WD External HDD + Time Machine - HELP

[HelixOmnimedia]

Hello,

I need some help.

I installed Leopard today, and once everything was up and running, I started to use Time Machine. First off I had to move 80GB of stuff on the external to my PowerBook, as Time Machine required that the extHDD be reformatted.

So I decided to go ahead and let Time Machine do it's thing. It erases and reformatted - Icon now Time Machine-Like and Name Change.

WHAT A MISTAKE!

I still want to use my external HDD as storage for all my iTunes Music, Movies and TV Shows, along with other documents that I don't want on my Mac...
I do want to use Time Machine, but only on certain docs on the mac but not the whole system.

WHAT DO I DO?

Please HELP!
Thanks.

 

[Dimwhit]

Time Machine doesn't require the drive to be reformatted, unless it's using a different format than what your drive has.

You should be able to still copy all that stuff to the external. Time Machine will share the drive with anything else. That stuff won't be backed up, but if you don't need it to be, then you're fine.

 

[HelixOmnimedia]

Time Machine doesn't require the drive to be reformatted, unless it's using a different format than what your drive has.

I had to be reformatted, so I assume that it was a different format. So that's why everything was moved off the external and onto my PB, and they Time Machine did its things.

You should be able to still copy all that stuff to the external. Time Machine will share the drive with anything else. That stuff won't be backed up, but if you don't need it to be, then you're fine.

Let me get this correct in my head. Even through it has been reformatted to work with Time Machine, I can still drag the my "iTunes Media" Folder (stuff not on laptop) and keep it stored on the external??

Just that I read about people partitioning (is that the right word) large drive so that say: 300GB for Files and 200GB for Time Machine?

Again thanks for any clarification.

 

[crazycat]

I had a few files on my external hard drive that i did not need since i already moved it to leopard after i installed it. I started time machine thinking that it will formate the external hard drive, it did not. I still have my files on my external hard drive and my time machine backup file called "Backups.backupdb". Time machine works without a problem.

Hope this helps.

 

[cuanurse]

Hello,

I need some help.

I installed Leopard today, and once everything was up and running, I started to use Time Machine. First off I had to move 80GB of stuff on the external to my PowerBook, as Time Machine required that the extHDD be reformatted.

So I decided to go ahead and let Time Machine do it's thing. It erases and reformatted - Icon now Time Machine-Like and Name Change.

WHAT A MISTAKE!

I still want to use my external HDD as storage for all my iTunes Music, Movies and TV Shows, along with other documents that I don't want on my Mac...
I do want to use Time Machine, but only on certain docs on the mac but not the whole system.

WHAT DO I DO?

Please HELP!
Thanks.

I am using my external hard drive to back up using Time Machine. I also have dragged my media files onto the HD. It didn't need to be reformatted and Time Machine is still able to use it to back up.

 

[HelixOmnimedia]

Thanks for all the information and help.

Everything seems to be sorted now.

Thanks again.