So, i'll try to be as detailed as possible. I have been using a Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB portable hard drive (reformatted to HFS+) with my 13" Macbook Pro for a while now. I use my computer to rip my DVDs and put them on the hard drive to play on my Xbox 360. Things were working great until it stopped mounting on my Macbook (or any other computer running OS X). The strange part is that it is still recognized in disk utility, but when i try to "mount" it it says something to the effect of "an error has occurred, try repairing the disk". However, when i attempt to repair the disk it says that it is fine. Also, i have tried to use an external power source so power is not the issue.
I did a bunch of research and found a bunch of conflicting information. My question to you all is this:are there any good, portable external hard drives that support both FireWire and USB?I have an iMac and an MB Pro, but a lot of people I know don't; I would like to use the FireWire and still be able to use the hard drive with others' computers who do not.I was looking for something that: did not require an actual electrical plug (wanted the USB/FireWire to be used as the power source)is at least 1TB (would prefer 1.5TB)is (preferably but doesn't have to be) rugged.I plan on doing some traveling and whatnot and just throwing it my bag; I'd probably go a while without having a chance to really maintain it, hence my wanting these things.
The main ones I was looking at are the LaCie MiniRugged, LaCie Rugged, Transcend Storejet 25H2P and 25M2, and the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex.Unfortunately, I've either heard bad reviews or they don't meet all my criteria. The LaCies, for example, were said by some to be outdated, flimsy, etc. (and the mini doesn't have a FireWire port).The Transcends don't do FireWire, nor does the Seagate.In case anyone was wondering, I included the Seagate becaue I have a friend who just got back from a year-long trip bumming around Asia with it and it stood up fine (but, again, no FireWire) I was wondering if anyone could suggest anything.
So I currently have a Lacie "Porsche designed" 320GB external hard drive which I use for Time Machine. The major problem is that it is huge and requires an external power source. Also, the rubber bits on the bottom came off because I have had it for a while and so now whenever Time Machine backs up, you can hear the drive on the table.
I have been thinking about getting a portable drive like a WD Passport Essential because it doesn't need a power source. Does anyone have any experience of these drives with Time Machine or any others to recommend?
Also how much will running the drive when my 13" 2.53 MacBook Pro is on battery power affect the battery life? Secondly, if I have a 250GB internal HD, how big an external drive should I be looking at?
I have a WD Passport Portable hard drive which I use as a Time Machine for my iMac.I'm close to filling it up and I will be getting a bigger hard drive for it.I would like to use my WD hard drive again on my daughters PC so she can save her school work. I know it needs to be re-formatted to work with a PC again but I dont know how to do it.
I recently bought a Western Digital Elements 640 GB portable hard drive. My brother formatted it on his PC & it "cannot be modified" on my MacBook. However, I used Disk Utility to format it, rendering it modifiable on my MacBook &, according to my boyfriend, who uses a PC, unmodifiable on a PC. Is there any way to format the hard drive such that it can be used on both a Mac and a PC, without having to do backups & reformatting each time I switch between the two?
what hard drive is everyone using with their macbook pro? I am in this market for a portable external but alot of the reviews aren't that convincing. Looking for a rugged type ..500gb and higher.
I recently purchased this Portable (iomega) 500GB hard drive. I just realized it only works on my Mac's USB ports, but not with my USB Hub. Does it exceed the power limit of the USB Hub? I don't see how it is possible, because I currently have nothing else plugged into it, and it uses a power adapter.
It worked with my old Hard Drive, which is big and uses a power adapter. Now it doesn't seem to work. Also I tried on just a USB adapter that makes the cable longer, still doesn't work. Only the MBP ports work! However, the hub works for things such as phone charger, and speakers right now.
I have successfully created an autorun (DVD/USB-STICK) image of my bands EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for Windows. However I also need it to autorun on OSX too.
On my autorun image is a portable version of Google Chrome, a portable version of Safari and a stripped down version of our website [URL] with all the supporting video, audio and images. When the DVD or USB-STICK is inserted into a PC, the site is loaded into Chrome portable. This works great!
I am not a OSX guy (though I hope to be one day soon). So I need some help/advice regarding how to make the same DVD/USB-STICK work on a Mac.
I have found a Mac version of Portable Chrome in a .dmg format here:[URL]
I have also found a Mac version of Portable Safari in a .dmg format here:[URL]
And I found info on dual OS AutoStart/AutoRun here: [URL]
Now to just combine them. That's where the confusion for me comes in for me. The main question I have is how to autostart either portable versions of Safari or Chrome from the DVD/USB-STICK? Is the .dmg image executable?
One last note: I need Chrome or Safari because I am using the HTML 5 <video> tag.
I just imported some pictures from my portable HDD, but the MBP got frozen in the process so I had to do it again. Now I have all my pictures imported and i'm happy with it. The problem is that every time I open iPhoto, it shows me this window: I tried importing them, but the only thing that appears is a "Recovered photo album" on the left column in the iPhoto, and it's empty. I tried finding the files in order to delete them, but couldn't find them in the directory (/users/id/pictures/iphoto/recovered...). Is this folder invisible? If so, how can I "see" invisible folders?
I just got a new Seagate Goflex 1TB portable hard drive as well as the Firewire 800 adaptor. I love it, take it back n forth to work. you just change the adaptor on the back and you can have USB 2.0, USB 3.0, FW 800, eSata. Its really cool. I want to get some kind of case for it..
Can I put boot camp onto a portable/external HDD and change boot options to run the HDD on start up? I have a very new macbook (its my first mac), so don't want to start messing around with partitions etc., as I am very new to macs...
I'm also wondering if there is a Linux/Ubuntu emulator available for the mac? And if there is one, would it be possible to partition an external hardrive into three segments, one for Bootcamp, one for Linux, and one for time capsule?
With a firewire drive, can I have the drive hooked up to my iMac via firewire, but also have it accessed through USB to my Time Capsule for wireless access?
What do you think will be the MacBook Air future updates?Do you think the MacBook and MacBook Air will ever combine? And just have one portable laptop and of course a Pro?
I have a WD 320gb portable hard drive which has been formatted as Journaled for about 3 months. Just yesterday i decided to format the 320gb hd as FAT32 as i heard that Mac disk utility is able to format this type in excess of the 32gb that windows is able too. This now allowed me to have the HD be read by Mac and windows with ease, or so i thought. So i did that, and copied all my data onto it and ever since it has been a bit patchy.. The drive is recognised instantly by windows computers and functions fine but when plugged into my macbook sometimes it will not display at all, other times it will take a long time to read, and in other cases it will function perfectly. When the drive refuses to be read by mac I checked disk utility and it shows that the HD is definately connected but just wont show up on my desktop.
So my friend has Tiger and would like to install Leopard, and I remember reading somewhere that you could install it without losing any of your files? Is that true and how do I go about doing that?
I recently got the 500GB mini WD MyBook from the Apple Store. It came pre-formatted for mac. Now here's the problem. I reformatted the main partition into FAT32 because I wanted to use it on PCs as well. I loaded it up with files from my other 500GB HD (which was the big non-portable version of the MyBook) which I proceeded to wipe out and sell. So all the files are now on my portable one. Now here is the problem. When I plug it into my mac, it works fine. No worries there. But when I plug it into any PCs it will not see the partition. I have to manually initialize it and it seems like it wants me to format it before it will even assign the drive letter (from what I saw in Disk Manager in the control panel).
Disk Utility seems to default to HFS on the root of the drive, but it does correctly identify the main partition as FAT32. I have no idea what to do. Ideally, I'd like to have the drive be used on PCs and Macs, though I must err on the side of caution and keep my files preserved at least for a few months until I come back home to the US and gain access to my additional storage space.
My Mom and I have different cameras and she doesn't use a computer, so she usually asks me to upload her pics. Problem is, she's got a Sony Camera and it uses a proprietary Sony cable and I hate having to switch between my cable (just a standard USB camera cable) to hers. What I want is a compact USB memory card reader that handles both SD and Sony Memory Sticks. I'd like one that just plugs straight in to USB without a cable. I've looked around and can't find a whole lot.
I have a MBP intel that I made a clone off via superduper on my portable firewire hd. I'm trying to get my power mac g5 to boot off of the clone via the portable hd.I've tried checking Startup Disk within the sys pref area but it does not list the portable hd there, although, I am able to see the hd on the desktop (add, del, move files etc)so the portable hd is working fine.I've also tried booting up holding down the Option key but it doesn't work, I think it is because I am using a wireless logitech pc keyboard (no i dont have any other keyboard to use unfortunately).I did a search and apple said to make sure that I update my firmware? Not sure where to find that specific firmware to make this work.
Has anyone tried running iWork as a portable app? Are there any particular methods to make it work? If this doesn't work can anyone point me in the direction of a portable app that opens .pages documents?
I have my home Macbook pro's itunes library on a server. The library is on the server and the MBP just references that for its itunes. Everything works fine with it. I have a spare 250GB portable HD that I wanted to clone the itunes library to and bring it to work. On my work computer I will just set up itunes to reference the portable HD. Will this work or will it cause any problems between the two computers. I know they wont sync automatically or anything like that. Im not worried about that. I can just update my work one every so often.
I know this is a little strange but my business partner wants to see if he can get a mac mini, and hook it up through his pc laptop, using it as the monitor.
Is this sort of thing even possible?
He mentioned using a laptop docking station, but I just don't know if its possible.
I've had a LaCie Porsche Design for the last 6 years with no problems but with the upgrade to a MBP I'm looking to get a new portable hard drive (LaCie or another brand). My old LaCie was FW400 so I'd be looking at FW800 now. Which make and model do you use and are you happy with it's performance?
I don't have my mac yet, it's on it's way. I wanted to know if I can just use my current 'for pc' drive in my mac if I connect it up and format it? I can't tell if the difference between the pc and mac versions is just to do with how they are pre formatted and the software that comes with them, or if i can just format the pc version with my mac and use that.
Basically, I just want my music and videos on a portable drive that I can move between my mac and pc. Is there a better way?
