VR is saying something's wrong with my HDD. Recommends I back up everything and send it in for diagnosis.

1. Whats the best way to do that?
- Cloning the whole HDD (mostly cos Im lazy)?
- Only backup files manually?
- Time Machine it?
- I do have Bootcamp/win7 in it, so lazy to do over...but a fresh start is nice maybe...

2. How to format it? Or if I even need to worry about this?
- Maybe the software does it for me

3. Which External or Portable HDD that works best with Macs? Or do all of them work?
Im leaning towards Western Digital Passport (listed on those pricelist)

This post has been edited by frega: Mar 12 2010, 04:16 PM

this just just for your reference. There's no best way since it's subjective.
1. I will make a full clone + manually backup important files.
2. Just use the built in Disk Utility and do a 7-pass erase.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24002
3. I'm using WD MyBook Studio II, WD Passport Studio, both works fine. And many Mac users I know, also uses WD drives. Maybe it is widely available and they have a range advertised as Mac ready.

well wats d purpose of ur mac..
i mean is it for offices or graphics etc..

because a small usb external and a 2T-4T raid would make a major diff..

Time Machine is great but i wud rather manually backup using TimeMachine app.. not d auto one.

and btw, what is wrong with ur internal hdd.

No clue. VR tech said when he was testing it (after a repair) he found out that videos would kinda jerk or something, picture gets jerky but the sound plays normally.

I havent been able to reproduce it.

for me i'll just clone it. all external HDDs will work, juz make sure u format correctly 1st. u dun need to get the "for Mac" ones cuz some shops markup very high. but if u can get an external that has a Firewire 800 port that would be great (if ure mac has the fw800 port lah ofcourse). faster transfer speeds.

this suggestion is a bit more difficult but can do la if u try. clone ur system to a 2.5" external HDD, then swap this hdd with ur internal hdd. then juz send only ur hdd not the whole mac.

u dont need to format it, juz that some naughty technician might snoop around ur files etc. you can do a zero-out data maybe 2 or 3 times. 7-pass would be better, but it'll take much longer.

o.O I aint opening up my iMac to take out the HDD.

First, would like to clarify if late 08 15" MBP does contain the firewire 800 or not?
Next, would like to ask for the WD My Book series, do all the models contain firewire 800 or only certain models do contain? Thank you.

RTFM, it's on the box, on the mac, on the web, on the printed brochure, on the price list, some even on the receipt!




Only MyBook Studio series.
http://wdc.com.my/en/products/index.asp?cat=33
http://wdc.com.my/en/products/index.asp?cat=34

This post has been edited by wei: Mar 13 2010, 03:07 PM

wow dude...so hard to do a little bit of research? yes late 08 MBP got firewire800. even the older ones also got. but for this question ok la, maybe u just dunno where to search info about older MBP models, since the official page is only about the latest model. BUT.....

about the mybook, just look at the freaking box. if got firewire 800, it'll say on the box. if no, then no. when u buy a pack of m&ms, u need to ask at a forum which colour got peanuts?

This post has been edited by dvlzplayground: Mar 13 2010, 04:26 PM

Wow.. you guys are shooting at me.. but I admit I was no time just now to do the research.. (I clearly know that google is with me all the time la..) haha.. My situation just now was, I posted the post 3 min before a meeting which just ended 1 min ago la.. and now I'm posting this post which after this I'm rushing down to the PC fair (yes, I'm here in Singapore and there is a PC fair). Therefore I'm asking you guys such dumb questions where I can easily google la.. I simply need fast response so that I can easily target the items later.. Anyway, thanks for all the shooting (honestly, I'm sorry about the post, I know I shouldn't post that), Sorry Again! Anyway, rushing down to PC fair right now to get the items.

Is it the My Passport Studio listed on czone.pdf? Why is there such a ginormous difference better Passport and Passport Studio -.-

USB chip is always cheaper due to "ginormous" amount of products using them, hence cost is so much lower. Compare to FireWire, it's always been high-end Mac exclusive and video production houses privilege during those days. But right now we see more and more FireWire products as PC maker start to adopt it as well as growing Mac users. It's actually very affordable now compare to last time.

And a FireWire external drive usually allow more functions than the USB, like daisy chain, bootup older mac. Constant data transfer. Also they always come together with USB "just in-case".

WD Passport did not have daisy chain function though.

This post has been edited by wei: Mar 13 2010, 07:07 PM

I'm seeing a power cord for the bigger ones, MyBook Studio/II. Why does the 3.5" ones need power? >.<

My brain hurts...and my wallet is gonna butthurt even more..

edit: More questions..sorry

Can I partition said HDD to be backup (HFS+) and a media partition for playing stuff on the tv (FAT32)?
Does the 3.5" need to be plugged in for it to be read by the dvd player(it reads divx thru usb)?

This post has been edited by frega: Mar 13 2010, 10:30 PM

Dude, all desktop size external drive need power. Tell me which doesn't I go buy one or dozen. Let alone the Studio II house 2 desktop drives. This end my posting on this topic.

Wow... sorry for not being familiar with ext hdds or the backing up process, I havent had a mac die on me since I switch 6 years ago.

I'm surprised you didnt snap your fingers after you said that.

Also I'm asking WHY, 3.5" (desktop size) needs power and the 2.5" doesnt (since it doesnt list a power adapter on wdc).

This post has been edited by frega: Mar 13 2010, 10:31 PM

3.5" = Desktop Hard Disk consumes more power than 2.5" hard disk

2.5" = Requires same or a bit more power as a USB thumb drive. Hence the usage in laptops because it use less power.

That's why 2.5" drive do not need any power adaptor. Do you see any thumb drive using power adaptor?

Thank you for the answer, dont have to get b****y. I wouldnt ask if I knew.

edit out

This post has been edited by wei: Mar 13 2010, 11:43 PM

from what I can see, your HDD is over used, meaning you do not have much scratch disk space left.
your system disk is not suppose to store all the works and your files.

you need to start to work on your files and store in externally. then you existing system HDD will have sufficient space to work and will remain as fast as your first bought your mac.

as for external HDD, 3.5 inch or 2.5inch. it depends on what kind of solutions. 3.5 inch definitely need to power up.
as for 2.5 inch, some need to power up if you are using a bigger capacity HDD, however, home HDD enclosure doesnt need because the USB cable has 2 ports to connect to your mac to power up. it depends on architecture of the enclosure.

I have an enclosure for 2.5 inch, if you use the eSATA port, then you need to connect to external power.

if I am confusing you, then please give me a call or you are welcome to our office.

Wow ...

That last statement was supposed to be a funny comment and not to put you down but looking from the above comments, well ... I should see that coming. Maybe you don't have a sense of humor ..

hard to take it as a joke, when the previous poster who "answered" my question metaphorically stormed out of the thread on his huffy bike.

may i know if freecom hdd is reliable? i was thinking of getting wd cause it has firewire but it's abit too exp compared to the promotion this store is having for freecom.

never heard of freecom, but after googling, their products seems interesting. the germans make good stuff but then it seems like freecom is using another company's hdd inside their casing. meaning the actual hard drive isnt made by them.

compared to WD or seagate, who actually make hdds. i'd trust them more lah but that's just me

y dun u compare with the USB-only WDs? firewire support is pricey

if i were to get one with firewire then i have more usb ports available and the shop i went to was having some promotion for freecom - 500GB for rm330. so i was thinking if i should get it since it's quite cheap. thanks for your advice dvlzplayground! i'll look around for others

oh. RM330 isnt really cheap... 500gb usb-only ext hdd now around rm300-rm320 according to czone pricelist. but then depends on ur location lah. for sarawak, rm330 is cheap. heheh

but firewire is pretty nice though before i was using USB for my time machine backup..now using firewire 800... woohoo big difference haha. but then maybe improve cuz that was from 10.5 to 10.6 lah

haha ok thx! guess i should look around more then...

eh i have a problem. i can't seem to transfer a file more than 8gb in and out of my hard disk. abt to sell my hard disk so i wanna transfer my files out but i am unable to do so.

advice?

uhm wut i know is we cant write files bigger than 4gb on FAT32 drives. if 8gb i dunno :S

however maybe an app called Split and Concat can help u. it's like HJ Split in windows if u've used one

yes, a single file that larger than 4Gb cant write one any FAT32 formatted drives
you gonna need NTFS or Mac OS (Journaled) for 8GB file

Do look around. I just bought mine less than 2 months ago WD Passport 500GB around RM300 at Lowyat. Maybe what you can do is to look at the GS and ask them how much is the shipping to where you are.
FW is truly very fast but as for me where I only store my movies, pictures, tunes etc it proves to be fast enough. As for backup I would do it during the night and just leave it. I thought of having FW HDD before after thinking much I don't need the speed at all (although its nice to have it). I'd rather have the saving and maybe get 1TB or 2TB desktop size later on and it can serve as final archiving place. Plus the very much fact that I don't do any image/video editing so I won't be truly taking the speed advantage that much especially all in there are for leisure

so i need to reformat my hard disk to enable transfer of files bigger than 4gb? i have no issues putting the files inside, now i cant get it out. i cant even bring it out to my desktop.

yes!
you have to

thanks for the pointers viper-xs

The fact is USB 2.0 speed is just peak transfer of 480MB/s, where else FW 400&800 does mean the sustain transfer rate.

^ true2. i never see where is that 480 MB/s

is i buy WD hd for mac, can my other windows pc use it?

i'm new in mac..how the heck i clone my hard disk? currently i'm using time machine to backup my stuff..is it good enuf?

i got n00b question.

i got one external hdd. i can only read but cannot write. so , how can i write then? any idea?

The TM backups are good enough for you to do a full complete restore onto a new installation of the OS

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Added on April 14, 2010, 12:45 pmcause its in the NTFS format. you've got 2 options. either format it in the Mac file system, or look for something that allows you to write to NTFS, something like NTFS-3G

This post has been edited by fyire: Apr 14 2010, 12:45 PM

since this is a place to ask about external HDD and back up.. i have a few questions..

1) i need to buy a new HDD just for the use of time machine backup right?
2) what size of HDD is suitable? i do a lot of photo editing(about 100GB photos always in HDD)
3) in PC, if we wanna do a backup, we clone hdd, use ghost to make an image, or something like acronis... but in Mac, time machine is equivalent to those stuffs?

thanks!

im not sure what's the format out of the box. as long as u format it to fat32 right out of the box (before copying ur stuff ofcoz), u'll be fine. actually the "for mac" part doesnt mean anything

1) yeap
2) 1.5x or 2x the size of ur internal HDD is good enough.
3) mac also can do those cloning etc...but the drawback is this stuff got so many process. TM is practically invisible, as long as the hdd is plugged in, OSX will handle everything 4 u. that's why it's the best backup solution

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Added on April 14, 2010, 2:08 pmanyway, TM will create a folder on the external drive for time machine. u can still use the drive to store other files too, juz dun disturb the time machine folder

This post has been edited by dvlzplayground: Apr 14 2010, 02:08 PM

1) Any extra HDD will do. Rule of thumb is that the backup cannot be inside the current disk or else it won't be a real backup anyway. Some bought new bigger HDD for their mac and use the one supplied with their mac as backup drive. Just need some enclosure will do the trick. Some get an external FW or USB drive. Browse through all your options.

2) No idea. I usually dictates it based on my wallet and my need. Currently I have 500GB 2.5" drive. Plenty of space for all my movies and music plus it's portable since I really need that function. If you don't do alot of movement get a 3.5" drive as it's cheaper and can get more disk space. 2 partitions one for TM and another for storage space for all those movies/musics/pics. Make sure it's bigger in capacity that your current drive if you plan to use TM with that.

3) Alot of freeware programs available. You can use all those like make image, just backup certain path/files. Example SuperDuper! Head to freemacware.com to get ideas. Depends on your need
TM can do those plus more customization but more of a backup purposes where the files constantly change. Image is taken that point in time thus more suitable if you plan to have a duplicate disk or restore whole ISO etc. Well that's my preference anyway.

For question 2: lets say my internal HDD is 320GB.. so i hv to get at least 1.5x or 2x the internal HDD? so is around 500GB-1TB?

Anyway, can I use back my old 320GB external HDD and plug in my mac?

no lah. u wanna use a smaller hdd also can it juz makes bttr sense to use a huge one

thanks for the reply.. but how big is the file for the backup from TM? let say my 500GB MBP hdd already 200GB filled.. then the TM backup will be how big?

1st it will kinda clone ur hdd...everything will be copied (unless u exclude some folders), so if u got 200gb of stuff, then the TM will be around 200gb too. after that it will 'update' with new files and so on. it will make a 'screenshot' of ur system every time u backup, so u can revert to any one of them.

once the TM drive is full, it will start to delete the screenshots from the oldest one. so the bigger the drive, the further you can time travel

oh... nw i get it.. thx dvlzplayground... xD
another question.. how often TM will update? if use external as backup must always plug in?

time machine keeps:
- hourly backups for the past 24 hours
- daily backups for the past month
- weekly backups for all previous months

the oldest backups are deleted when your disk becomes full

^ that's what written on the TM syspref so yeah for the hourly backups u need to keep it plugged in all the time. but for me i juz plug in my TM whenever i want to backup. once done, eject the disk

thanks.. now i understand better.. but can i copy the backup of certain date out and keep it separately so that if my system crash.. i can restore the backup not from days ago, weeks ago but restore to a fresh copy after i install all the apps?

if the format WD my book studio for mac is in Journaled ( i think),
can my pc use it or if that drive connect to aiport extreme base station,
can my pc use it? Can my mac & pc share the data?

any recommendation for external HDD? for TM... going to PC fair later to survey..

im looking for seagate freeagent desk/go for mac which comes wif firewire800, is there anyone know the price?
Im looking for 500GB and above.

good question when restoring from the time machine (after a system crash or something), u can pick which date to restore from.

but yea if the hdd is full it will be deleted :S u can create a fresh-install-with-apps system clone, but i dunno what's the easiest way to restore from it unless another HDD is used. sorry about this

i never done this before, but i dont think the PC can read it. cuz windows cant understand HFS no matter where it's connected

and if we use an external HDD to do TM.. then we cant format it in FAT32 right? bcoz max size only 4GB.. that hdd we can only format in the mac format and we cant let PC read the file from the hdd d right?

ah yes, the TM drive need to be HFS. i think got windows software to read HFS drives. i think laaa

im a bit confused.. lets say i got a 500GB external HDD.. newly bought and then i wanna transfer my files from my PC to mac, so i just simply copy and paste? or need to format 1st? din noe external HDD can format different type of drives... LOL

any HDD can have different format

it really depends on what the external HDD is formatted right out of the box. sometimes it's FAT32, in this case you can straight away copy ur files into it. the limitation of FAT32 is u can't store a single file larger than 4GB

sometimes they are formatted as NTFS. no prob with windows, but OSX can only read from NTFS, cannot write. meaning u can copy files from it, but not to it. in this case, u either need to format the drive to FAT32 first, or install an app in OSX to enable writing on NTFS

about those "for Mac" external drives, they're formatted as HFS. no prob on OSX, but windows cant do anything with it at all. so if u plan on sharing an external HDD with a PC, dont use HFS. however, HFS is the format required for OSX installation and Time Machine backups

how do I know whether the HDD is formatted in what drives?
wow.. luckily I haven bought the HDD "for mac"..
HFS format, I cant use it on windows?

juz plug in to ur mac 1st, right click on the HDD icon n go to Get Info... u can find out the format there

yea HFS format cannot use on windows. so if u buy the 'for Mac' HDD, need to reformat 1st if u want to use with windows

so u wanna buy any external HDD also can, all of them will work. the difference is just the format, which is easy to take care of

Sorry Im still abit confused... Lets say I buy the MyBook Essential 1TB from WD... Its not for Mac... So it should most probably be formated as NTFS right?

If I want to use it on both windows and Mac what format best to use? Cause Ill be dual booting with boot camp.. So would like to know... Thanks in advance!

if it's just storage for ur files, then format as FAT32. simplest solution. both OSX n windows can access

if for storage but u wanna store files which are bigger than 4gb (as in 1 file >4gb, folder nevermind), use NTFS. windows can access but OSX cannot write. so u need to install an app on OSX to enable writing to NTFS volumes first..i recommend the free ntfs-3g

if for storage and time machine, only way is to partition the drive. one partition, format as HFS so can use with time machine. the other partition, format to either FAT32 or NTFS, depending on the previous paragraphs

Yea I think im going to use your 3rd suggestion. Partition into 2, 1 for time machine backup using HFS format.. The other FAT32 as I dont think any of my files are bigger than 4GB.. haha.. Thanks for the info.. New knowledge learned.. =D

good2 glad to help

thx dvlz for the great response.. if i make partition in my external hdd.. one for TM.. one for normal use mix with windows & mac..

if i m format under NTFS, and install an apps for Mac to write in NTFS.. will there be any downside? altho format it in FAT32 would be easier.. but just in case i hv file bigger than 4GB per file in the future..

Like dvlz suggested... After formatting to NTFS, install the ntfs-3g also so you can also write using OSX

so far i havent encountered any downsides with ntfs-3g

arent there 3rd party softwares you can download to alleviate the problem of read-only for ntfs?

the post right above yours got clue

oo.. then i will format it in NTFS instead of FAT32 lor.. so that in case i hv file bigger than 4GB also no worries

Yeap thats for future proof... But Ill stick to FAT32 as I dont think ill be keeping such big files... I guess those big files are mainly produced by graphic designers am I right? Or maybe games =D

i only got two files bigger than 4gb. one is snowleopard disk image. another is my virtual machine

Haha... ICIC... I need to learn how to make disk images... Just for backup... Nvm Ill ask in detail next time when I have my MBP with me =D

Think carefully now.
I have tonnes of files more than 4GB since I have lots of HD movies. With this type of screen, makes watching movies and seeing photos exciting (though I doubt one photo can take more than 4GB..hehe) Alot of my movies are around 4-5GB per file. Also I have alot of ISO images with me.
Moving ahead with changing the file system can be pain in rear especially if you need to move around files and you don't have extra disk space in current laptop to kick to or extra HDD to put it form temp

Ummm good point there... Guess Ill format to NTFS and get the ntfs-3g software.... Guess thats the best option right now eh.... =D

the only HD movies i have is rent from itunes... 24 hours expire dy...heheh

Oh, how much did you rent one movie for? Is it expensive? How long did you take to dl it?

us$ 3.99... last i rented was hurt locker. highly recommended watching in HD haha

about 5gb+. i think 2/3 days...i dun online all the time...

Oh wow... You pay for it and have to wait for it to DL also... If its for me I wouldnt wanna wait for it.. No patience.. Hardly dl movies also actually hehe due to malaysia's screamyx tortoise line.. =P

Big thanks to dvlzplayground for all the useful info in this thread. I have been thinking of a new storage n backup system. The info here is just what I needed.

is this the way you thank someone ? if yes, great.

i have no idea why u call someone who helped u as b****y when he/she just say out something which didn't hurt u at all.

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Added on April 21, 2010, 9:36 pmi suggest WD as it looks mac. you dont need the special Mac edition, the one with firewire should be good enough already.

This post has been edited by BridgestoneRE711: Apr 21 2010, 09:36 PM

Just started doing backup with the WD 1TB, Firewire 800....
Directly can detect by Mac & windows without any formatting ..
Can use password to lock the HDD.

Firewire transferring speed is pretty fast..

Chill chill make peace not war...

We are here to share our experience... =D

u are using mybook studio 1TB?

i plan to buy from him.. anyone bought from him before?
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1203412

Yea only WD MyBook studio has firewire 800 and is made for Mac... the rest all are using USB..

mememe12,

"WD Mybook Studio 1.0TB WDBAAJ0010HSL RM 439"


LYP, Jayacom - RM407 now.. U can try to bargain for a little lower with luck.

Last week i went Jayacom. Price was at RM430. After the pc fair, the price came closer to RM400. Best price i found in PC Fair is RM410. I didn't bought it cause my budget is around RM350 for the Seagate Free Agent Desktop.

THe WD is quiet... Lovely... I just hope the HDD casing could be more sturdy. Its easy get dented with little bump onto the edge of the case.

SG freeagent desktop have firewire model. But i not sure it is FW 400 or 800. Best price is at Viewnet.. RM369.. Out of stock now.

I couldn't found it in LYP. So, i ended up with WD instead.

This post has been edited by dinodog_Jr: Apr 22 2010, 10:59 AM

oo.. so best price for 1TB Mybook Studio is RM407... i m not from KL.. will try to find in my area.. if dont get.. then might need to ask my fren to buy for me d..

thx for the info!

Umm mememe12 you are in penang right? Penang's HDD will be more expensive compared to KL price (Lowyat) so I guess you have to ask your friend to get it for ya... I have also surveyed the price and stuff and conclusion is that Penang's computer hardware stuff is definitely more expensive compared to KL.. Maybe low demand or Penang lang kiamsiap dont wanna spend =)

hmm.. u r buying from KL too?

Umm.. Nope I bought through my company xD....

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Added on April 22, 2010, 2:11 pmAlready ordered and have to wait like 1 month to get it @@... Waiting game is killing me lol... So many things to wait.. first MBP, my casing, my backpack, my HDD lol... all still waiting except my MBP haha

This post has been edited by tarvalslain87: Apr 22 2010, 02:11 PM

wahhhhhhhh... 1TB need to wait for 1 month ar? hmm..

Yealo... Company purchase have to wait longer cause got discount haha.... Dont mind waiting since not really urgent need it... need it when Im leaving to Australia =D

Guys,

I need to clarify a mistake in my previous post bout 1TB HDD format.
It is HFSJ format.
Please take note. paiseh~~

I wrote it can be detected in Windows. Cause i am using bootcamp 3.0. It can detected HFSJ automatically.

Today i plugged the WD HDD into my office PC with XP and found out cannot shown the WD HDD icon. Scratching my head all day long.

Until now realize that the format is for Mac only.
Quickly installed Macdrive which can read my files out of the HDD in windows XP now.

Thanx for the Option 3. i need to re-backup my stuff and do 2 partitions as well.

This post has been edited by dinodog_Jr: Apr 24 2010, 12:56 AM

lol, yea bootcamp 3.0 cn read HFS ;p thx 4 sharing abt macdrive

Oh so if the HDD is formatted as HFSJ which only applicable to Mac but if you wanna use it in a windows OS, just have to download macdrive in windows?

So conclusion is HFSJ to work in both mac and windows = download macdrive in windows and get both

NTFS to work in mac and windows = download ntfs-3g in mac and get both...

Am I right?

yea u are right

OK cool.. thanks for the clarification... i guess these two setups would be the best if you wanna use both mac and windows.. No matter what size of the file...

Guys,

I have a situation with my WD ext HDD here..
I had did the backup in HFSJ-ready WD HDD. Everything can be read/write in Windows OS after installed Macdrive.

After that, i created a NTFS partition in Windows XP with Partition Magic8.
*There is no format i did during this NTFS partition*
Just the normal process of create logical drive for new partition in the HDD.

Now the HFSJ is gone. And Macdrive couldn't detect the partition as well.


Reason i created the NTFS partition is to make the Ext HDD readable in any Windows PC without installing Macdrive.

Now the HFSJ become unreadable in Windows & Mac OS. All my backup data is still there and labelled as "unallocated" in Windows Disk Management.

Any suggestion how to revive my HFSJ?
I am thinking to delete the NTFS drive i had created. So, i can "return" the whole HDD to HFSJ format?!

Please help. Thanx~!

wow sorry i cant help u there... somehow i dont think deleting the NTFS drive will solve ur problem. maybe partition magic didnt recognize the HFS volume n simply labelled in "unallocated"

can u view the size of the contents in the "unallocated" partition? how does it show up in OSX?

partitioning an HFS drive on windows isnt a good idea