- Backup Drive For Macbook Pro
- Back-up Drive For Macbook
- Back-up Drive For Mac
- Seagate Backup Drive For Mac
Best Wireless Mac Backup Drives Apple users in homes or businesses with multiple Macs to backup love centralized wired and wireless Network Attached Storage - NAS storage. Many of the major hard drive manufacturers provide Wi-Fi and Ethernet connected Mac compatible network drive products. Mac Compatible NAS Drive From Western Digital.
- If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between Mac and PC is an often difficult - but it doesn't need to be. We'll show you everything you need to know about the.
- Back up files from your computer, camera, or SD cards to the cloud. Find your files on any device or computer using Google Drive, and see your photos in Google Photos.
A bit of MacBook Pro magic for you whether you have a MacBook Pro, Air, iMac to allow you to take your own local backups.
Because you never know when your iCloud backup might fail or be inaccessible if there is a network issue. or
you may just not like the idea of your backup being somewhere you can’t see or touch it.
It is always a good idea to have a local backup on an external hard drive just in case.
If you have a Mac that runs Mac OS Sierra or High Sierra indeed anything later than OS X Leopard, Time Machine will work for you as an
Alternative to an iCloud backup of your MacBook
The Four Things you Need for Time Machine
a. To back up to an external hard drive Time Machine needs either a directly attached USB, Thunderbolt or Firewire external hard drive.
Time Machine can also back up to a configured Apple Time Capsule. A Time Capsule with a hard drive that’s on the same network as your MacBook. Or an Airport Extreme with a hard drive attached.
b. Space on that hard drive or disk partition if you are using a partitioned disk.
Smc fan control for mac. You need an external hard drive that is at least as large as the documents and files you are backing up. It is really best to have about twice the space so that you can grow into your backup drive. You’ll hear why later.
https://windowclever351.weebly.com/my-mac-wont-download-mackeeper.html. c. The hard drive you’re backing up to formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system (also known as HFS+). As that is the file system Time Machine is expecting to see and needs to use.
d. Sounds obvious, but I just thought I would state that you need a Mac running Mac OS X Leopard or higher. Time Machine software does not directly back up PC’s or work on PC’s.
Time Machine is a standard operating system utility provided in Mac OS. There is no additional software to purchase.
Once you have these four things in place you are ready to go, but first it is worth understanding a little about how Time Machine works and what it does.
How does Time Machine Work?
Time Machine works first on its initial backup by taking a full back up of your hard drive. This can take some time depending on how many files you have on your hard drive.
After that backup Time Machine will take incremental backups. Backups of the files that have changed since the last time it backed up.
When you look at a Time Machine backup it is like looking back in Time, all your backups are time stamped with the latest showing first.
Time Machine displays a view of your file system, like a filing cabinet and if you want to restore a particular file or picture you can by thumbing back to the version of the file you want and selecting to restore it.
Time Machine can also restore your complete hard drive – operating system and files.
Time Machine will keep hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups after that, automatically as long as your backup drive is connected or if you are using Time Capsule and you are on the network.
Or you can have Time Machine remind you to do a backup and then plug in your external hard drive and select backup now and away it till go.
When your backup drive is full the oldest backups are deleted.
Remember earlier I said it is best to have a backup drive or partition that is at least twice the size of your internal drive?
This is why.
Time Machine allows you to go back through your backups as you need. Once the external hard drive is completely full with your backups, Time Machine will delete the oldest backup.
With a large enough hard drive, you can keep more without the risk of deletion. Deletion due to your disk being full.
This article covers backing up to a directly connected external hard drive, if you are using Time Machine to back up to Apple Time Capsule, take a look at this article.
How to Backup your MacBook Pro to an external hard drive?
1. Sign into your Mac and Connect your USB.
Or your Thunderbolt or Firewire cable to your hard drive.
If you are not sure how to get your hard drive connected to your MacBook Pro. Or other Mac.
Or you know your external hard drive is not formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system and need a little help.
Take a look at my article here on the site on formatting an external hard drive for your Mac.
2. Plug the other end of the USB Cable into Your Mac
Make sure your external hard drive is up working, lights on and fan spinning if that’s appropriate for your drive.
Also plug your MacBook Pro into an external power supply.
Time Machine works when your Mac is powered, this stops a backup failing because you have run out of battery on your Mac.
3. Make sure you can see your external hard drive icon on the desktop.
It should look like this.
External Drive Icon On Desktop
If the hard drive is not showing up then go back and take another look at my connecting up an external hard drive article as there will be some tips there for you on how to find it.
To use your external hard drive as a backup device you will need to connect it up to the Time Machine software on your Mac, which is really easy to do.
4. Open Up Time Machine
To link up your external hard drive to Time Machine the first thing to do is to open up and configure Time Machine.
Time Machine is the utility you can find at the top of your Desktop and it looks like the face of a clock with an anti clockwise arrow.
Click on the Time Machine icon and select Open Time Machine preferences.
If you can’t find the Time Machine icon and it is not at the top of your Mac’s desktop window you can find Time Machine via system preferences.
Click on Spotlight search
Spotlight Search Symbol
Type in System Preferences
Select System Preferences and within the System Preferences screen select Time Machine
Time Machine in System Preferences
Click on Time Machine and you are now in Time Machine and can configure the software.
5. Setting Up Time Machine to Backup Like a Pro
Backup Drive For Macbook Pro
Once in the Time Machine preferences window –
Spotify latest version apk free download. If the big button for Time Machine is Off, turn it to ON.
You’ll also see toward the bottom of the window the check box to show Time Machine in the menu bar, you can toggle this switch on so that you can access Time Machine at the top of your desktop screen.
Click Select disk.
You will now see a selection of available disks for you to use. Your external hard drive should be on this list as one of the available disks. Listed by the name you gave it when you formatted it, or
you will see the partition if you have formatted a partition of the external hard drive to back up to.
Click on your external hard drive or partition and select the options you want for it if any for Time Machine.
For example if you want Time Machine to encrypt your backup there is a check box to enable you to do that. Give the drive a password and Time Machine will encrypt your backup.
Keep your password safe. Mac OS is one of the most secure operating systems. You loose your password – you loose your backup.
Select Use Disk
Ken burns effect plugin mac download. And Time Machine is now configured to use that disk or partition for backup.
6. Kicking off Your Backup
You can if you wish keep your external hard drive connected and leave it up to Time Machine to decide when to kick off the next backup.
or
You can ask Time Machine to back up now
You do that by Plus sign spotify app.
clicking on the Time Machine icon at the top of the desktop
Remember that option to show Time Machine in menu bar I suggested turning on earlier? If its not at the top of your Desktop you can go back to Time Machine preferences and toggle it on.
and click on the icon and select backup now and Time Machine will gather information about your internal disk, prepare the backup and start backing up.
Post it for mac. You can check the progress of your backup by clicking on the Time Machine icon.
If it’s the first backup or you haven’t backed up for a while then the preparing stage may take some time. Don’t worry let Time Machine do its thing.
And there you are, Time Machine is backing up your hard drive nicely.
7. What Happens When Time Machine Has Completed your Back Up
You can check by clicking on the Time Machine icon and it will tell you the progress of the current backup if it is still doing it, and time of the last back up if its done.
The other thing to watch for is the external hard disk icon on your desktop having an Orange color when it is connected but the backup isn’t done yet.
Qgis for mac. The Icon turns to Green when the backup is done.
You can now –
8. Disconnect the External Hard Drive
To make sure you are not accidentally corrupting the information on your external hard drive it pays to disconnect it properly. This is done by ejecting your external hard drive from your Mac.
Hover over the Icon for the External Drive on the desktop. Right click and select the Eject option.
Right Click to Eject External Drive
or Go to the finder window and click on the arrow to the right of the drive name to eject the drive.
Wait a few seconds for the icon to disappear.
This enables the Mac to write whatever it finally needs to to the disk and leaves everything in a consistent state. You may hear the fan wind down or the light on the hard drive flicker and go dark.
Now you can remove the USB, Thunderbolt or Firewire cable from the computer and the power cable if you have one for the external hard drive you are using. You can now safely put the disk away where it won’t get knocked or banged around.
Other Time Machine Questions Answered
How Long Does it Take to do a Backup?
This is a difficult question to answer, it depends on the speed of the disks, both in your Macbook or other Mac and the speed of the disks of the external hard drive.
It also depends on how many files you have to backup.
The very first back can take a while, so leave your Macbook Pro, plugged in and set it off overnight.
You can of course use your Mac while it is backing up, the back up may take slightly longer.
When Should I do a Backup?
Depending on how important your files are and how much work you are doing on your Macbook Pro at least weekly if your external hard drive isn’t continually plugged in.
Other than that I would suggest
A backup before any revision upgrade of your system files – you never know. a new version may break something and at least you will have a backup to go back to.
When an important piece of work has been done. If it’s important, back it up.
If you start to have any issues with your Macbook’s internal hard drive, do a backup.
What does Time Machine Backup?
Everything unless you tell it not to, Operating System, photos, music, documents. Everything on the internal drive.
If you wish to exclude a directory from being backed up go to Time Machine preferences, click on the options box, click the plus sign and enter the directory names you want excluded there.
Does Time Machine Backup Photos?
Oh yes, Time Machine will backup all your photos on your internal disk. And if you backup your iPhone and or IPad photos to your MacBook or Airdrop your photos to your MacBook they will be backed up as well.
How do I Cancel a Backup Once it has Started.
Select the Time Machine icon at the top of your desktop the option to skip the backup will be there once the backup has started.
What if my MacBook Pro goes Into Sleep Mode
If your MacBook Pro enters sleep mode while the back up is underway the back up will continue as long as your MacBook is set up to ‘power nap’.
Power Nap is a mode the MacBook can go into when it is plugged into the mains, the MacBook will sleep but continue backing up.
Power Nap is set up under Systems Preferences, Energy Saver. The box must be ticked to enable Power Nap.
Only newer MacBooks support Power Nap.
If the option isn’t there for your Mac and it’s your first backup and you expect it to take a while, then its best have your Mac plugged into the mains power and to disable sleep mode in Energy Saver. Then you can leave it safely backing up and you can re-enable sleep mode once the large backup is done.
Otherwise with no Power Nap enabled the backup will continue when your MacBook next wakes up.
What if I want to Use Multiple External Drives for Backup?
Repeat steps one through to eight to set up the second external hard drive. Then you can use two external drives interchangeably for security of your backups.
What about the new APFS (Apple File System)?
Something to know for the newest Mac’s and those of you who have recently upgraded to Mac OS High Sierra. High Sierra uses APFS (Apple File System) by default on Flash drives and SSD’s (Solid State Drives).
Apple has moved/is moving to APFS because it is faster, more efficient and secure than the Extended (Journaled) file system (HFS+). Great you say, but what about Time Machine?
On upgrading to Mac OS High Sierra, High Sierra will automatically convert on upgrade flash storage and Solid State Disk drives to APFS.
Mechanically based hard drives will remain Mac OS Extended (Journaled) File Systems.
The however is Time Machine does not support APFS formatted drives for backup right now.
If you have a SSD drive that you wish to use for Time Machine, you will need to format it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system, and then you can hook it up to Time Machine and you’ll be good for your backups.
Final Comments
And now you should be backing up your MacBook Pro like a Pro – you have your piece of Pro Magic – If you need an external hard drive to backup to you can check out my selection of the top drives here.
I hope this article sees you happily backing up all your files. Just like a Pro.
And if you want to find out how to share an external hard drive between a Mac and a PC you can find out how.
When you purchased your computer, you thought it had plenty of space. Or at least, it seemed like it did… until photos, videos, programs, documents, and other files began crowding the disk space.
Back-up Drive For Macbook
Whether desktop or laptop, 10 years old or only 2, running out of storage on your Mac or PC is a widespread problem with an easy solution.
For a lot of people, the go-to is cloud storage services such as iCloud or Google Drive, but these aren’t a great fit for everyone, especially if you have a lot of files or need to access them offline on both your mac and PC.
In this case, an external drive that’s Mac and PC interchangeable is the best option, because you’ll have all your files on hand at all times and it can store significantly more data than a cloud drive.
In this article, we’ll help you better understand the use cases of a physical drive, and round up the best Mac & PC compatible external drives for backup and storage purposes.
Quick Summary
Tired of learning all the “techy” terms related to hard drives? We understand. Here’s a brief of our recommendations to save you time exploring.
For Mac users: G-Technology Portable External Hard Drive 2TB
From the sleek design to the pre-formatting, this terabyte-sized drive is perfect for Mac users who need a little extra space and offers the transfer rate up to 140MB/s for accessing all your files.
For Windows PC users: WD 2TB Elements Portable Android device manager for mac free download.
At 5400 RPM but only around 3″ x 4″, this tiny drive packs a real punch. You can get it in sizes from 1 to 4 TB, all of which are equally portable and will allow you to access your files with speed and efficiency wherever you go.
For the best of both worlds: Samsung T5 Portable SSD
Whether you simply prefer the speed of an SSD or use both Mac and PC on a regular basis, this drive offers formatting that works everywhere you go and top notch read/write rates. The drive is small, portable, and sleek (available in multiple colors!)
Who Should Get This?
You don’t have to be a power user to make use of an external drive, but if you aren’t sure you need one, here are some considerations:
- Has your computer slowed down due to being stuffed with files you aren’t necessarily using all the time?
- Do you need to backup your computer, especially if you’re worried about a crash soon due to the age of the machine?
- Are the fees for your cloud storage service not worth the amount of storage you get?
- Do you want to clean up old files that you only occasionally reference?
- Need a better place to run large applications from, or have programs you want to run on more than one computer?
If you’re saying yes to any of these, then there’s a good chance you would benefit from an external drive. It’ll give you space and security that you need.
However, an external drive might not be the best choice for you if you only have a few files that need storage, or if you already have a backup of your computer for example via backup software. In that case, using a small flash drive or an online cloud storage provider might be the better option.
External Drive for Mac and PC Compatible: What to Look for?
File Capacity
The number one consideration when buying an external drive is how much space it has to offer. Depending on what type of files you’ll be storing and how long you want the drive to last, you may want more or less space. However, when buying an external drive you should be getting at minimum 128GB, as anything less will be better served by a flash drive. Many people will be much more satisfied with closer to 1 TB of storage though since space tends to disappear faster than you would think.
Type: HDD and SSD
External drives come in two types: HDD and SSD. The former is what is normally referred to as a “hard drive”, since it uses a physical spinning disk to read and write data, while the latter, sometimes called a solid-state drive, actually uses flash memory and stores everything electronically and has no moving parts. An HDD tends to be cheaper, but SSDs are faster and more reliable.
Formatting
An external drive is typically formatted for either MacOS or PC use. While there are some drives that work on both, most tend need to be reformatted to be functional on the opposite system, and that will erase all your data. Formatting in the first place can also be difficult, so look for a drive that’s already formatted to work with your computer and know that you will only be able to access your files on machines of the same type.
Speed
All external drives are rated for read-and-write speeds, which is how fast they can store, retrieve, and display information. Higher speeds are better, but a small difference won’t be noticeable. An HDD is generally not capable of the higher speeds of an SSD, but they do tend to be much cheaper.
Best External Drive for Mac and PC Interchangeable: Our Picks in 2019
1. G-Technology Portable External Hard Drive 2TB
Back-up Drive For Mac
Using a Mac? This drive is preformatted just for you, offering a high transfer rate for fast file access and connects easily via USB-C. It will definitely stand up to regular use of creative editing applications and store files/backups well if you’re using in a more long-term frame.
Pros:
- 2TB is a fair amount of storage space for any user, and this drive is available in larger sizes as well.
- The transfer rates up to 140 MB/s means you can easily access your files without sacrificing any time spent loading or waiting for files to transfer.
Cons:
- Pre-formatted for Mac, but can be reformatted to Windows.
- Not cross-compatible.
2. WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive
If you’re an avid PC user, this HDD drive from Western Digital has you covered. With sizes from 1 to 4 TB and plug-n-play functionality, you’ll start with your feet on the ground. USB 3.0 allows you to transfer files at up to 5MB/s, and the drive overall runs at 5400 RPM.
Pros:
Seagate Backup Drive For Mac
- A high RPM means you don’t have to worry about sitting in front of your computer waiting for files to load, while the slim 3″ by 4″ design is super portable, perfect for taking files to and from work or another setting.
- Can even be used to backup games on your console.
Cons:
- Only for PC, unless you want to separately reformat to use with Mac.
3. Samsung T5 Portable SSD
Available from the smallest 250 GB size all the way up to 2TB, this external SSD from Samsung writes at 540MB/s, which is a stellar rate. It normally uses a USB-C cable, but if your computer doesn’t yet support this, a standard USB-A cable is also provided. This product also ranks in our best portable SSD drive review.
Pros:
- Formatted to work on Mac and Windows and even Android!
- A variety of storage options makes it easy to find the right size for you.
- The sleek drive is also very sturdy and fits into the palm of your hand.
Cons:
- Transfer speeds may be slightly lower if you can’t make use of the included USB-C cable.
Useful Tips
Don’t forget to get an external drive case (like this one from Amazon), which will help protect your drive from potential damage caused by accidental scratch or dropping. It also allows you easily pack it into backpack or briefcase.
Want to format your external drive for Mac and PC compatibility? Check out this step-by-step tutorial we created earlier.
Want to format your external drive for Mac and PC compatibility? Check out this step-by-step tutorial we created earlier.
To extend the life of your storage drive, it’s a good practice to always put it on a flat and stable surface and away from heaters, humidifiers or air conditioners. Also, when you’re done with data backup or file transfer, make sure to properly eject the drive before plugging it out.
Still can’t decide between an HDD or SSD external drive? Check out this guide from PC World, which will help outline which is best depending on your situation. Alternatively, if you aren’t sure about getting an external hard drive at all, you can always try out a web-based cloud service first to see if it gives you space and flexibility you want.
Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox are great places to get started since they offer free options at the lowest tier, and paid users can get more than 1TB of storage space.
Final Words
Whether you prefer HDD or SSD, you’re looking for your first drive or your third, an external drive is usually a great solution for data backup and file storage on both your Mac and PC. Moving files off your computer will also help tune up your PC a little bit and will protect your important files from potential damage.
Are you using both a Mac and PC, and how much space do you need for your external drive? Leave us a comment below and tell us how you’re making the most of your external drive!
Influenced by the startup culture in the Silicon Valley, Jessica loves building things from zero to one and is keen on following news related to the Big Five tech giants and many SaaS startups.