw some people stating they are using a TC and a external HDD connected to it. The only reasons I could come up with is the TC does not provide enough space or my assumption of being able to use the TC as a time machine backup device and networked external hdd is incorrect. Just wanted to ask if there are any other benefits / reasons one may choose a setup like that?
    Firstly, TC isn't readily partitionable, which is a major drawback. If you are planning on using TC as the TM destination, you shouldn't stick your PC stuff on it, in case you ever need to erase the HDD. However, you could simply plug a USB HDD into the USB port and Viola! you have another NAS! Also, there is an Archive feature on TC that allows the entire TC HDD to be quickly backed up for Archive purposes.

  • The circuit of my macbook is dead yet the hard drive is fine.  I need to access a file from the hard drive, how can i do this? is there a cable i can connect to another mac that will let me transfer the file?

    The circuit of my macbook is dead yet the hard drive is fine.  I need to access a file from the hard drive, how can i do this? The mac turns on the screen freezes as bright blue.  Is there a cable i can connect to another mac that will let me transfer the file?

    There is another option if the Macbook will start up in Target Disk Mode.
    Restart the computer while holding down the T key. If you see the firewire symbol moving around on the screen you can connect this one to another one in TDM. You will need a suitable cable to connect the two Macs.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
    Firewire symbol:

  • What is the best format to use on an external hard drive so I can both back up my Macbook Pro and also put movies on it from another hard drive (PC)?

    I am looking for a solution to whether if it is best to get two hard drives or one that can do two things that I want.
    I am looking for a hard drive format that can both back up my 500GB Macbook Pro but I was also wondering if I could also put movies on it from another hard drive that is PC based. Would partitioning the hard drive work for this? I don't know what are the best formats to use.
    If this is too hard it might just be easier having a separate 500GB hard drive for back up of my Mac and another bigger hard drive for the movies etc (the files are probably bigger than 4GB). Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need to make a decision soon!

    Csound1 wrote:
    Microsoft has not released the official exFAT file system specification, and a restrictive license from Microsoft is required in order to make and distribute exFAT implementations. Microsoft also asserts patents on exFAT which make it impossible to re-implement its functionality in a compatible way without violating a large percentage of them.[13] This renders the implementation, distribution, and use of exFAT as a part of free or open-source operating systems or of commercial software, for which the vendors could not obtain a license from Microsoft, not only technically difficult, but legally impossible in countries that recognize United States software patents.
    Can't help with that, if one is using a Windows machine then they are subjected to their rules and control.
    Limited support outside Windows and Mac OS X operating systems as of 2012, when most consumer electronic devices could only handleFAT12/FAT16/FAT32, rendering exFAT (and flash memory formats using it) impractical as a universal exchange format.
    The OP said they plan to store movies on the external drive.
    Many movies today are well over 4GB in size, thus exFAT has to be used and formatted on the PC, which the Mac can then read.
    Older Windows NT versions up to Windows Vista without Service Pack 1 do not support exFAT.
    Irrelevant, Microsoft provides a free download of exFAT for Windows XP, and Vista shouldn't be running on pre SP1 anyway.
    Some distributions of Linux have begun to include support for exFAT. It is however, only available as a file system in user space, as it's not supported by the kernel.
    Irrelevant, OP is using Windows and OS X, not Linux and if they did Linux can read the files at least and transfer, which is all they care about really.
    Windows Vista is unable to use exFAT drives for ReadyBoost. Windows 7 removes this limitation, enabling ReadyBoost caches larger than 4 GiB.[14]
    Irrelevant, the OP's is intending to use it as transfer drive between Mac's and Windows for movies.
    The standard exFAT implementation only uses a single file allocation table and free space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.
    Some relevancy, but only exFAT can handle 4GB+ files between Mac's and PC's, so the need outweighs the possible problem.
    The OP needs to follow the standard Windows practice of "safely removing hardware" before physically disconnecting the external drive. If a write is occurring, it won't allow disconnecting until the write is finished.
    Support for up to 2,796,202 files per subdirectory only.[1][nb 3] Microsoft documents a limit of 65,534 files per sub-directory for their FAT32 implementation, but other operating systems have no special limit for the number of files in a FAT32 directory. FAT32 implementations in other operating systems allow an unlimited number of files up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 268,304,373 files on volumes without long filenames).[nb 4]
    Not a issue, only in extreme cases of a lot of small files. The OP plans to use it for movies which are usually large and take up a lot of space on the drive.
    IMMO It looks like you just ran off and copied something to argue your point when all the points are basically irrelevant.
    There is only one format that can easily share 4GB sized files between Mac's and PC's without further complications.
    It's ALSO possible to install MacDrive on the PC and format the drive on the Mac HFS+, but I didn't recommend that because I know it's a hassle just like third party NTFS writing software is a hassle on Mac's.
    If you so anti-Microsoft format, then you must know Paragon has to pay a license fee to Microsoft for using the NTFS format.
    At least with exFAT there is no fee to Redmond, at least not yet.

  • I had to get my hard drive replaced from Apple, I lost all of my music obviously.  My question is, how can I get all my music off of my iPhone onto iTunes?  Since it's a new hard drive, the iPhone isn't recognizing this as it's home computer.

    I had to get my hard drive replaced from Apple, I lost all of my music obviously.  My question is, how can I get all my music off of my iPhone onto iTunes?  Since it's a new hard drive, the iPhone isn't recognizing this as it's home computer.

    You will need to use third-party software to transfer music from your phone to the iTunes Library. I recommend Phone to Mac - Pod to Mac | Macroplant.com.

  • I am new to mac and have an external hard drive question

    Hello
    I am new to mac. I used a PC before and stored all of my files (documents, photo's and music) on an external hard drive. The new mac is communicating with my external and is allowing me to open word/excel documents into pages/numbers. However when I go to save the document to my external the mac tells me "your document could not be saved. you can duplicate the document or discard your changes to close it."
    Is this happing because the external is formatted to PC and not mac? Will I need to get a mac external hard drive if I wish to continue to save my documents like this? or will I need to get Miscrosoft office for mac for me to continue to use my existing external? or will i need to duplicate everything to save?
    Please help.
    Thanks
    Janice

    Is this happing because the external is formatted to PC and not mac?
    Yes that is correct.
    Will I need to get a mac external hard drive if I wish to continue to save my documents like this?
    If you no longer use a PC you could format this drive for the Mac. However be aware that formatting a drive will erase all the data on it. So you would need someplace to copy the data off this drive to while you did the re-format and then you could copy the data back.
    You could get another drive, format it for the Mac and copy the data to it. Then re-format the original drive and use it as a backup drive. Always good to have backups.
    Post back with the drive type and size of the current drive, if you are doing backups now and how and if you still need to access this drive from a PC.
    regards

Maybe you are looking for