Moving Itunes folder and partitioning a backup drive.

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Level 1

15 points

Moving Itunes folder and partitioning a backup drive.

I use a couple hundred gig external drive to backup my Ibook G4 on a regular basis, using SuperDuper! to perform the backup each time. Earlier today, I just about filled my internal Ibook hard drive when I added more music, so I thought I'd free up some hard drive space by moving the 27 gigs of music to the external drive.

Following the directions someone here graciously provided, I moved Itunes and the itunes library onto the external drive and cleared Itunes from my internal drive.....Then I realized the following problem:

When SuperDuper does a backup, it makes an exact copy of the current internal hard drive. When it does this next time, it will therefore erase my entire Itunes collection - right? So my question is: Can I somehow tell the external drive to create a partition outside of which I can place ITunes and the music so that when it makes a backup the Itunes files don't get erased?

Any thoughts appreciated.

7.

Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Oct 10, 2007 1:56 PM

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Answer 1

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cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Oct 10, 2007 7:48 PM in response to 7426k

7426k:

Are you saying that you have a single partition on your external HDD, that you have moved your iTunes Music folder there, and you also backup to the same partition? If I understood that right, it is not a very efficient operation.

+Can I somehow tell the external drive to create a partition outside of which I can place ITunes and the music so that when it makes a backup the Itunes files don't get erased?+
There are several utilities which claim to be able to partition on the fly:
iPartition
Volume Works
DriveGenius
Of those three, the only one I have reports of successfully completing partitioning on the fly is DriveGenius. However, you are talking about additional expense, and if this is your only copy of iTunes, you risk losing it if anything goes wrong.

If you have not yet deleted the iTunes Music folder from the internal HDD you may be better advised to partition the external HDD with one partition approximately the size of your internal HDD, and other partitions as you wish, one of which will house your iTunes music. That is the optimal way to go about the procedure. In any case, I believe you should be looking at a larger HDD for your iBook before very long.

You have run into the classic issue with SuperDuper. It is a great utility, but it does erase the destination drive to create an exact copy of the source drive. I suggest that in this case you use Carbon Copy Cloner. Download the latest version. Then uncheck the box to erase the destination drive. I suggest that after you download CCC that you carefully read the documentation before attempting anything. Since your only backup is at risk, you cannot be too cautious.

Please do post back should you have further questions or comments.

Good luck.

cornelius

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Answer 2

7426k Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 11, 2007 5:22 AM in response to cornelius

Thank you, Cornelius. That is very helpful information. When I moved ITunes to my external backup drive, I had no idea that partitioning it etc...would be so complex. I looked at expanding the internal memory of my laptop, but the total expansion ability is pretty limited and the cost is much, much more than an external drive would be. I'm attempting to "catalog" a pretty extensive series of live music shows in lossless format - that uses up a lot of space and I don't think the total available internal space on an IBook would hold it anyway.

in short, I think i'm just going to buy another external drive and move the itunes info to that one so I needn't worry about losing anything to partitioning or a backup.

In that case, I'll have all everything but Itunes and music on my laptop and backed up to an external. I'll have all the music on a separate external which is not backed up (for now, at least).

If you see any red flags or flaws in the above plan, please do mention them.

Thanks again -
7

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Answer 3

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Oct 11, 2007 7:55 AM in response to 7426k

+I looked at expanding the internal memory of my laptop, but the total expansion ability is pretty limited and the cost is much,+
Memory is often used with two different meanings, which sometimes become confused for each other. RAM memory are modules that are inserted inside the computer. Your computer will support up to 1 GB user installer RAM. Go to ramseeker.com and toggle the pulldown menu on the top left to your computer and it will bring up a list of popular brands of RAM with prices. I don't know how much RAM your computer currently has installed, but the most you can put in is a single 1 GB module.

Memory is also used to describe Hard Disk Drive capacity. This is what determines how much stuff you can store internally. Although I do not know exactly which model of iBook G4 you have, I can tell you that your computer will support an internal HDD up to 160 GB. Here is a list of available HDDs for your computer at OWC. Please note that although I chose the earlies iBook G4, as I don't know what model you have, the specs will be the same.

You mentioned getting a second external HDD, which is also an option. Depending on the size of your current external firewire HDD, it might be a good idea. However, if you have an external HDD of around 250 GB, one will be sufficient, and you might be ahead considering the internal drive. If you decide to go the external HDD route, be sure it is firewire or firewire/USB, and that it has the more reliable Oxford 911+ chipset. Here is a list of available firewire drives at OWC. You can buy these drives elsewhere, as you know, and maybe even at a lower cost. If you do, be sure to check for the Oxford 911+ chipset.

Please advise which way you decide to go, and if there is any way in which I can be of service.

Cheers.

cornelius

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Answer 4

7426k Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 11, 2007 12:49 PM in response to cornelius

Cornelius,

Thank you for your generosity in providing such a detailed reply - with links! I often make the mistake of using "memory" and "storage" interchangably. My current Ibook has a 512MB memory with a 1G upgrade, so that doesn't seem to be a problem at all. When I said memory earlier, I meant storage!

I had no idea that I could add 160G storage for such a low price - around $150? If I had known that, I would have done it awhile ago. At any rate, that will be my long term solution (I'm a grad student trying to finish my work, so $150 is actually a bit of money to me right now!). In the short-term: I went to an Apple Retailer (Small Dog) today and asked about the problem. FYI for anyone who happens to read this, here is what they suggested, which so far has worked beautifully.

Remember: I had moved my entire Itunes system and music into my backup external drive, and erased it from my internal. That created a problem because the next time I attempted to run SuperDuper backup, it would erase the Itunes and the music (since it creates an exact replica of the internal).

So, per the recommendation of the Small Dog folks, I:

1. Copied Itunes and all the music back to my internal drive where it started.
2. Partioned my external drive into an 80G partition (the size of my internal) and a 120G partition (the remaining storage) and named them "backup" and "Itunes" respectively. By partitioning the drive, I lost all the content on it - which was fine, because it was on my internal.
3. Ran SuperDuper and picked "backup" as my destination - that copied my entire system (including Itunes and the music, of course) onto the "backup" partition of the external.
4. Copied the Itunes system and music from my internal to the "Itunes" partition of the external.
5. Threw the Itunes system and music from my internal into the trash, then test-ran Itunes from the external - it worked fine.
6. Ran SuperDuper again, just to make sure that it would write to the "backup" partition without messing with the "itunes" partition. It did so.
7. "Emptied the trash" on the internal, freeing up almost 30G of internal hard drive space.

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Answer 5

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Oct 11, 2007 5:00 PM in response to 7426k

Congratulations! Good plan and well executed. Now you have bought yourself some time until you can buy your iBook a new, more capacious HDD. Actually, when I asked, in my earlier post, whether the iTunes Music Folder which you had copied to the external, was still on the internal (to which you did not respond), my thought was that if it were still there you could go ahead and partition, and if it had been deleted you could move it back and do exactly what you did. However, you were able to figure it out yourself, and you can give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

And now that you know that your 'Book will support a 160 GB HDD, and that the price is not out of reach, you can start saving your pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars for that hopefully-not-too-far-in-the-future day. Your next project is to install an internal HDD in your iBook. Step-by-step directions with pictures are available, so that task, though quite intensive and time consuming, is doable with a bit of gumption and a lot of patience.

Enjoy your new setup, and should you have further questions, comments or news, please do post back or start a new topic for a new issue.

Best Wishes.

cornelius

PS: Thank you for leaving feedback in Apple Discussions by marking "helpful" and "solved" posts.

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