Time Machine question

My new iMac is due tomorrow, finally. Yeah.. happy dance. But I have question. Everything showed up ahead of time except the external drive I plan on using for Time machine

My external media drive will be hooked up. So when the computer boots for the first time will I be able to decline the Time machine setup or will it default to my media drive? My time machine drive will be here Friday. Its smaller and a firewire hookup. My media drive is a Thunderbolt hookup.

Another question I have is when the drive arrives I assume there is a way to tell it that is the time machine drive?

Sorry for the newbie questions but I've never owned nor booted up a Mac so I'm unsure.

Thanks..

Don't worry. You won't be forced to use the media drive.

If I remember correctly when you connect the new drive you'll be given the chance to designate it as the Time Machine drive.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250

I guess I have to ask, but what's on the "media drive"?

Is it a backup or what does it contain?
Does it have an Admin user that can be used??

Too many questions for me to answer the post correctly.

Also, which new iMac model is it, as not all new iMacs have a Firewire port!! So a TB-FW adapter will be required and maybe an extra compatible TB- FW adapter.

Slydude thanks for the link. That will be very helpful.

pm-r the media drive has lots of my videos from the go pro. I do a lot for the local schools clubs. And photos..

the back up drive is only for the SSD drive on board. So basically my operating system is all.
Not sure what Admin user means. I will be the only person using the computer.

The model is in my specs... 27" 5K iMac, i7, 500 GB SSD, 24 GB Memory, Radeon R9

Admin user just means the User who has admin rights and access on your Mac, and if you have only one user, they will automatically become the Admin user.

Basically each OS X Mac can have multiple users, each with an Admin or Standard access.

Hi Sharkz

Lucky person. 5K iMac and all the rest. Enjoy!

But pm-r's point becomes highly relevant. You will need Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adaptors to connect, at the least, your "old" Media EHD. As you are purchasing a new EHD, it may have a TB port. Very unlikely to have Firewire; probably has USB-3.

When your new EHD arrives, connect it to the iMac by whatever method exists; go into System Preferences > Time Machine, move the Slider to "On"; choose the new EHD as your TM. It will offer you the chance to reformat it automatically which I suggest you accept just in case, and then you are ready to go. Keep TM connected and let it do the work. Your first Backup may be lengthy, but subsequent ones will be much quicker.

Ian

IWT all the equipment is brand new. I won't be transferring any old data. I'm done with that. I will be starting off fresh from this date forward.

The New backup drive is a firewire drive from OWC this one
OWC 2.0TB Mercury Elite Pro 7200RPM FW800 &USB3... in stock at OWC and I believe it should be ready to go for the iMac.

The media drive is a TB connection. I wanted to make sure speed wasn't affected to bad. Especially when I render things in Zbrush.

Ah, I see. Sorry, I thought the Media EHD was old, the rest new.

Well, I still wish you the very best. It is always a pleasure, even exciting, to get the latest "kit".


Reading the link you kindly included, doesn't specifically say that the OWC EHD is Mac ready. I may have missed something. It does include pre-installed Backup & Utility software.

Just check, if you don't mind, when you get it that it is formatted for Mac — and not "PC" or "Mac & PC". Use Disk Utility to do this. Because if it is either of the latter, I strongly recommend you format it, via Disk Utility, to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) otherwise it won't work properly. You will lose the pre-installed stuff. But this rarely matters.

Ian

Will do. I'm prepping my old computer now. Took today off work to get my iMac up and running ;-) Booting it up in about an hour.