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User profile for user: jayemT
jayemT Author
User level: Level 1
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back up iMac and macbook air to external WD hard drive

I have been using WD Mybook 2TB external hard drive to back up my iMac 27" late 2009 . OSX 10.9.3

(i think I use Time machine and not Smartware). Connected by USB2


1. When i recently updated my OSX I got the message that Smartware is not compatable and has been moved to non compatable folder.

2. I would like to back up my MacBook air to the same WD drive and I am not sure how to do this

I have checked several sites re formatting back up disk

and tried removing USB from Imac and plugging in USB from Mac book. The WD drive is recognised but only has one volume .

Do I have to add another partition to the WD Drive and will that reformat the disk and cause me to lose existing IMac Backup ?

I am an older person and not very tech savvy and I would appreciate any help

Posted on Jul 9, 2014 5:52 PM

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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,725 points

Posted on Jul 9, 2014 6:15 PM

If at all possible repartition the drive in order to remove their software. Backup using Time Machine or a third-party backup utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.5.


I would not recommend partitioning your drive for each computer. it is not needed. Each computer will backup to the drive using separately named folders. All you need do is connect the backup drive to each computer. Now, I don't find this the most reliable or easiest method. That would be using separate backup drive for each computer. This way should one drive fail you only lose one back rather than both backups.


As for reformatting the drive:


Drive Partition and Format


  1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
  2. After DU loads select the external backup drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.


Whatever you do, do not try to simply delete the backup folder by dumping it in the Trash. This will take hours or even days. The above outlined process only takes a few minutes.

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User profile for user: Kappy
Kappy
User level: Level 10
361,725 points

Jul 9, 2014 6:15 PM in response to jayemT

If at all possible repartition the drive in order to remove their software. Backup using Time Machine or a third-party backup utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.5.


I would not recommend partitioning your drive for each computer. it is not needed. Each computer will backup to the drive using separately named folders. All you need do is connect the backup drive to each computer. Now, I don't find this the most reliable or easiest method. That would be using separate backup drive for each computer. This way should one drive fail you only lose one back rather than both backups.


As for reformatting the drive:


Drive Partition and Format


  1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
  2. After DU loads select the external backup drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.


Whatever you do, do not try to simply delete the backup folder by dumping it in the Trash. This will take hours or even days. The above outlined process only takes a few minutes.

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back up iMac and macbook air to external WD hard drive

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