Update and HDD question

[Labhras]

Hi all - I have two questions

- first, has the 10.9.5 update brought any problem to anyone? I'm not using external monitors so that's not a concern, but what about everything else?

- second, I'm considering partitioning my HDD for both TM backups and storage. I found this article http://www.macworld.com/article/2090021/delete-mac-partitions-without-losing-data.html about deleting the second partition without losing data. Is it still viable for today's mac? And in that case, can you only delete the second partition or would you be able to resize it?

 

[redheeler]

- first, has the 10.9.5 update brought any problem to anyone? I'm not using external monitors so that's not a concern, but what about everything else?

10.9.5 is mostly bug fixes and security updates, if you're on an earlier version of Mavericks there isn't any reason not to update.

- second, I'm considering partitioning my HDD for both TM backups and storage. I found this article http://www.macworld.com/article/2090021/delete-mac-partitions-without-losing-data.html about deleting the second partition without losing data. Is it still viable for today's mac? And in that case, can you only delete the second partition or would you be able to resize it?

Yes, as long as the partition scheme is GUID, deleting and resizing partitions is possible through Disk Utility.

 

[Labhras]

Yes, as long as the partition scheme is GUID, deleting and resizing partitions is possible through Disk Utility.

Perfect, thanks for clearing that up. A quick question, since the partitioning essentially deletes everything on the drive, should I format it before or after doing it?

 

[redheeler]

Perfect, thanks for clearing that up. A quick question, since the partitioning essentially deletes everything on the drive, should I format it before or after doing it?

Repartitioning the drive does essentially the same thing as a reformat, although if the partition scheme is already GUID you can add a new partition without deleting the old one.

 

[Labhras]

Repartitioning the drive does essentially the same thing as a reformat, although if the partition scheme is already GUID you can add a new partition without deleting the old one.

It's an Amazon bought one, and I think it's formatted NTFS, that's why I asked.
So if the partition scheme it's not GUID and I partition the drive with that scheme, there's no need for a HFS+ reformat, right?

 

[redheeler]

It's an Amazon bought one, and I think it's formatted NTFS, that's why I asked.
So if the partition scheme it's not GUID and I partition the drive with that scheme, there's no need for a HFS+ reformat, right?

Right, the drive will be reformatted as HFS+ as long as you select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" when creating your partitions.

 

[Labhras]

Right, the drive will be reformatted as HFS+ as long as you select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" when creating your partitions.

Thanks For TM I remember reading that it makes daily backups - so I should see a daily build up of backup occupied space on my Mac HD for new or modified files until I connect the drive to the Mac?

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks For TM I remember reading that it makes daily backups - so I should see a daily build up of backup occupied space on my Mac HD for new or modified files until I connect the drive to the Mac?

TM actually backs up hourly, or when you connect the drive.

You will see a little bit of space used by Time Machine's local snapshots. What that does is keep files you have deleted in a hidden folder you can restore from the Time Machine interface. But that will happen no matter how often you backup.

 

[Labhras]

TM actually backs up hourly, or when you connect the drive.

You will see a little bit of space used by Time Machine's local snapshots. What that does is keep files you have deleted in a hidden folder you can restore from the Time Machine interface. But that will happen no matter how often you backup.

Thanks for the explanation. Advice needed - since most of my friends/relatives use Windows, and this HDD would be my "travel drive" to avoid bringing along two or three, would it be good to have three partitions, with the third formatted as exFAT in case I have to transfer files from their laptops? Or would it just mess everything up?

Also, I've heard people discouraging from using the same disk for both TM and storage. Since this wouldn't be a "real" storage disk at least for a while, but more of a "emergency storage" when I travel and want access to certain media and documents, what do you think?

 

[redheeler]

Thanks for the explanation. Advice needed - since most of my friends/relatives use Windows, and this HDD would be my "travel drive" to avoid bringing along two or three, would it be good to have three partitions, with the third formatted as exFAT in case I have to transfer files from their laptops? Or would it just mess everything up?

It should work fine, and is a good idea since Windows does not get along with HFS+ very well.

Also, I've heard people discouraging from using the same disk for both TM and storage. Since this wouldn't be a "real" storage disk at least for a while, but more of a "emergency storage" when I travel and want access to certain media and documents, what do you think?

I also use my TM backup disk for storage, the only disadvantage I can see from doing this is that it wears the drive out a little faster.

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks for the explanation. Advice needed - since most of my friends/relatives use Windows, and this HDD would be my "travel drive" to avoid bringing along two or three, would it be good to have three partitions, with the third formatted as exFAT in case I have to transfer files from their laptops? Or would it just mess everything up?

Also, I've heard people discouraging from using the same disk for both TM and storage. Since this wouldn't be a "real" storage disk at least for a while, but more of a "emergency storage" when I travel and want access to certain media and documents, what do you think?

Not a problem at all having those partitions on there like you mentioned. exFat works well for that, although it is not a journaled file system and not as stable as HFS+ or NTFS. But for some files just to share that you have stored elsewhere for backup, it is fine.

 

[Labhras]

Not a problem at all having those partitions on there like you mentioned. exFat works well for that, although it is not a journaled file system and not as stable as HFS+ or NTFS. But for some files just to share that you have stored elsewhere for backup, it is fine.

I had read that as well, but it would be only a "just in case" partition - if a friend wants to pass me a large file from a Windows pc and I have only that mac drive there would be problems lol. A 20-30GB partition should suffice I think.

On another matter, a guide I read said to Erase and format the drive as HFS+ before partitioning because it was important and avoided problems, but here we said that simply partitioning the two main spaces with the GUID scheme would suffice.... which one between the two?

On this matter - for the exFAT partition, I should the "master boot record" scheme, right?

 

[Weaselboy]

On another matter, a guide I read said to Erase and format the drive as HFS+ before partitioning because it was important and avoided problems, but here we said that simply partitioning the two main spaces with the GUID scheme would suffice.... which one between the two?

On this matter - for the exFAT partition, I should the "master boot record" scheme, right?

There is no need to format first. Just go to the partition tab in DU and select how many you want, then click each one and set it to the format you want and apply the change and you will be good to go.

Just leave the exFAT one at the default GUID. MBR only matters if you were using it for a boot partition. I would make the exFAT one last so you can always remove it and nondestructively resize the one above it if you want.