- Backup Drives For Mac
- Manual Backup Mac To External Hard Drive Enclosure
- Best External Hard Drives For Mac
- External Hard Drive For Imac
Sep 21, 2016 How to Format An External Hard Drive for Mac - Duration: 5:16. Cox 594,895 views. How to use Time Machine to backup to an external hard drive - Duration: 5:25. Mar 28, 2019 How to Back Up a Mac. This wikiHow teaches you how to back up the data and files on your Mac to an external hard drive and/or Apple's cloud-based storage service, iCloud. Connect your Mac to a formatted external hard drive.
Technical Level : Intermediate Summary
With every new revision of Windows comes the process of migrating to it. Many of you will be initiating a clean install instead of an in place upgrade. Before you do that though, you will need to ensure your data can move to the new version of Windows or that new device you will be buying. In this article, we take a look at backing up your files, specifically, we look at backing up manually. Recent versions of Windows include File History, which was introduced in Windows 8.0 in 2012 but based on my personal experience, it is not as thorough as Windows Easy Transfer which is no longer available or supported. A manual backup is also handy for migrating your personal files to a new PC or an important way to ensure your data is kept safe.
Details
What you need to start this project?
The first thing I recommend you do is invest in an external hard disk. I can't exhaust this enough; they are affordable and can store lots of data. You can probably get a 4TB drive for around $100.
USB External hard disk
Keep in mind, if you have a complex configuration, this article does not delve into the nuances of multiple partitions or drives with data scattered across them although the same rules can apply in regards to backup. If you do have folders for data such as documents, music, pictures and videos stored on other partitions or drives, then I would recommend you disconnect these data drives and upgrade only the system partition. You can always reattach your data drives after setup is complete.
Turn on Show Hidden Files & Folders
You want your backup to be as thorough as possible. Within your User folder is a hidden directory called AppData. This folder stores important settings for the apps you use, such as custom directionaries for Microsoft Word, passwords for apps like Chrome, Outlook data files and mail folders for apps like Windows Mail.
To turn on Hidden Files and folders, start by opening your user folder. Press Windows key + R then type: %userprofile% then hit Enter on your keyboard.
Enabling Show hidden files and Folders
Windows 8/8.1/10 - Click the View tab then click Options then click the View tab. Under Advanced settings > Hidden files and folders select the radio box Show hidden files and folders.
Windows Vista/7 - Click Organize > Search and Folder Options
Windows XP - Click Tools > Folder Options
Windows XP - Click Tools > Folder Options
AppData folder is now visible.
After completing the above steps, you should now see the AppData folder appear in your user folder.
Next step is to simply select all the folder. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + A or
Click Organize > Select All (Windows 7),
Click Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Edit > Select All (Windows XP).
Click Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Edit > Select All (Windows XP).
Selected folders
Open your External hard disk then create a new folder and call it backup or a unique name. Open it then press Ctrl + V or
Click Organize > Paste (Windows 7),
Click Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Click Edit > Paste (Windows XP).
Click Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10),
Click Edit > Paste (Windows XP).
Depending on the amount of data, this can take a while.
If you have multiple accounts
If you have more than one account on your computer, log into each account and repeat the same steps. Make sure a unique folder is created for each account you backup manually.
Remember other folders you might have
If you store data in folders such as Public, remember to look in there too. The Public folder is located in C:UsersPublic
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NOTE: Some apps will keep their own data stores within their application folders, so make sure you browse and copy those over if necessary. Some users have a tendency to store files at the root of the hard disk, normally where the operating system is installed (Local Disk c:). Also check there for any important files and move them to Documents folder.
Restoration
Once your backup is complete and you have your new computer setup and Windows is installed and running, the next step is to copy over your files and folders from the external hard disk. You can do this two ways, you can individually copy the contents of each folder into the respective folder on the new computer from the external drive. Here is what you can easily do.
Connect and turn on your external hard disk.
Browse the backup folder with your backed up folders.
Press Ctrl + A or Click Organize > Select All (Windows 7), Home tab > Select All (Windows 8/8.1/10), Edit > Select All (Windows XP).
Open your User folder on the computer
Press Windows key + R then type: %userprofile% then hit Enter on your keyboard.
Press Ctrl + V or Click Organize > Paste (Windows 7), Home tab > Paste (Windows 8/8.1/10), Edit > Paste (Windows XP).
You will be prompted if you want to replace the folders, click Yes.
Depending on the amount of data, this can take a while.
If you have other accounts, make sure the respective accounts have been created and logged into then repeat the same steps.
Resources:
Apple's photo management software for the Mac, Photos, has grown to be a fairly competent all-purpose storage locker. But as your photo and video library grows — and especially if you've taken advantage of iCloud Photo Library — you may find that your Photos library strains to fit on your Mac's hard drive.
While there are options to keep your Mac from running out of space, like optimizing your photo storage if you use iCloud Photo Library, it comes at a cost: Without a fully-stored Photos library, you won't be able to create secondary backups of your images and video. (And as good as iCloud has become, your photos and video are precious enough that they're worth keeping backed up in multiple places.)
There is an alternative: Moving your Photos library to an external drive (or creating an entirely separate library and syncing it with iCloud). Here's how to do it, and some reasons why you should — and shouldn't! — consider it for your needs.
Why you should (and shouldn't) use an external drive with Photos for Mac
There are a number of reasons why an external drive might make sense when you're working with Photos for Mac:
- You have a giant Photos library (and, if you use iCloud Photo Library, you want to ensure you have a secondary backup of everything in that library)
- You frequently swap computers and want to work on your images from any Mac
- Your library isn't huge, but you'd prefer to save space on your Mac for other files
- You share a computer with other users and you have limited drive space
- If you're working with space constraints on your primary computer, it's one of the easiest ways to back up your full iCloud Photo Library
Backup Drives For Mac
That said, there are some downsides, too. Here are some reasons you might not want to use an external drive:
- You don't have a big enough library to warrant moving it off your Mac
- You don't want to have to worry about always having your external drive connected to view and edit your images
- You use a laptop frequently and can't afford an SSD, and you don't want to risk breaking your disc-based hard drive by constantly moving it
- You don't want to accidentally create duplicate libraries that can't be connected to iCloud Photo Library (because your offsite library is connected)
- Unless you purchase a speedy drive, working externally is almost always slower than working on your default hard drive
- You don't want to spend the money on an external drive
- If you use an automated backup service for your computer, you'll have to set up a second set of rules for backing up your hard drive
Best external drives for storing photos
Okay, so you've decided to move your Photos library over to an external drive. What next? If you already have an external drive, you can always use it for storing your Photos library (and save on cash). But if you're considering getting a new drive for this endeavor, here's what I suggest:
- Get a drive that's at least 1-2TB in space, preferably 4TB. With the iPhone able to save 4K video, our space needs aren't shrinking anytime soon: The bigger hard drive you can afford, the better.
- If you're buying a stationary hard drive, buying a disc-based hard drive is great, but buy good brands — don't try and save $50 on an off-brand hard drive. It's rarely worth the HDD failure.
- If you're buying a portable hard drive, consider SSD: It's very pricey in comparison to a disc-based drive, but if you know you'll be frequently moving around — especially if you plan to move around with the drive connected — you want a drive that can take a little rumble and tumble without skipping or failing.
- Hard drive speeds are important, too: The faster a drive's write speed, the quicker your images will copy; the faster a drive's read speed, the easier it will be for you to view images or video and edit them, too.
Want some recommendations for specific external hard drives? We've got those, too.
How to move your current Photos library to an external drive and use it as your primary library
As with creating a new library, moving your library to your external drive is a multi-step process. Here's how to go about it.
Step 1: Copy over your Photos library
- Connect an external drive to your Mac via USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt.
- Open a new Finder window.
- Open your external drive in that window.
- Open a new Finder window. Don't close your previous window (open to your external drive), as you'll need it shortly.
- Click the Go menu and navigate to your Home folder.
- Select the Pictures folder.
- Select your old library.
- Drag it to your external drive in the other Finder window.
Your library will begin to copy over to your external drive. Depending on the size of your library and speed of your drive, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, so be patient. Don't unplug your drive or turn off your computer during this process.
Step 2 (if you use iCloud): Turn off iCloud sync on your old library
Before you open your copied Photos library on the external drive, you have to disassociate the library on your Mac from iCloud. (If you don't use iCloud Photo Library, you can skip these steps.)
- Open Photos on your Mac.
- Go to the Photos menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click on the iCloud tab.
- Uncheck iCloud Photo Library.
- Press Remove from Mac to remove any undownloaded low-resolution items from this library.
- Quit Photos.
Step 3: Make your new library your system default
Now, it's time to make your newly-copied Photos library your system default.
- Open Photos on your Mac.
- Go to the Photos menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click Use as System Photo Library.
Step 4 (if you use iCloud): Connect your new library to iCloud
Your external library is now set up to be your system default, but it's not currently connected to iCloud. If you use iCloud Photo Library and want to keep that connection active so that you can continually download items you've stored, read on. (Otherwise, you can skip this step.)
- Open Photos on your Mac.
- Go to the Photos menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click on the iCloud tab.
- Check iCloud Photo Library.
- Click Download Originals to this Mac.
- Wait for your Mac to download your images from iCloud. (Depending on the size of your iCloud library and your internet connection, this may take up to 24 hours; don't disconnect your external drive or turn off your Mac during this time.)
Once your library has fully synced and downloaded images, you can disconnect your drive; whenever you want to use your Photos library, you now need to connect your drive to your Mac.
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Step 5: Get rid of your old library
A personal plea: Please, please, please make sure your library is fully copied and working on your external drive before you follow the steps below — once you've thrown away your original library, it's gone!
- Open a new Finder window.
- Click the Go menu and navigate to your Home folder.
- Select the Pictures folder.
- Select your old library.
- Drag it to the Trash (or press Command-Delete on your keyboard).
- Empty the Trash.
- Open a new Finder window. Don't close your previous window (open to the Pictures folder), as you'll need it later.
- Select your external drive.
- Right-click (or control-click) on your copied Photos library on your external drive.
- Select Make Alias.
- Drag the alias to the Pictures folder.
- Rename the alias to remove the 'alias' part of its name.
Now you have a direct link to your copied Photos library from the Pictures folder: This prevents your computer from accidentally creating multiple Photos libraries in case you forget to launch Photos with your external drive connected.
Note: If you're worried about accidentally creating libraries, you can always launch Photos by option-clicking on its icon in the Dock or Applications folder; this will give you the option of picking which library you'd like to launch.
How to create a new Photos library on your external drive and use it as your primary library
Creating a new library on your external drive is a multi-step process. Here's how to go about it.
Step 1 (if you use iCloud): Turn off iCloud sync on your old library
Before you create a new Photos library, you have to disassociate your current library as your system default. (If you don't use iCloud Photo Library, you can skip these steps.)
- Open Photos on your Mac.
- Go to the Photos menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click on the iCloud tab.
- Uncheck iCloud Photo Library.
- Press Remove from Mac to remove all low-resolution items from this library.
- Press Remove from Mac once more to confirm.
- Quit Photos.
Step 2: Create your new Photos library
Once you've done this, it's time to create a new library.
- Connect an external drive to your Mac via USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt.
- Option-click (and continue holding down option) when launching the Photos app on your Mac.
- When it asks you to choose a library, click on Create New….
- Name your library.
- Press the Down arrow to expand the File picker and choose your external drive as the new location.
- Press OK to save it to your external drive.
Step 3: Make your new library your system default
You'll now have an empty library on your external drive. Next up: Making it your system library.
- Open Photos on your Mac.
- Go to the Photos menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click Use as System Photo Library.
Step 4 (if you use iCloud): Connect your new library to iCloud
Your external library has now been set up from scratch. If you use iCloud Photo Library and want to download all the items you've stored there to have an external backup, read on. (Otherwise, you can skip this step.) Quickbooks for mac manual payroll.
- Open Photos on your Mac.
- Go to the Photos menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click on the iCloud tab.
- Check iCloud Photo Library.
- Click Download Originals to this Mac.
- Wait for your Mac to download your images from iCloud. (Depending on the size of your library and your internet connection, this may take up to 24 hours; don't disconnect your external drive or turn off your Mac during this time.)
Once your library has fully synced and downloaded images, you can disconnect your drive; whenever you want to use your Photos library, you now need to connect your drive to your Mac.
Step 5: Get rid of your old library
A personal plea: Please, please, please make sure your new library is live and working on your external drive before you follow the steps below — once you've thrown away your original library, it's gone!
- Open a new Finder window.
- Click the Go menu and navigate to your Home folder.
- Select the Pictures folder.
- Select your old library.
- Drag it to the Trash (or press Command-Delete on your keyboard).
- Empty the Trash.
- Open a new Finder window. Don't close your previous window (open to the Pictures folder), as you'll need it later.
- Select your external drive.
- Right-click (or control-click) on your new Photos library.
- Select Make Alias.
- Drag the alias to the Pictures folder.
- Rename the alias to remove the 'alias' part of its name.
Now you have a direct link to your Photos library from the Pictures folder: This prevents your computer from accidentally creating multiple Photos libraries in case you forget to launch Photos with your external drive connected.
Note: If you're worried about accidentally creating libraries, you can always launch Photos by option-clicking on its icon in the Dock or Applications folder; this will give you the option of picking which library you'd like to launch.
Questions?
Manual Backup Mac To External Hard Drive Enclosure
Let us know in the comments.
Updated March 2019: Updated for macOS Mojave.
Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this post.