01-13-2011, 12:30 PM

Hi all, first post, so be gentle!

Firstly not 100% sure if this is the correct place to post my particular problem. I have a Macbook pro running 10.6.6 and a 500gb Lacie external hard drive that i use for time machine purposes.

My question is this, is it possible to save all my data (music, photos, films) on to a separate hard drive (away from the one i use for time machine) so i can free the space on the memory within the laptop its self. If this is possible could anyone recommend a good hard drive and instructions on how to accomplish this.

Thank you in advance for any assistance regarding this matter!

01-13-2011, 01:12 PM

Welcome to the Mac Forums.

I always hesitate to recommend storing programs and data on an external hard drive when the machine is a notebook. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a portable computer. Having said that, it's certainly possible to move things like an iPhoto and iTunes library from the machine to an external hard drive. You can even store documents and other misc bits of data as well.

Any good quality external hard drive should be fine. I don't know where you're located at, but looking on Amazon.com and other sites which stock computer items should give you some idea of price and quality.

But before you decide on an external hard drive, consider upgrading the one you have in your machine to a larger faster model.

01-13-2011, 01:17 PM

What he said. But, if you're really just looking to keep files off of the computer you could think about some type of online (cloud) storage options. Dropbox is a great one (They offer 2GB free plus paid options) Also, a properly set up Network Attached Storage device would allow you to store files on it and then access them on your network when you are home, or even though FTP or remote access when you are away

01-13-2011, 01:27 PM

Thanks for the input!

Sorry for being a bit of a noob! and maybe not explaining well, i'm literally wanting away to free up some hard drive space rather than memory. i have read its £490 for extra memory. The memory is fine i just need extra space freeing on the hard drive.

As for the last post, what options is there for creating a networked hard drive i can connect my laptop and imac too? this way saving all media files on there to get when i wanted?

thanks again!

01-13-2011, 01:33 PM

We understood what you meant....

What I recommended still goes. And as far as storing media files and other data on a network drive, I hope you don't mind waiting and waiting and waiting and ........

01-13-2011, 01:46 PM

Thanks guys!

Just to clarify, all i need is an external hard drive (mac compatible) attached via usb to my macbook pro, then transfer all the media files to the new hard drive, which in turn leaves more hard drive space open.

Which now leads me to another question, or two...sorry!!

How do you copy the media on the laptop to the new hard drive without losing it all and still being able to play and stream as it does now? Plus by doing this will it alter how the hard drive i have for time machine acts, or will it double save from the new hard drive?

really sorry guys, but thanks if you can help!!