Time machine with external hard drive

[abhinavn]

Can I use time machine to back up my data without formatting the external hard drive .. If not please let me know if there is a way to back up to hard drive without using time machine.. Thank you

 

[ian.maffett]

Depends. Is it currently formatted for Mac? If it is, you can just use the free space on it as a "Time Capsule" - that's how mine is set up.
If it's formatted for PC, you're kinda outa luck...

 

[abhinavn]

It is formatted for PC

 

[ian.maffett]

Unfortunately, that won't work for you - your Mac can't write to the drive if it's formatted NTFS for Windows.

 

[abhinavn]

So I have to format that drive.. Is there any other way to back it up on to the external drive?

 

[ian.maffett]

Well, IF it's formatted FAT32, you can write to it manually (drag n drop files) so you can back your selections up manually. However, if it's NTFS, you won't be able to write to it at all. Regardless, neither of these options will allow you to us it as a TM drive - TM requires HFS+ format.