Sam165 Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Hi Brian, I have a 2017 iMac, 21.5" (yes, I know it isn't good :)), Big sur 11.6.1 version. 16 GB Ram, 1 TB storage with 434 GB available. I am using a 4 TB ehd with Time Machine. I know you don't like Backblaze which I am using right now to back up my computer. So, if I want to back up my photos on another ehd (I have a 6 TB, G tech here), how do I go about doing that? Manually? With another programme? Thanks for your insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 Also, Brian, my 4 TB ehd just being used with Time Machine says not enough room to complete back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 First things first... I want to check that you are NOT using the Time Machine Drive to store other files. Correct? The ONLY files on the Time Machine Drive should be Time Machine Backups. Sometimes Time Machine drives just get full and you need to start deleting things. Or you can purchase and use a program that I highly recommend, CleanMyMac X from Macpaw.com. Right now it seems to be on sale for a 1 year subscription. In addition to the benefits of keeping your Mac tidy, they also have a Time Machine Trimming Feature: Basically, you can kill the Time Machine Backups that are really-really old, or if you want format the Time Machine Drive and start over. It all depends on your comfort level. Second, the other EHD... I would just hookup the G-Drive and just use it as an external. That's what I do. I have a 4TB dedicated Time Machine Drive, and a 12TB External Drive that is hooked up via the Thunderbolt 3 port. The TM drive is just a USB 3.0 G-Drive. I really don't need "Speed" for a TM drive since it basically only does one thing, and it does it by itself. The trick is setting up your Mac to make accessing the Externals MUCH easier. I want you to take a look at this article that I wrote, specifically read "Part 2." That will give you instructions on how to get your Mac HDs, Camera Cards, DVDs, etc. to appear on your Mac Desktop. Then it's just a matter of treating the EHD just like your internal hard drive. Third, if you are looking to clone your Hard Drive, I'd recommend purchasing a program called SuperDuper! That program has been around since the 1990's and is one of those "Classic" Programs that still holds up after all these years. It will automatically clone your HD, or even a specific folder if you want, at a certain time. The only thing is, your partition on BOTH drives needs to be Mac Formatted, no stupid exFAT partitions, SuperDuper! won't see the drives. I'd recommend making sure that all your drives are Mac OS Extended (Journaled) before going forward. What happens if they are exFAT Partitioned? You need to get another HD, delete any existing partitions (unless they are already Mac OS Extended (Journaled,) create the correct partition type, format it then manually copy all of your files from the one drive to the blank one. Once you are 100% sure that everything is copied over, you then NUKE the old HD, re-partition it to Mac OS Extended Journaled, Format it...THEN copy everything back. I would not recommend using any software that promises to "Convert" a Partition Type. It's too risky an frankly you are just wasting your money. Edit: How do you find out how your HDs are partitioned? Simply use the Disk Utility App under the "Utilities" Folder which is in the Applications Folder. Here is mine: Underneath G-Drive 12TB (select the drive first) it will tell you the Partition Type: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 Wow. Thanks for this. My G-Drive is Mac OS extended (journaled) but my WD ehd is APFS volume (and it is 4 yrs. old and I doubt how good a quality it is). Also, on the WD I have Time Machine and Pictures Folders on it. I do have the icons on my desktop with no problem. I do have CleanMyMac but haven't used it for TM since I seem to have screwed things up a wee bit. At the moment, I gave up on TM and am using Carbon Copy Cloner to take pics off of my internal HD and cloning them onto my G-Drive (I have said not to delete anything on the G-Drive), then I am cloning G-Drive to WD (which after what you have written doesn't seem like such a hot idea since it is APFS). Backblaze is backing up my computer and my G-Drive. So guess I have some stuff to fix. Also, would you still recommend G-Drive if I need to get another ehd? Or do you recommend something else? I also have a PC laptop. What ehd would you recommend for it? Whew. What a learning curve! Thank you Brian sooo much:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 3 hours ago, Sam165 said: Also, on the WD I have Time Machine and Pictures Folders on it. That is BAD. Very Bad. Move those images off that TM Drive. Keep your Time Machine Drive separate from everything else. 3 hours ago, Sam165 said: I do have the icons on my desktop with no problem. While technically you aren't "breaking" anything, the more Icons / Files / Folders (aka CRAP) you have on your desktop, the slower your Mac runs. The only thing that should be on your Mac Desktop is the HD Icons and shortcut files called an Alias. Now granted, I myself will put things on the Desktop to keep things simple. The problem is when people use it for long-term storage. "I haven't had any problems..." Yeah, I get that a lot. A person could also say they routinely drive 100MPH / 160KPH and have never gotten a speeding ticket. LOL!! It's your Mac. 3 hours ago, Sam165 said: I do have CleanMyMac but haven't used it for TM since I seem to have screwed things up a wee bit. It's important to stay current with CleanMyMac. The current version is CleanMyMac X. What trips people up is they hold onto say, CleanMyMac 2 or CleanMyMac 3 and run it on a modern OS. Then they come in hear wondering why CleanMyMac screwed up their computer. In 2022 the days of holding onto software for 10+ years are over. You must stay current for the best results, or at the very least don't upgrade things (which causes problems eventually all by itself,) to keep all the version levels even. 3 hours ago, Sam165 said: At the moment, I gave up on TM and am using Carbon Copy Cloner to take pics off of my internal HD and cloning them onto my G-Drive (I have said not to delete anything on the G-Drive), then I am cloning G-Drive to WD (which after what you have written doesn't seem like such a hot idea since it is APFS). Backblaze is backing up my computer and my G-Drive. Talk about complicated. Ask any Engineer, the more complicated you make something, the greater the chance of things going horribly wrong. Pick something and fix it. Start moving Photos off the TM drive and personally I'd recommend formatting the TM drive and then run a fresh TM backup will fix the TM issues. But I can understand if you don't want to nuke that drive. Still, get those photos off of that TM drive. Put them ANYWHERE but the Mac Desktop and the Time Machine Drive. Also, BackBlaze and other Cloud Storage Services: They are NOT Fool-Proof. You must read the fine print. I think it's BackBlaze that will delete files automatically after 30 days if they aren't stored locally on your computer. So you might think things are backed up, then clear stuff out of your HDs...only to find out two months from now those files are GONE. So make sure things are where they are supposed to be. At least for the really important stuff. If I'm wrong, perfect. Your files are still there and your world is happy. If I'm right, then you have discovered something and can be pro-active. 3 hours ago, Sam165 said: my WD ehd is APFS volume APFS is Apple's newest Partition Type. It's perfect for SSD (Flash Based) Media. Spinning Platter / Traditional HDs? It's best to use MacOS Extended (Journaled). The Windows equivalent to that Partition Type is "NTFS." 3 hours ago, Sam165 said: Also, would you still recommend G-Drive if I need to get another ehd? Hell to the YES!! I have Two G-Drives sitting on my desk as I type this. A USB 3.0 4TB G-Drive that is currently running a TM Backup and a Thunderbolt 3 12TB G-Drive that houses my photos / Data Files. G-Drives are my default recommendation. Especially the beefy Enterprise-Grade 7200RPM Models. I never cheap out on my Hard Drives. Big, Beefy, Robust are the ones I like. Yes, they cost more but guess what also costs money (and stress?) Data Recovery. Not the Data Recovery with free software...no, Data Recovery where they transplant HD platters in attempts to get your data back. Way more expensive than a $500 fancy HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 Hi Brian, thanks so much for this. On my desktop, I only have icons of my ehd, my Macintosh HD, an alias and a folder named Relocated Items. Have no idea what to do with that folder. I am looking to purchase another G-Drive (4TB) then I will transfer photos off of my WD hard drive onto it. Once I do that, I will use WD for Time Machine, though I am a little unsure how good it is. Is there a way to change WD from APFS to MacOS Extended (Journaled) since it is a traditional HD? Do you have any photos on your computer HD or just have them on your ext. hard drives? Can't thank you enough since I was feeling swamped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 Hi Brian, thanks so much for this. On my desktop, I only have icons of my ehd, my Macintosh HD, an alias and a folder named Relocated Items. Have no idea what to do with that folder. I am looking to purchase another G-Drive (4TB) then I will transfer photos off of my WD hard drive onto it. Once I do that, I will use WD for Time Machine, though I am a little unsure how good it is. Is there a way to change WD from APFS to MacOS Extended (Journaled) since it is a traditional HD? Do you have any photos on your computer HD or just have them on your ext. hard drives? Can't thank you enough since I was feeling swamped! Just saw a San Disk Professional 6TB G-Drive Enterprise Class USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ext. Hard Drive at B&H for $209.99 USD (I live in Canada but shipping would be free). Good one to get? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 8 hours ago, Sam165 said: On my desktop, I only have icons of my ehd, my Macintosh HD, an alias and a folder named Relocated Items. You get today's GOLD STAR!!! That is EXACTLY what should be on the desktop. Believe it or not, you are the first person in MONTHS that does things correctly. I mostly deal with people that have THOUSANDS of files / images on their Mac Desktop and then they come in here complaining that their fancy new Mac is acting sluggish. 8 hours ago, Sam165 said: Is there a way to change WD from APFS to MacOS Extended (Journaled) since it is a traditional HD? There is, but you'll need to delete the existing APFS Partition, create a new one and format it. Takes about 5 min to accomplish, but like I said, you'll need to Nuke that drive so make sure you get stuff off of it first, THEN we will convert it. 8 hours ago, Sam165 said: Do you have any photos on your computer HD or just have them on your ext. hard drives? ALL of my important Photos are on my 12TB Thunderbolt 3 G-Drive. Thunderbolt 3 is FAST it's almost like working off my internal HD. So if you do have a TB3 Port and aren't taking advantage of it, you are missing out. It's way faster than USB 3.0. As for the photos on my internal drive...come to find out (I just checked,) I do. But these photos are minor and might be the result of auto-importing stuff, which I normally don't do. Hmm...I'm going to have to do a little house-keeping myself. Though the quick check that I just did, they aren't THAT important. But assuming that everything is on my external is not correct. 8 hours ago, Sam165 said: San Disk Professional 6TB G-Drive Enterprise Class USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ext. Hard Drive at B&H for $209.99 USD Sandisk now owns G-Drive. So it's probably a G-Drive. LOL!! That said, Thunderbolt 3 is still faster, especially if you only have USB 3.0 ports. You'll need USB 3.2 Ports to take advantage of any speed upgrades. TB3 ports look like USB-C Style Ports, so check your Mac. You might have one or two of them not being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 Thanks for the Gold Star...probably the only thing I have done right so far I have one USB port available. I'm not sure if it is usb-c or TB3. I'll look for another ehd that mentions TB3. So I found at B&H a SanDisk Professional 6TB G-Drive Pro Thunderbolt 3 $349.99 USD. Good for this Canuck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 I just re-read your original post above. You have a 21.5" 2017 iMac. You have two TB3 ports. They are the USB ports between the Ethernet Port and the USB ports. For reference:https://support.apple.com/guide/imac/take-a-tour-215-inch-imac-and-27-inch-imac-apddfab3bd1b/mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 19, 2022 Author Share Posted March 19, 2022 Ok. I have my WD My Book and my G-Drive connected beside there. That's great! Ok. I have someone in Calgary, Canada who can get me a a6TB drive with TB3. Looks like I will get that. Once I have that, I will transfer photos that are on my TM drive and reformat the WD My Book. Not wild about this drive so am happy to get another drive that is better. Maybe I will also re-think Backblaze and just put all my photos on ehd. I have already culled a lot of photos on my computer hard drive to save space and putting all photos off to ehd would give me more space. Thanks Brian!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Once you get all of your Hard Drives, I want you to go into Disk Utility and verify THE PARTITION TYPES!! HD Manufacturers have gotten lazy and drives today come pre-formatted using exFAT for a Partition Type since they work on both Windows and Mac Computers. It's the easy way out and cuts down on their support calls. The downside is exFAT is basically a "Garage Project" that Microsoft came up with, but isn't main-stream. It's also not as bullet-proof and I wouldn't use it with any data that you can't stand to lose. So in a nutshell, pick a format and stick with it. A Macintosh Partition or a Windows Partition. Pick one. I can help if needed. Just don't go crazy and start copying stuff over to your new EHDs without checking things first. I'd hate for you to have an issue in 8-9 months and lose all your data because exFAT isn't 100% bullet-proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 Ok thanks Brian. Once I have all the external hard drives and the new one delivered, I will check the partition types and contact you. How do I buy you a beer?! You have been so very helpful. Talk to you soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Symonds Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HVQ98TKLAZGVY&source=url Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Buy Brian a Beer!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted March 31, 2022 Author Share Posted March 31, 2022 Hi Brian. Haven't forgotten you! I just got my 6 TB ehd delivered today. I will now work on getting stuff off of my WD hard drive and then contact you about changing the partition type of the WD. I have also made a donation to your beer fund Thanks so much and talk soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 First off, let’s verify your new EHD is MacOS Extended (Journaled) and not the stupid exFAT for the partition type? An you verify this in Disk Utilities and post a screen shot here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 No problem. I checked and it is MacOS Extended (Journaled) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 On my WD ehd, I can delete the pics but it won't let me delete the folders that they were in. At least when I am in Bridge trying to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 Try deleting the folders in the Finder, not in Bridge and let's see what happens. If it still won't delete, chances are you have a permissions issue and it might be better (and faster) to copy the contents off of the original drive that you are having problems with, and re-format the drive. Of course, before you do something like that, make sure all the files transferred over correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted April 6, 2022 Author Share Posted April 6, 2022 Deleting folders in Finder is doing the trick. I am just finishing going through these and once I am, then I will be ready for re-formatting WD ehd to MacOS Extended (Journaled) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 Ok. I have deleted all the pics. I am left with my ehd that I call WD1 that was used for Time Machine. Also on the desktop are 2 icons which have been partitioned to WD1_CCC and WD2_CCC. So I have 3 icons total. On WD1 I am left with the TM back up from January which includes photos and my HD data. I don't seem to be able to delete the photos and haven't tried the HD data. On the WD1_CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) I have on it Applications, boot, Incompatible Software, Library, System, Users. I haven't tried to do anything with this, as I don't know what to do. On the WD2_CCC I have don't have anything on it. So now how do I get all of this mess onto my one ehd as one. Then change the format to MacOs etc and then I can use it for TM. Hope I have explained this so you understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 What I would do 1st: Simplify!!! Let's take Carbon Copy Cloner out of the equation. Stop trying to Automate things at this point. You need a solid foundation before using programs that do that sort of thing. You have a brand new EHD, yes? We need a place to copy your existing files to but make sure that drive is a MacOS Extended (Journaled) Partition Type. We do NOT want exFAT! After you get all of the files copied to the new EHD, and your files placed in folders that are organized (now is the time to do this,) you are going to completely delete ALL Partitions off that WD Drive (Honestly, I want Carbon Copy Cloner gone from your system, it's going to get in the way,) then.... Create a new MacOS Extended (Journaled) on the WD EHD via the Disk Utility. When it's done formatting, it will ask you if you "...want to use it for Time Machine?" TELL IT YES! Then Time Machine should start and do a first backup. This first one takes awhile. Go watch Netflix or something. I'm honestly not worried about the old Time Machine Backups Unless you are, in which case you could copy those files to the new EHD and put them in a separate folder. Make sure the TM drive (the old WD drive) comes up as "Time Machine" on the Desktop. If you don't have the HD on your Mac Desktop, let me know. After you have a dedicated Time Machine Drive and now a dedicated Data Drive, you then can think about doing Automated things with Carbon Copy Cloner. What you do not want to happen is have Carbon Copy backup your Data Drive to the Time Machine Drive. Time Machine only needs to backup the Macintosh HD. IF you have things get dumped onto the TM drive, bad things will happen. Time Machine Drives need to be all by themselves, dedicated backing up the internal "Macintosh HD." If you want a clone of your DATA drive to another Data Drive to be kept off-site, you need to purchase a 3rd EHD and have the Data Drive Clone to the Off-Site Data Drive. Make sense? I think this is the source of your problems, you need more EHDs than you think you do. For your situation, you need at least 3: One dedicated TM Drive and Two Backup Data Drives, with one being the clone of the other. Now, you do not need to spend another $500 or whatever on the off-site drive, it just has to be at least the same capacity or slightly larger. Since all you are doing is cloning the main Data Drive weekly at the very least, it's not a "Production" drive, it just holds data off-site in case of a major disaster. Now if you don't want to go this route, that's fine...then don't bother with the Cloning Program. Just save directly to the Data EHD. Keep things simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam165 Posted April 7, 2022 Author Share Posted April 7, 2022 Thanks Bryan. I understand. Stupid question...how do I delete all partitions? I'm trying Google but I don't want to mess this part up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 The first thing I want you to do, if you haven't already, is turn on the feature that allows you to see HDs and other "Mounted Devices" on your Mac Desktop. Open the Finder. The easiest way is to click the Smiley Face on your DockBar: Then head to the Finder Menu and select Preferences: Once there put checks next to these items and change the bottom to "Macintosh HD" if you want: From there, just click the Red Circle in the upper left corner to apply the changes. After you make this change, things like the Macintosh HD, any External Drives, Memory Cards from Cameras that are in a Card Reader and even portable DVD Disks will all appear on the Mac Desktop. This makes accessing them a breeze and is one of the things that has always puzzled me on why this feature isn't turned on by default. For example: Part 2 First, as you saw in my example above, your new EHD should appear on the desktop, though it may not. Here is an example of currently Mounted Devices on my iMac. You should see something similar if you followed my steps above: Now the fun begins! Let's get that new Hard Drive prepped for use on the Macintosh!! Click your Applications Folder, then open Disk Utilities. Head to Applications Menu >> Utilities >> Disk Utilities. This is where your Disk Utilities might look slightly different. Anyway, here is mine: While in your Disk Utilities Module, please make note of any additional Hard Drives listed in the left column. Pay special attention to the Hard Drives listed under the "External" Section. For this process, it is much safer to only have one EHD Mounted / Listed! It is imperative that you Eject and Remove ANY EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO ERASE!!! Your Disk Utilities Window should appear as follows, with only ONE External HD listed: Quote WARNING!!! Clicking on the WRONG EHD and then doing a Erase / Partition is a VERY BAD THING. This is why we only want one EHD Mounted. Macs are a real PITA when it comes to Data Recovery. Which is great if you are trying to get rid of things, bad for when you do something stupid, like I did...and delete pictures from the years 2007-2011. I still haven't gotten everything back, even after all these years of knowledge. You can Eject the EHD from Disk Utilities, just click the little up-arrow/line next to the drive you want to remove. Continue on to the next page in this thread >>>>>>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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