How can I backup my mac to an External HD but then return it to factory settings?

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Level 1

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How can I backup my mac to an External HD but then return it to factory settings?

I recently got a Macbook Pro from my relative who lives with me but he still has all of his pictures, music, documents, etc. on it. He gave me his "Mac Backup" 500GB TimeMachine enabled external hard drive to save everything to it completely for him. The EHD, has 180 GB left, is Mac OS X Extended (journaled) and obviously already has some previous Time Machine Backups. How can I save everything that is still on the MBP now to the EHD? I then want to know how I can turn the Mac to factory settings so I can use it for my own personal things (school, music, programming etc.). Also, my relative says since he would no longer have a macintosh computer, so he would probably not be able to access anything from the hard drive on his Windows 7 computers. Is this true, and would he then just have to just plug his EHD into my MBP anytime he wants to access his media? I would appreciate if any would please recommend the best way I could do this. Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 10, 2013 8:54 AM

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Answer 1

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Aug 10, 2013 9:02 AM in response to YraYra

If he is moving to or going back to a Windows system then you need to save just his personal files to a drive that is formatted in a Windows format. For that the drive should be formatted FAT32 as both Windows and OS X can read and write to that format.

You can also network the 2 system and directly copy over from the Mac to the Windows PC. But if you aren't familar with networking it is best to use an external drive.

Since the drive you now have is formatted in the OS X Mac format you'll need a second external drive.

After all his files are copied to an external then you use either the original system DVD discs, if the system is older than a 2011 model, or the Recovery HD and or the Online Internet Recovery system.

Post back with the model year of the Mac. Go to the Apple logo icon in the menu bar and select "About This Mac" and the model year will be listed.

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Answer 2

Aug 10, 2013 9:13 AM in response to YraYra

The backup should probably be done by your relative. He should restore any data he needs from his time machine backup, erase and reformat the external hard drive to 'fat32' ( a format that can be used by both mac and pc), and then manually drag all the data he wants to save back to the external drive (not using time machine).

The procedure that you would use to 'clean install' the operating system depends on what operation system you are running on the machine.

I would also recomend buying your own external drive for backup.

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Answer 3

YraYra Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 10, 2013 10:32 AM in response to LowLuster

LowLuster,

I think don't see the model year blatantly written out, but it does say 1983-2011 at the bottom and I do still have both DVD install discs. I actually might try networking the two computers though, because I do know fairly enough out computers to do so (I am A+ Certified and working towards Network +). Could you tell me how you would do it?

YraYra

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Answer 4

YraYra Author

Level 1

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Aug 10, 2013 10:41 AM in response to victoryhat

Victoryhat,

Since both of you recommended FAT32 and a new external hard drive, I will make sure to work with my relative and do so. And I have Snow Leopard I believe (or whatever 10.6.8 is) but I plan on upgrading to 10.7 Mountain Lion. Should I use the DVD install disc first and then upgrade to Mountain Lion on the Mac App Store, or just buy a the Mountain Lion software?

YraYra

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Answer 5

Aug 10, 2013 11:00 AM in response to YraYra

I would use the install disk first. After you clean or 'reinstall' snow leopard you can install the ilife apps disk by just inserting it and running the installer. when i upgraded from snow leopard to lion on my old machine I waited untill after I installed Lion to install the ilife applications disk. Here is the link to the exact instructions on how to clean install snow leopard.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910

Message was edited by: victoryhat

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Answer 6

Aug 10, 2013 10:58 AM in response to YraYra

The begining of the instructions are a little confusing, but just install the disk, restart the machine while holding down the C key, and then follow the rest of the instructions.

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Answer 7

Aug 10, 2013 11:13 AM in response to YraYra

Sorry for the multiple replies.

I would save the money and use snow leopard for as long as Apple continues to support the operating system. The only reason I upgraded to lion was to get the syncing functions because I had just bought an iPhone. Snow Leopard is an outstanding opperating system.

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Answer 8

YraYra Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 10, 2013 7:37 PM in response to victoryhat

Oh no, all of your replies helped me a lot. Thanks and bunch and I will make sure to take your advice. Also LowLuster I would still like that information about networking. The I will format it to FAT32 and save the money I would have used for the other hard drive. Thanks to both of you enjoy the points!

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