external hard drives

[DMJONES]

I have an iMac using 10.6.8 Snow Leaopard. My Time Machine clearly seems to have died. Would a Seagate 5TB USB 3.0 work on my iMac?

 

[ferrarr]

Yesss.

 

[DMJONES]

Yesss.

OK. Thanks ferrarr. Can you supply a little more detail? Would it be difficult to get it set up? I struggle with this stuff.

 

[pigoo3]

OK. Thanks ferrarr. Can you supply a little more detail? Would it be difficult to get it set up? I struggle with this stuff.

We can definitely supply more detail...I think member ferrarr was responding to the question that was asked in post #1.

As far as more detail...you will simply plug the new external drive into your iMac's USB port...then as with any new hard drive you will very likely need to make sure it's formatted for use with Apple computers (usually using Disk Utility). Then use the external HD as desired.

If more specific detail is needed...please ask specific questions...since it's very hard to guess what additional info may or may not be needed.

- Nick

 

[DMJONES]

We can definitely supply more detail...I think member ferrarr was responding to the question that was asked in post #1.

As far as more detail...you will simply plug the new external drive into your iMac's USB port...then as with any new hard drive you will very likely need to make sure it's formatted for use with Apple computers (usually using Disk Utility). Then use the external HD as desired.

If more specific detail is needed...please ask specific questions...since it's very hard to guess what additional info may or may not be needed.

- Nick

That's most kind, Nick. Thank you. I know where to go if I have any problems setting it up.

 

[pigoo3]

I know where to go if I have any problems setting it up.

Yes sir...lots of knowledgable & helpful & friendly folks here. If you post a question...almost always someone around to help right away...or in a short period of time.

When you get your new external HD...if you should find yourself questioning something or get stuck...post a question...and we will be glad to help.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

I have an iMac using 10.6.8 Snow Leaopard. My Time Machine clearly seems to have died. Would a Seagate 5TB USB 3.0 work on my iMac?

Your question has already been answered by Bob above, but I just wonder for somebody using Snow Leopard 10.6 8 if a 5TB might be a bit excessive in size and maybe even in price.

Just saying... but if you need the room, and the price is right, then by all means go for it.
And you can always partition at if you need.







- Patrick
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[James]

Don't know about the Seagate, but it should, I have a 4T WD partitioned in 4 1T on my iMac and it works just great.

 

[harryb2448]

It will only run at USB2 speed if that is what your iMac has, and it sounds like maybe a 2010/2011 vintage machine. If so, investigate if a FW800 will be faster than USB2. If it is a 2011 iMac, maybe a second hand Thunderbolt caddy fitted with a reasonable size SSD would be thew fastest option.


https://www.macworld.com/article/1145224/storage/firewire-usb.html

 

[pm-r]

If so, investigate if a FW800 will be faster than USB2.

That's an excellent point to consider. Or maybe even using the original Thunderbolt ports if it has any.

Lots of sites will show the speed differences of the different ports.

 

[DMJONES]

Yes sir...lots of knowledgable & helpful & friendly folks here. If you post a question...almost always someone around to help right away...or in a short period of time.

When you get your new external HD...if you should find yourself questioning something or get stuck...post a question...and we will be glad to help.

- Nick

Thank you, Nick, and all you who wrote advice. The 5TB Seagate, although it 'seems' excessive, its price per TB is justifiable to me, especially as the a new mere 2TB Mac Time Capsule costs nearly three times as much! Nick, I sometimes struggle when I get some new computer stuff, but this TINY Seagate external drive box was so easy to set up and 'configure' (if that's the right word) as my new Time Machine! I had it done and things up and running again in about 20 minutes! Only one question: Can/should I leave it connected permanently into one of my Mac's USB ports or not? (At the moment I am connecting it each day when I turn on my Mac and start to work on something, then ejecting and unplugging it before I shut down.)

 

[MacInWin]

Two thoughts: 1) Don't shut down the Mac every night or day, just leave it running and let it go into sleep. The power usage is minimal and the system will do some maintenance while inactive. Then to wake it, just tap the space bar and it should come back awake in seconds.
2) Leave the TM drive attached and it will do it's thing to keep your backups automatically. No need to unplug or eject it. Particularly if you follow #1.

 

[pigoo3]

The 5TB Seagate, although it 'seems' excessive, its price per TB is justifiable to me, especially as the a new mere 2TB Mac Time Capsule costs nearly three times as much!

I wanted to mention a couple things regarding what was quoted above:

- Awesome that the 5TB Seagate meets your needs & was a good price/TB.
- Yes Apple products can be expensive...but also remember that the Apple Time capsule is not only a backup device...but also a wireless router. Which means you can do wireless backups. Right now with your new 5TB Seagate drive...you need to have the cable connected to do backups (which may not be a big deal...but wireless backups is a nice feature of the Time Capsule)

Nick, I sometimes struggle when I get some new computer stuff, but this TINY Seagate external drive box was so easy to set up and 'configure' (if that's the right word) as my new Time Machine! I had it done and things up and running again in about 20 minutes!

Great to hear that everything went smoothly. Goes to show you probably understand a lot more about this technology stuff than you give yourself credit for!

Only one question: Can/should I leave it connected permanently into one of my Mac's USB ports or not? (At the moment I am connecting it each day when I turn on my Mac and start to work on something, then ejecting and unplugging it before I shut down.)

If it were me...if you always connect to the external HD everyday...and if the new hard drive is connected to a desktop Apple computer that doesn't move...then I would leave it connected all the time.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[IWT]

Congrats, Nick. 40K posts.

Ian

 

[pm-r]

I wanted to mention a couple things regarding what was quoted above:

May I also add a suggestion and that would be to also consider using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper in a separate backup partition just in case Time Machine happens to goof up.






- Patrick
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- - - Updated - - -

Congrats, Nick. 40K posts.

Ian

WOOOHOOO!!! Congratulations Nick!!!

And thanks to Ian for noticing!! ;D





- Patrick
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