CRAZY Time Machine/Ext. HD ques

[drunkwhensober]

I have a 160GB WD Passport HD that I was using for Time Machine back-ups, but it's now full. I was going to get a either a 500GB ext. HD, or a Time Capsule, to replace the 160. My question to you guys is: can I take the files and already stored information on my 160GB HD and transfer them to another hard drive? I know this might not be possible with the Time Capsule, so don't even bother with that.

I just posted another thread in another area of the forums wondering how to use an external hard drive and a videocamera, both connecting via firewire, to the computer at the same time when the Macbook only has one firewire port.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=673557#post673557


I need some serious advice in regards to external hard drives and using Time Machine...

Any comments will be appreciated and replied to!

 

[Plan B]

I have a 160GB WD Passport HD that I was using for Time Machine back-ups, but it's now full. I was going to get a either a 500GB ext. HD, or a Time Capsule, to replace the 160. My question to you guys is: can I take the files and already stored information on my 160GB HD and transfer them to another hard drive? I know this might not be possible with the Time Capsule, so don't even bother with that.

I just posted another thread in another area of the forums wondering how to use an external hard drive and a videocamera, both connecting via firewire, to the computer at the same time when the Macbook only has one firewire port.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=673557#post673557


I need some serious advice in regards to external hard drives and using Time Machine...

Any comments will be appreciated and replied to!

On the note about transfering your files and such, i believe you can go to a genius bar and instore, bring your HDD and they will transfer it for you.

Cheers.

 

[drunkwhensober]

On the note about transfering your files and such, i believe you can go to a genius bar and instore, bring your HDD and they will transfer it for you.

Cheers.

Thanks very much! I'll definitely look into that.

 

[iRye]

You don't need to go to the Apple Store, you can do the cloning yourself for free!

This is a program called Carbon Copy Cloner.


Get a new drive of your choice (I personally recommending building your own, get an enclosure and a drive, I reccomend Hitachi or Seagate, assembly is extremely simple).

Plug them both in whether it's both USB or FireWire and USB. Use CCC to clone your Passport to said new drive.


For future reference, I'd recommend staying away from Western Digital if possible - I've had 3, 2 have failed on their own, and one failed because I trusted my brother with it, and he put it in his bag, and he threw his backpack to the ground. I promptly yelled at my brother, who at the time forgot that the drive was in his bag. It worked still. I trusted him once more with it, and he dropped it while spinning. It came apart (the Passport unit) and I discovered my drive had failed. Sorry for going off topic a bit, so I'll cut to the chase,
I've had 3 Hitachi drives take way more abuse than that.

 

[KB3GZW]

On the flip side, I have had great success with WD drives. Infact, its the only brand I use.I have multiples of other brands and never found the reliability that I get with WD.

These kinds of debates come up all the time, Its like trying to say which american car manufacturer is "the best". It ends up going nowhere. I would say go with your own past experiences.