Backup options...

I'm on a MBP 15" 10.4 OSX. My External HD is Western Digital My Book Studio 500gb.

I want to back up my computer onto the external. However I already have stuff on the external that I can't delete. Most programs I've found for backing up require to reformat or delete everything on the external first before it can begin backing up. Or they require that the external only be used for backing up and I can't put anything else on it unless I partion it (which I can't do because I need to keep all the info on it)

I tried the software that came with the WD HD but its crap.

Can anyone recommend any free or low cost backup software where I can back up my mac w/o reformatting or wiping the external clean first and can still use it for other things.

If your WD My Book 500 GB drive has no room for partitioning or files are scattered about throughout the drive, then no program can be used that will reliably be able to back up to it. And you certainly don't want to use DVD media for backups. (Too tedious and prone to errors.)

Think about purchasing another external hard drive just for backup purposes. It will be easier and safer for recovery if you should ever need to do so.

As far as low cost backup programs go.... I highly recommend either using SuperDuper (shareware) or Carbon Copy Cloner (donation ware). Both do a superb job of creating a bootable backup to an external hard drive.

Regards.

Hi
If u still have room in ur WD My Book 500 GB drive that is big enough for backup u can make partition using
disc utility without delete any of ur stuff.
and make ur new partition as ur backup disc.

are there any specific settings I need to partition with Disc Utility. When I try it says, "Partitioning a disk will destroy all information on the volume of the disk"

How much free space is left on the drive? Disk Utility can non destructively partition the drive, however, it depends on how much remaining space you have and how large a backup partition you need.

The warning you received from DU is letting you know that if you partition the drive and it exceeds the available space versus room for the data, then the data will be destroyed.

Be safe and take the advice I gave you in my previous reply and buy another external hard drive to use for backup.

Regards.