How to extend hard drive

Just read the reviews for external hard drives and buy one, or two... 🙂 Entirely up to you as to what you purchase. No special configuration is NEEDED as such, just format the new drive OSX Extended and you're away.

Since you have two other users on the machine, having your iphoto file on an external makes sense, because as you know already the other two can't see the main library if it is under your user account. On an external, you can configure their accounts to see the library.

Documents, same answer, all will see the docs on the external if that is what you wish.

Itunes...not sure...do the other two users have their own libraries?

I honestly don't know so I would not want to lead you in the wrong direction. Having said that, here is what I would try myself...

1. Copy ALL music and video files to a folder on the external.

2. MOVE the files which are on your machine in the itunes folder to another folder on your machine and leave them there for now ( i.e. you still have a back up )

3. Open itunes and remove everything from the library (you might alerts to the effect the files are gone from step 2 but that's OK, just remove from the library anyway)

4. Close itunes

5. Open itunes

6. Go through the normal itunes import to library procedure, but import the folder on the external (for each user?) - this should mean everyone has access to everything. What I don't know is whether there is a setting which stops itunes importing copies of the files into it's own folder...there must be, surely...you'd hope.

What I would have done is to buy two externals, not one. They will always fail eventually and I think nothing is backed up unless it is backed up twice..at least. So, with that in mind...

8. Copy all your files in your external folder to another external, unplug it, and leave it somewhere safe 🙂

I would definitely invest in two external hard drives.One for just data storage and for creating another bootable copy of OS X to run off on if something should happen to the internal hard drive.

And use the second drive for Time Machine backups only.

You can use twomof the same capacity storage drives, if you want or your can have the Time Machine backup drive larger if you prefer.

The easiest way to transfer everything from your internal hard drive to the new external drive is to first format the drive, using OS X Disk Utility. Formatting as an Mac OS X extended journaled format, using the GUID partition scheme.

Then use a data cloning app such as CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to completely clone your iMac's internal hard drive to the new external drive. This will make a completely bootable external drive.

Once you are convinced that everything is on the external drive, you can go into iTunes and iPhoto and redirect their libraries via the last part of the instructions I have linked here.

Then, you can start deleting all of the large folders and files off of the internal drive and start cleaning it out.

Here is the link to just properly moving both your iTunes and iPhoto libraries to an external drive.

If you use the data cloning method, I describe earlier, then you only need to concern yourself with redirecting where both iTunes and iPhoto to the libraries on the new external drive.

http://mac.tutsplus.com/tutorials/media/how-to-move-your-itunes-iphoto-or-apertu re-library-to-an-external-drive/

As far as hard drives go, I prefer either FireWire 800 or Thunderbolt ext. hard drives. Especially a fast connect drive for a bootable drive. You do not mention what year, screen size, CPU speed of your iMac. So, it may not have Thunderbolt connections.

My preferences are for ext. hard drives from OWC (macsales.com). Their Mercury Pro line and Mini stack lines of ext. HDs are great! The Mini stack line leaves a smaller footprint on your tabletop.

I, also, use Lacie ext hard drives. These are built like a rock, too, and have real good longevity.

You could use one of these for your second hard drive just for Time Machine.

Good Luck!

Also, FYI, you can't "extended" any libraries as you imply like leaving iTunes and iPhoto libraries on the internal drive and extending out those libraries to the external hard drives. Can't be done.

iTunes and iPhoto can only address one library at a time.

If you clone your entire internal drive to the external one, it's like you have made an exact duplicate of your internal hard drive. You won't have any additonal issues to worry about.

Things will still the same with the exception that you will have to give permission to other users to see the files, on the ext. hard drive, that you want them to be able to see.

😉