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How do I set up my mac to always send photos and music to an external hard drive?

I have a Mac desktop that has limited memory. I purchased an external hard drive to store all my music, photos and videos on. How do I set up my mac so that iPhoto and iTunes always point to the hard drive, and save to it (and not to the hard drive on my Mac)?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Nov 28, 2015 3:46 PM

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Posted on Nov 28, 2015 4:27 PM

Launch the applications with the Option key held down and choose or create a library on the external drive. Unless they're launched while the drive's disconnected or a problem occurs, you won't need to do this again.


The iPhoto one needs to be stored on a volume formatted as Mac OS Extended. You should also keep copies of them on a second external drive in case the first one fails.


(136681)

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Nov 28, 2015 4:27 PM in response to Be On Edge

Launch the applications with the Option key held down and choose or create a library on the external drive. Unless they're launched while the drive's disconnected or a problem occurs, you won't need to do this again.


The iPhoto one needs to be stored on a volume formatted as Mac OS Extended. You should also keep copies of them on a second external drive in case the first one fails.


(136681)

Nov 28, 2015 4:30 PM in response to Be On Edge

quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library to an external hard drive that:

1 - is formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)

2 - is connected with a fast wired connection like FireWire, ThunderBolt or USB

3 - is not being used as a TimeMachine backup volume

and

4 - is always available prior to launching iPhoto


Hold down the option key while launching iPhoto and use the resulting select library window to select the new location on the EHD - fully test the library there and then you can trash the library on the internal drive - test one more time before emptying the trash


and verify that your backup software is backing up the EHD - some like TimeMachine do not by default and you have to remove the EHD form the excluded drive list in the options


LN

How do I set up my mac to always send photos and music to an external hard drive?

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