New HD..... file setup help

[TShirtJohn]

Ok so I had my standard 320GB in my mac pro.... I got a 1TB which i used for file storage and partitioned for windows via fusion

I just got a new seagate hybrid today which is 500GB, I already made a 75GB partition and formatted it as MS-Dos for my windows setup

I'm guessing it's as easy as copying and pasting my windows files from the old drive to the new drive?

But what about my itunes setup and my user documents?

I'm wanting to make my main drive as streamlined as possible so that I can swap it with a 128GB ssd drive asap so i figure i can do that by removing the itunes folder and my docs folder to the new drive

Then use my 1TB drive for time machine to save me doing backups manually


Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[r0k]

Ok so I had my standard 320GB in my mac pro.... I got a 1TB which i used for file storage and partitioned for windows via fusion

I just got a new seagate hybrid today which is 500GB, I already made a 75GB partition and formatted it as MS-Dos for my windows setup

I'm guessing it's as easy as copying and pasting my windows files from the old drive to the new drive?

But what about my itunes setup and my user documents?

I'm wanting to make my main drive as streamlined as possible so that I can swap it with a 128GB ssd drive asap so i figure i can do that by removing the itunes folder and my docs folder to the new drive

Then use my 1TB drive for time machine to save me doing backups manually


Any input and advice would be greatly appreciated

I have the same Seagate hybrid as you but I'm not sure what files you are talking about copying and pasting. Are you trying to duplicate a bootable windows partition? If so, copying and pasting will not work. Then you talk about swapping with a 128 GB SSD drive. If that's what you are planning to do, why did you bother with the Seagate drive in the first place?

Then you mention your itunes setup and user documents but don't mention how much space they each take up. I'm afraid I can't come up with any specific recommendations unless I understand the sizes of the stuff you are trying to manage and where you prefer those files to reside. I would think you would put ALL your data on the 1TB drive and use the 128 GB SSD only for booting the OS and applications. Of course I still don't see how the Seagate disk is useful to you when you say you want to wind up with a 128 GB SSD after all is said and done.

Perhaps you could provide us a diagram of what files you have now and where they reside and where you want them to wind up. Of course in the process of doing that you may wind up answering your own question.

I can say that I have the Seagate drive in my Macbook and I don't feel the need to swap it out for an SSD drive. It's fast enough and I don't want to rip out my optical drive to make room for a "data drive" so I could live with a 64 or 128 GB SSD. I suppose if 500 GB SSD came down to a hundred bucks I'd have to do it but for now I'm happy with the 500 GB Seagate Momentus XT.

 

[TShirtJohn]

At the moment my Macintosh HD uses 181GB of data

My when I click on my username it tells me it's using 120GB

So i'd like to move the "my documents" and other data (ie music/video files) to the new partition that i've created on the new hybrid drive

I copied and pasted the fusion files to the new partition i'd created and it worked fine... fusion asked if i'd moved the files and to where... problem solved

anyway i've attached a screen shot that should make some sense

The 1TB drive I want to keep for backup as i got files that if I lost them i'd be screwed for life!! lol

The My Mac documents and the Hyb Window drive is the new Hybrid 500GB drive I stuck in that I want to use for my user data

 

[r0k]

At the moment my Macintosh HD uses 181GB of data

My when I click on my username it tells me it's using 120GB

So i'd like to move the "my documents" and other data (ie music/video files) to the new partition that i've created on the new hybrid drive

I copied and pasted the fusion files to the new partition i'd created and it worked fine... fusion asked if i'd moved the files and to where... problem solved

anyway i've attached a screen shot that should make some sense

The 1TB drive I want to keep for backup as i got files that if I lost them i'd be screwed for life!! lol

The My Mac documents and the Hyb Window drive is the new Hybrid 500GB drive I stuck in that I want to use for my user data

You said you needed to back up 180 GB worth of stuff but I think you only need to worry about 120 GB worth of stuff (or less)... I notice that your tshirtjohn folder is your home folder and the 120 gb it shows is the SUM of all your stuff including documents, pictures, music, etc. It shows 29 GB on your desktop? What on earth is on your desktop? Anyway, you don't need 180 GB to back up your home folder, only 120 GB.

Now for the or less part ... A lot of that might not need to be backed up as it includes things sitting in library/application support that you may decide you don't need backed up. For instance, mail.app keeps a copy of your email on your mac and if you have a copy someplace else, you might decide you don't need the copy sitting in mail.app. I had this situation recently when mail.app failed to load after I initially upgraded my HDD. After migrating from a recent TM backup, mail.app refused to load. Rather than wait f-o-r-e-v-e-r for mail.app to "convert" stuff it shouldn't need to touch, I found my mail folder and deleted it along with mail.app's plist files, set up my email all over again and had everything re-downloaded in a fraction of the time mail.app would have taken to finish whatever thrashing it was doing.

It sounds like you got everything working by copying "my documents" to the 75 GB partition but you mention you can't afford to lose the stuff on the 1TB drive. I suggest you get a 1TB firewire or USB drive and copy everything over to it from your 1TB drive. The chances of 2 physical disks going at the same instant is rather small so you shouldn't "lose everything" if either your 1TB internal or your 1TB external drive bites the dust. I also suggest you consider replacing any rotating media that is more than 3 years old as at 3 years you are approaching the time when consumer grade hard drives start to fail. It was this 3 year criteria that led me to replace my 160 GB internal drive with the Seagate Momentus XT.

 

[TShirtJohn]

I got files in the storage drive that need backed up... work stuff

also i got other files on a removable drive

I got folders on my desktop that hold work stuff too


yeah i know I just need to move it all to the one place and work from there


I just wanted to point to the new drive for my desktop and user files so that i can replace the old drive that my os is on with a 120gb SSD as the OS/Program files are only about 80odd GB so the 120gb would be fine for that

Might seem a little OTT but makes it alot easier in the long run I think.... a 120GB ssd is only about £200 anyway?

 

[TShirtJohn]

So you saying I should just stick my MacOS onto the remaining 400GB partition?

What's the safest way to do that?

 

[TShirtJohn]

Anyone?

 

[r0k]

So you saying I should just stick my MacOS onto the remaining 400GB partition?

What's the safest way to do that?

Anyone?

Not sure what you mean by "remaining 400GB partition". You are talking about installing a 120GB SSD (which I just did in my wife's machine and her machine is now the fastest in the house). Do you want to boot from the SSD and put your user files and data on a 400GB partition on another drive? I'm not sure I understand your question but based on my limited understanding of what you are asking here is what I would do...

1 - I would use an external USB to SATA interface and use Carbon Copy Cloner to make the SSD a bootable drive.
a - partition as 1 partition - GUID partition table
b - format and name it Macintosh HD

2 - Use CCC to clone your bootable OS X drive to the SSD using the non-archive option

3 - Reboot holding option and pick the USB drive so you can test that it is indeed bootable.

4 - shut down and swap the ssd in for your old boot drive

Now that you are booting from an SSD, you can do things with your old boot drive. You can format the old partition you were booting from and use it for data. (Is this the part where you are talking about a 400 GB partition?)

All of this can be done with it connected via the usb to sata cable.

I'm not sure how many sata drives the mac pro supports. You might be able to get away without the usb to sata cable but as a Mini owner, I find it more convenient to do all the drive setup tasks using the cable before I break out the putty knives to actually swap drives.

 

[TShirtJohn]

Hi

Cheers for the reply again

I was going to get a SSD drive but think the hybrid might be fast enough for now until the SSD drives become a little more improved

The hybrid drive was 500GB so I split it into 2 partitions, first one I used for fusion and a windows setup leaving me with 400odd GB partition

That's the partition I wanted to put my MacOS onto.... and i'll just disconnect my drive that my OS is on the now and store it away incase anything goes wrong in the future (not the best backup method but it will work for now

The Mac Pro holds upto 4 (or 5) SATA drives

That make sense now? lol