new external hard drive

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mvalletto

macrumors newbie

Original poster

• Mar 6, 2007

• #1

I have just hooked up an external hard drive to be used for both storage and drive for TechTool Pro. Do I have to/can I install Mac OSx onto this drive or is it puresly a storage device?? I know this is probably a basic question, but my skills are also fairly basic. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike😕

 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus

• Mar 7, 2007

• #2

Most likely... If you have a PPC Mac then it must be a Firewire connection. If you have a newer Intel Mac then it can connect via either USB or Firewire. Tell us a little more about the set up and we might be able to walk you through it. 🙂

 

M

mvalletto

macrumors newbie

Original poster

• Mar 7, 2007

• #3

more info

I have a 1Gig iMac G4 and the hard drive is a WD My Book USB. The drive is recognized by the system, but in order to run certain things from TechTool, I believe the drive must be running Mac OS. Again, thanks for the input.
-Mike

 

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blodwyn

macrumors 65816

• Mar 7, 2007

• #4

mvalletto said:

I have a 1Gig iMac G4 and the hard drive is a WD My Book USB. The drive is recognized by the system, but in order to run certain things from TechTool, I believe the drive must be running Mac OS. Again, thanks for the input.
-Mike

Click to expand...

You can only use a USB drive as a data drive on a PPC system, i.e. you cannot install and boot OS X from it. You will either need a Firewire drive, or get an Intel based Mac (may be the excuse you need to upgrade)

 

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mvalletto

macrumors newbie

Original poster

• Mar 7, 2007

• #5

Should have asked before buying!

Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks none the less.
-Mike