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I used my new 4TB Seagate Backup Plus on my laptop. It said it needed to erase files to make it compatible with Time Machine. Now the 4TB is full and cannot be recognized. What should I do?

I'm on OSX El Capitan 10.11.3 and I have never used the 4TB Seagate Backup Plus before. I wasn't able to put files on it using the Macbook Pro. It was bought only a few hours ago.

After plugging it in, it asked if I would like to use it for Time Machine, and it needed to be erased for it to be compatible with Time Machine. It is my first time to use an external hard drive on my laptop, and it is also my first attempt to use Time Machine.

My external hard drive shows up only on Disk Utility now. Please help.


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MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Feb 7, 2016 7:10 AM

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Posted on Feb 7, 2016 7:35 AM

In the picture above you have clicked on the physical drive. It does not show the available space. You would need to click on the "Untitled" item below to see the actual space available. The "Untitled" item is the actual partition on the drive.


You might find the information at the following link useful -> http://www.macworld.com/article/2990837/storage/how-to-format-a-startup-drive-in -el-capitan.html

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Question marked as Best reply

Feb 7, 2016 7:35 AM in response to micabhlu

In the picture above you have clicked on the physical drive. It does not show the available space. You would need to click on the "Untitled" item below to see the actual space available. The "Untitled" item is the actual partition on the drive.


You might find the information at the following link useful -> http://www.macworld.com/article/2990837/storage/how-to-format-a-startup-drive-in -el-capitan.html

Feb 7, 2016 7:24 AM in response to micabhlu

Time Machine will backup your MBPs files and eventually will fill up the HDD, however it will automatically delete the oldest files to make room for newer data. The only time you have to intervene is when you need to restore any of your backed up information. Read these links for detailed information on Time machine:


https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250


http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html


Ciao.

I used my new 4TB Seagate Backup Plus on my laptop. It said it needed to erase files to make it compatible with Time Machine. Now the 4TB is full and cannot be recognized. What should I do?

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