Expand storage and backup

[i-sidd]

Ok, I am a little behidn in times meaning, I have not used Time machine. I have a 2006 macbook which I am planning to replace with a MBA 128gb.

I have a 1tb external HDD and 500 gb portable external HDD.

The 500gb portabel holds movies and is connected to my TV to access movies in it and is formatted in NTFS so that it can write 4 gb or larger files as well as thats the format the tv recognizes.

I want to point the itunes and iphoto library to the external HDD so that I can have space on my MBA.

I also want to be able to back up to the external drive? Do I have to do the backup manually or TM will do it automatically if the external drive is conencted?

Now I have all teh pcitures in folders in my external drive, how will I be able to get them into the iphoto library when I get the new MBA.

 

[GGJstudios]

I want to point the itunes and iphoto library to the external HDD so that I can have space on my MBA.

One method is to have one iTunes library, with your favorite music stored on your internal drive, so it's available when you're mobile, with the remainder stored on an external drive.

How to split a single iTunes library over two or more media locations

Freeing up space in Mac OS X

I also want to be able to back up to the external drive? Do I have to do the backup manually or TM will do it automatically if the external drive is conencted?

If you want to use an external drive for backups, it must be formatted as HFS+. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make bootable clones, and have mine set to automatically backup whenever the external drive is connected. You can also set up a backup schedule.

Now I have all teh pcitures in folders in my external drive, how will I be able to get them into the iphoto library when I get the new MBA.

You can simply import the photos into iPhoto from the external drive.

 

[i-sidd]

One method is to have one iTunes library, with your favorite music stored on your internal drive, so it's available when you're mobile, with the remainder stored on an external drive.

How to split a single iTunes library over two or more media locations

Freeing up space in Mac OS X

If you want to use an external drive for backups, it must be formatted as HFS+. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make bootable clones, and have mine set to automatically backup whenever the external drive is connected. You can also set up a backup schedule.

You can simply import the photos into iPhoto from the external drive.

Thanks for your response and suggestions.

Could you explain a little about carbon copy cloner. Do I have to purchase this app?

So I can have one external HDD to backup formatted with HFS and the other NTFS I can host all my movies.
Fo rth itunes and iphot libarary doed the external drive have to be formatted in HFS or can it be NTFS.

 

[Weaselboy]

Could you explain a little about carbon copy cloner. Do I have to purchase this app?

You only need CCC if you really need a bootable backup. It costs $29.

If you just want to backup your data there is no need to spend the money and Time Machine works just fine.

So I can have one external HDD to backup formatted with HFS and the other NTFS I can host all my movies.

Yes

Fo rth itunes and iphot libarary doed the external drive have to be formatted in HFS or can it be NTFS.

Needs to be HFS+.

 

[Fishrrman]

For a low-cost and flexible solution, consider one of these gadgets:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock
(Many items shown, they all work the same, just pick one you like that's cheap)

Then, pick up one or more "bare" SATA drives from the vendor of your choice. Once in a while, you can even find someone who has an unused drive just lying around.

Put the bare drive in the dock, initialize it, then use it for backup or just "random storage".

You can even boot from the docked drive if necessary. A USB/SATA dock will become a very handy piece of hardware to have in your drawer or on your desktop.

 

[GGJstudios]

Could you explain a little about carbon copy cloner. Do I have to purchase this app?

CCC versions before 3.5 are free. Beginning with version 3.5, CCC is $39.95. The earlier version works fine on Lion and earlier. You only need 3.5 if you're on Mountain Lion.