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ZBologna

Q: external hard drive

im confuse about my external hard drive

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 20, 2016 1:51 PM

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Q: external hard drive

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  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Apr 20, 2016 1:53 PM in response to ZBologna
    Level 7 (25,850 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 20, 2016 1:53 PM in response to ZBologna

    You may want to reply with more details. What about the external drive are you confused about?

  • by ZBologna,

    ZBologna ZBologna Apr 20, 2016 1:58 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2016 1:58 PM in response to FoxFifth

    Hi, sorry for the vague question. I have a Lacie external hard drive that I use, connected with time machine on my desk top Mac. My question is the proper way to use the Lacie drive. Should I put all the folders and files I have on my desk top on the drive? or a copy of them all? will they be updated if I do? also, whats the point of having a desk top if all files must be moved to the hard drive for safety?

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Apr 20, 2016 2:14 PM in response to ZBologna
    Level 7 (31,893 points)
    iPad
    Apr 20, 2016 2:14 PM in response to ZBologna

    If you are using Time Machine on the external drive, then everything on your computer will already be backed up.

     

    It is best not to put other things on a Time Machine drive because TM is designed to use up all the space available and may get confused if it sees other things and, at some point, delete your other files. If you want more than one thing backed up, the best way to make use of an external drive would be to partition it: use one for Time Machine, and a smaller one for other stuff. Remember: if you decide to partition it, you may lose whatever you have on there.

     

    As for your files: it does not make them more safe to have them on your hard drive - whatever is on your desktop (or anywhere else on your computer) is ALL stored on your hard drive. However, it helps not to have the desktop cluttered with many files as each one is seen as something that needs to be launched every time you boot up. So, a good place to store files/folders is in Home Folder > Documents. Put them there and access them via the Documents shortcut in the dock.

  • by pokey b,

    pokey b pokey b Apr 20, 2016 2:16 PM in response to ZBologna
    Level 3 (567 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 20, 2016 2:16 PM in response to ZBologna

    No, you should use the external drive only for Time Machine. You do not want or need to move files to the external drive. Time Machine will do all the work. It automatically backs up everything on your internal hard drive on the Mac. It does this once an hour, making incremental backups (only the changes that have occurred in the last hour). Still, some people (myself included) keep a second external hard drive back up, but a second external drive is optional, unless your data is very valuable and or irreplaceable.

  • by FoxFifth,

    FoxFifth FoxFifth Apr 20, 2016 2:19 PM in response to ZBologna
    Level 7 (25,850 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 20, 2016 2:19 PM in response to ZBologna

    If I understand correctly you have a Lacie external drive and you either already are or you want to use it to store your Time Machine backups. If that is correct, you don't manually move or copy anything from your Mac to the external drive -- you let Time Machine automatically backup to the drive. It will also automatically keep the backup updated. The following instructions should help: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

     

    re:

    also, whats the point of having a desk top if all files must be moved to the hard drive for safety

    You don't actually move the files to the external hard drive. You let Time Machine create and maintain a backup copy on that drive. Then if there is a hardware failure, software glitch, or you mistakenly delete something on the desktop you will have a way to recover it.

  • by ZBologna,

    ZBologna ZBologna Apr 20, 2016 2:22 PM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2016 2:22 PM in response to babowa

    Extremely helpfull! Thanks so much for explaining this all =)

  • by ZBologna,

    ZBologna ZBologna Apr 20, 2016 2:23 PM in response to FoxFifth
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 20, 2016 2:23 PM in response to FoxFifth

    Wow, so helpful thank you =)