Backing up Hd "error -61"

Much will depend upon what you want to use your external drive for.

1. Is the drive new?
2. If not what data is on it?
3. Do you need to use it on a PC?
4. Will you ever want to boot your Mac from it?
5. Will you ever want to boot a PC from it?
6. Will you ever want to boot a non-Intel Mac from it?

If it has no data on it and you only want to use it on your existing Mac then it is best to reformat it with Disk Utility to GUID and Mac OS Extended Journaled. I would partition into two with a bootable OS X on each.

If it has no data on it and you want to use it with both your Mac and a PC then reformat with GUID with a Mac OS Extended Journaled partition and a FAT32 partition. This will be able to boot your Mac. Individual files on FAT32 can be no larger than 4GB.

I have never seen an explanation of the disk icons in Disk Utility. In relation to hard disk drives the icons furthest left (including the top icon) are disks and those slightly further right are volumes (also called partitions). It can be confusing if there is only one volume on a disk.

To reformat a drive and destroy all existing data:

1. Open Disk Utility on another drive or an install DVD
2. Highlight the disk (not a volume)
3. Select Partition
4. Select 2 Partitions in Volume Scheme
5. Select Options
6. Select GUID and hit OK
7. Select Apply

To format a volume and destroy its data:

1. Highlight first volume
2. Select Erase - top sub-menu next to First Aid
3. Select Mac OS Extended Journaled
4. Name the volume and hit Erase button - at bottom right
5. Highlight next volume
6. Select Erase - top sub-menu next to First Aid
7. Select Mac OS Extended Journaled or FAT32
8. Name the volume and hit Erase button - at bottom right
9. Repeat for any further volumes

Unless there is no alternative I would not use a NTFS (Mac Fuse) driver or a PC equivalent - I do not know if you can boot with these.