External Hard Drive for Time Machine and for file storage

[gandave]

Hi!

I just recently got a Toshiba 2TB External HD. The desk-type. I am also a new Mac user. Is it possible to used my hard drive for both Time Machine and file storage? How will I be able to do that? What if I already have saved items in the hard drive?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RadDave]

Hi Gandave - although it is probably best to devote your external HD to Time Machine (TM), you can certainly store other data - you may want to partition the drive into two areas, i.e. one to store your TM backups and the other for the remainder of your data - just a suggestion. Check THIS LINK for questions regarding TM - good luck!

 

[benwiggy]

Is it possible to used my hard drive for both Time Machine and file storage? How will I be able to do that? What if I already have saved items in the hard drive?

Yes, TM will use any available space on the drive, and you can continue to store other files on the drive.

However, the purpose of a backup is to provide redundancy. If one drive fails (either the source or the backup), then you have another copy. What will happen to the data on your backup drive if the backup drive fails?

 

[gandave]

Thank you for your help, RadDave and benwiggy!

Is it possible though to set the partitions when I have already saved some files on my hard drive?

 

[RadDave]

Thank you for your help, RadDave and benwiggy!

Is it possible though to set the partitions when I have already saved some files on my hard drive?

Hi again Gandave - I believe that you can partition your external hard drive and save the data depending on the circumstances; NOW, I've not done this process, so cannot provide advice based on my own experience.

Please check out these two links on the OS X Disk Utility - LINK 1 - LINK 2; of course, you could always copy the files to another location, partition the external HD, and then copy the files back to the partition desired - good luck! Dave