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Hard drive for backing up Mac

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  • 05-09-2017 10:58pm
    #1
    Wanderer41
    Registered Users Posts: 240 ✭✭


    I will be getting a new Mac soon and need a new hard drive to back it up every now and then. When I tried using a regular hard drive with my current Mac, it said time machine couldn't work with it and I would have had to delete everything on the hard drive and reformat it.

    Can anyone recommend a hard drive for this? I've been looking online at Curry's and they have a 1TB WD hard drive, one is suitable for Mac and one is suitable for Windows only. I need to be able to use it on both Windows and Mac so I'm not sure which one to buy. Also, is it possible to use the hard drive as a back up with time machine and also be able to add files etc to it at the same time?

    Also, does updating your OS delete everything on your laptop?

    I don't know a lot about this and don't want to waste money so any help is appreciated.

    Thanks!


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    #2
    Creamy Goodness
    Registered Users Posts: 26,556 ✭✭✭✭Creamy Goodness


    it's best to use a drive solely for time machine and time machine only.

    the difference between the Windows and Mac WD Drives is in how their formatted, windows one works straight out of the box on windows and Mac one works straight out of the box on macOS.

    You could partition the drive, but then you're segregating your data which isn't a great idea.


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    #3
    Wanderer41
    Registered Users Posts: 240 ✭✭Wanderer41


    Thank you for your reply. So I'd be best buying the one for Mac. Can a windows one be formatted easily for Mac use and vice versa?
    My mac has 128gb of storage so I'll probably just get the 500gb one - no point getting a 1tb one if I can't use it for anything else, right?


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    #4
    Type 17
    Registered Users Posts: 2,730 ✭✭✭Type 17


    Wanderer41 wrote: »
    Thank you for your reply. So I'd be best buying the one for Mac. Can a windows one be formatted easily for Mac use and vice versa?

    Yes, no problem, use disk utility on your mac to reformat it.
    Wanderer41 wrote: »
    My mac has 128gb of storage so I'll probably just get the 500gb one - no point getting a 1tb one if I can't use it for anything else, right?

    Yes, the only advantage of a bigger backup drive is that you'll be able to go back further in time, to earlier versions of a file, but unless your work involves being able to access loads of different points in time, with large amounts of files, then a backup that is "only" two or three times the size of your Mac's drive will be fine.


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    #5
    Deep Thought
    Registered Users Posts: 4,384 ✭✭✭Deep Thought


    use Time-machine onto my Synology NAS

    The narrower a man’s mind, the broader his statements.



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