Remove NTFS partition from Time Machine backup disk

[murdoc158]

I've got a 1.5TB Seagate external drive. I've got 1TB set aside for Time Machine and general document backups. The second partition was formatted as NTFS and used to backup my Windows desktop. Is there anyway I can remove the NTFS partition without formatting the entire disk and loosing my Time Machine backups?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Tried Disk Utility yet?

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Links to guides on how to use Disk Utility, the application Mac OS X provides for managing internal and external HDD/SSDs and its formats.

Guide on how to use Disk Utility from the restore / installation DVD.

Using Disk Utility - Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks

which includes:

• Format, Erase, or Reformat a Drive
• Erase or Reformat a Partition
• Add a Partition
• Deleting and Resizing Partitions
• Disk Formats

and some more guides
​

DiskWiping – One Pass is Enough​

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[murdoc158]

I played around with Disk Utility before I posted. I was hoping to see a slider I could move like resizing a Boot Camp partition. If I format the NTFS partition (which I no longer need) I will be able to add it to my existing Time Machine partition without loosing any data?

 

[r0k]

I played around with Disk Utility before I posted. I was hoping to see a slider I could move like resizing a Boot Camp partition. If I format the NTFS partition (which I no longer need) I will be able to add it to my existing Time Machine partition without loosing any data?

Careful. If you delete the NTFS partition, it should now show up as free space. You can then grab the lower right corner of your TM partition and "drag" it to fill the drive and expanding it to fill the drive shouldn't lose any data. However, if the partitions aren't adjacent to one another, you probably can't combine them without wiping the drive (and doing without your TM backups until you let TM back everything up all over again).

I have had to wipe my TM backups several times. It's no big deal as long as your main HDD doesn't die before TM has time to back it all up again. Apple support actually convinced me to delete it the first time when my destination volume got corrupted due to a bug that dealt with the Mac going to sleep during a wifi backup session. The bug has since been patched.

 

[murdoc158]

Careful. If you delete the NTFS partition, it should now show up as free space. You can then grab the lower right corner of your TM partition and "drag" it to fill the drive and expanding it to fill the drive shouldn't lose any data. However, if the partitions aren't adjacent to one another, you probably can't combine them without wiping the drive (and doing without your TM backups until you let TM back everything up all over again).

I have had to wipe my TM backups several times. It's no big deal as long as your main HDD doesn't die before TM has time to back it all up again. Apple support actually convinced me to delete it the first time when my destination volume got corrupted due to a bug that dealt with the Mac going to sleep during a wifi backup session. The bug has since been patched.

Thanks,
There are only 2 partitions so they should be adjacent to each other. The main reason for keeping the TM backup was because it still has 60GB of my pre iTunes Match music on it and my Macbook Pro HDD does not have enough room for me to pull it off to format the entire drive.

 

[r0k]

I do suggest you invest in an additional drive. For about 50 bucks you can get a 500 GB USB drive or for around $150 you can get a network drive either by LaCie or WD. For a little more you can get a Time Capsule and for more still you can go with Synology or Drobo.

When you are down to one copy of something, you are one lightning strike away from having nothing at all so get another drive that you can afford and before 3 years (typical rotating media failure date) replace it with something better. Always keep 2 "live" copies of stuff you care about so you won't have to come back to MR with one of those HELP ME PLEASE I JUST LOST MY DATA threads. I mean if you really want you can use your MBP to burn that stuff to data DVDs which I think only cost about 50 cents these days so for five bucks your stuff could be backed up on optical disk. And no, they don't last forever either in case you're thinking that copy would be good enough.