If at all possible repartition the drive in order to remove their software. Backup using Time Machine or a third-party backup utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.5.
May 01, 2020 I have a MacBook Pro from 2012 and an external hard drive (Samsung portable something). I had it plugged in today and it worked just fine. Then, as I was moving my computer the hard drive fell down (still plugged in). It didn't hit the floor but it hit one of the legs of the table. It didn't seem like such a hard hit though. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. After DU loads select the external backup drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.' S ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partitiontab in the DU main window. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Using an external drive to back up Macbook can help protect your files so you can get back up and running again in no time. Preparing Your Computer for the Backup Process. Using an external drive to back up your Macbook means that your storage space is limited. Hence, it is important to determine which files you can and can't live without. Nov 27, 2019 How to Backup a Mac to an External Hard Drive. Insert your drive and use the Disk Utility app to format it. Open two Finder windows. One should show your internal drive, while the other should.
I would not recommend partitioning your drive for each computer. it is not needed. Each computer will backup to the drive using separately named folders. All you need do is connect the backup drive to each computer. Now, I don't find this the most reliable or easiest method. That would be using separate backup drive for each computer. This way should one drive fail you only lose one back rather than both backups.
As for reformatting the drive:
Drive Partition and Format
- Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
- After DU loads select the external backup drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
- Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
Whatever you do, do not try to simply delete the backup folder by dumping it in the Trash. This will take hours or even days. The above outlined process only takes a few minutes.
Jul 9, 2014 6:15 PM
If the external drive is large enough, yes.
Recent versions of Time Machine will do this across a properly set up and Shared network connection or to a drive on a Server. But you may be unhappy with the amount of Wireless traffic generated to perform the backups, especially the initial full backup.
Utilities like Carbon Copy Cloner will do this ONLY when performing a file-by-file backup. A 'Disk Image' backup reproduces the Source disk, including blank space, and fills the entire Destination drive with the Source Disk image.
Backup Macbook Air On External Hard Drive
Sep 30, 2012 8:44 AM
