Double format for external hard drive?

[ikermalli]

Hi,

I am going to be buying an external hard drive soon (Seagate FreeAgent Go 250GB 2.5" External Hard Drive - Black) and I want to double format... Or double partition it. I am pretty good with macs, I just don't know much about time machine and external hard drives. What I want to do is either:

A) Make a partition in which I can make backups, and make a separate partition in which I can store files

or

B) Make a single partition in which I can save back ups (from time machine) and my files (Music, Movies, Applications)

Also, would I be able to run Windows (XP) from my external hard drive somehow? Also, could I run mac applications off my external hard drive, is there a certain procedure?

Also, you can give me slightly complicated instructions if you need to, I know my way around pretty well (I like to think)

Thanks for help in advance
- ikermalli

 

[BlueRevolution]

A) Make a partition in which I can make backups, and make a separate partition in which I can store files

You can do this.

B) Make a single partition in which I can save back ups (from time machine) and my files (Music, Movies, Applications)

You can also do this, but I recommend using separate partitions so you don't end up unexpectedly running out of disk space.

Also, would I be able to run Windows (XP) from my external hard drive somehow?

Yes.

Also, could I run mac applications off my external hard drive, is there a certain procedure?

Yes. 1) Install, 2) Run. I have one of my external drives formatted to NTFS and I can still run Mac applications from it. In fact, it's where I install all of my games, Windows and Mac.

 

[ikermalli]

Thank you! What would I format it to for the different partitions? Would it work if I just dragged and dropped the application from my applications folder, or would I need to find all the files (like the .plist and all that)?

 

[BlueRevolution]

What would I format it to for the different partitions?

Both to HFS+ (Mac OS Extended) if you don't need to access from Windows.

Would it work if I just dragged and dropped the application from my applications folder, or would I need to find all the files (like the .plist and all that)?

Yes. No matter where you run the application from, the .plists will go into ~/Library/Preferences.

 

[ikermalli]

Thanks! If I made one other partition into windows, what would I format that to? I will just need it for quick stuff for a sony ericsson phone, so how large should I make it?

 

[kastenbrust]

Thanks! If I made one other partition into windows, what would I format that to? I will just need it for quick stuff for a sony ericsson phone, so how large should I make it?

Fat

 

[spice weasel]

If you are going to be using this drive for backups, I would say just leave it as one HFS+ partition and use it for Time Machine. Then get another drive if you need it and put whatever you want on it. I'm not a fan of using my backup drive for anything other than back-ups.

 

[ikermalli]

If you are going to be using this drive for backups, I would say just leave it as one HFS+ partition and use it for Time Machine. Then get another drive if you need it and put whatever you want on it. I'm not a fan of using my backup drive for anything other than back-ups.

Can't afford it, if I could I would have done that.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Thanks! If I made one other partition into windows, what would I format that to? I will just need it for quick stuff for a sony ericsson phone, so how large should I make it?

I suggest formatting it to NTFS. Macs have read-only access by default, but you can enable read/write by installing MacFUSE and NTFS-3G.

5 GB ought to be enough if you're only going to be putting a few applications and no data on there.

 

[ikermalli]

For windows XP Pro version and the ericsson apps? How much space does windows itself take? I might need a few files like themes and firmwares for the phone though... so I guess 10 GB would be enough for sure then. Also, how would I boot from the external HDD?

 

[kastenbrust]

I suggest formatting it to NTFS. Macs have read-only access by default, but you can enable read/write by installing MacFUSE and NTFS-3G.

5 GB ought to be enough if you're only going to be putting a few applications and no data on there.

He said he only needs it for a few small files, and since he doesnt even know what formats are then i would advise against this. Fat will do just fine. Also what if he wanted to plug it into a third party mac? Sadly this is really only for people who know what they're doing.

 

[ikermalli]

He said he only needs it for a few small files, and since he doesnt even know what formats are then i would advise against this. Fat will do just fine. Also what if he wanted to plug it into a third party mac? Sadly this is really only for people who know what they're doing.

I can do things on a mac pretty easily, most stuff... It's just that I switched a few months ago, so I didn't know the formats I should use for external HDDs. You mean a hackintosh (third party mac)? I have a MacBook, no hackintoshes for me... mainly because I don't order online 😛... I mean, hackintoshes are BAD

 

[BlueRevolution]

I think kastenbrust was referring to other peoples' Macs.

 

[ikermalli]

Hey, sorry for all the n00b questions but what option is FAT or NTFS in disk utility? I got the Maxtor OneTouch 4 640 GB HDD

 

[BlueRevolution]

In Disk Utility, you should see a MS-DOS (FAT) option under volume format. If you've installed the programmes I mentioned, you'll also have Windows NT Filesystem (NTFS-3G).

 

[ikermalli]

I only get

Mac OS Extended
Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive)
Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive; Journaled)