Mac OS 10.4 compatibility question

[johnnylightnin]

Picked up an external hard drive today at Office Max. The brochure said that the drive was compatible with OS 10.3 and higher. I get it home and look on the box, and it says version 10.5 or higher. Nice!

My computer is version 10.4.11

The drive is a Hitachi Desk Life Studio (1 TB). Anybody know if it will work? I don't even want to take it out and try it because if it doesn't, I want to be able to return it as easy as possible.

Thanks in advance for any help.

No thanks in advance for any cracks about Macs...you know you're just jealous.

[Brian96]

Why would hooking it up make it harder to return? Is it sealed in plastic or something?

[splicer]

It should work no problem. Their software may not work, but the drive should work (if that makes sense).

They usually ship with some type of backup software now, and if you don't plan on using it, don't worry. It should work.

[duckbillplatty]

Drive should work fine.

[johnnylightnin]

Do I need the software? Or some software? I'm new to this. I'm just looking for a place to park my photos and iTunes to free up space on my computer.

[Brian96]

Do I need the software? Or some software? I'm new to this. I'm just looking for a place to park my photos and iTunes to free up space on my computer.

I've never used Mac OS, but doesn't it come with some sort of backup software? Can't think of the name.

If you are moving your stuff from the main hard drive, then that is all you need to do. Just copy the files, and they should be on the other drive, which should appear in the file manager. If you want a backup, the first time you will just need to copy the files. After that you can copy them, but if you have a program that "syncs" the folders it will go faster.

[ITdrummer]

I've never used Mac OS, but doesn't it come with some sort of backup software? Can't think of the name.

If you are moving your stuff from the main hard drive, then that is all you need to do. Just copy the files, and they should be on the other drive, which should appear in the file manager. If you want a backup, the first time you will just need to copy the files. After that you can copy them, but if you have a program that "syncs" the folders it will go faster.

Called Time Machine, I believe.

[duckbillplatty]

It will automagically mount the new drive and then you just configure time machine if you want to use t as a backup drive. Easy as pie.

[ITdrummer]

I don't have much Mac experience, but in theory, a hard drive, is a hard drive, is a hard drive. As long as the OS can recognize it, there shouldn't be a problem.

[johnnylightnin]

So, basically what I bought was a drive WITH some transfer software. If I already have some sort of transfer software on my Mac, it shouldn't matter? I'm not very computer savvy.

[splicer]

JL - that's right

Plug it in, then open up time machine, and configure it to backup to that drive, if you're looking to use it as backup.

If you want to move your itunes folder: http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-t...al-hard-drive/

[johnnylightnin]

If you want to move your itunes folder: http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-t...al-hard-drive/

Think I can do basically the same thing with my iPhoto folder?

[ITdrummer]

So, basically what I bought was a drive WITH some transfer software. If I already have some sort of transfer software on my Mac, it shouldn't matter? I'm not very computer savvy.

Like I said, I'm not savvy with a mac. The Chairman of my Dept at the hospital uses a mac. He ordered a 1TB external HD and had me set it up for him. There was nothing to it. You do not NEED the 3rd party software. The Time Machine software is very simple and foolproof.

[splicer]

Should be able to

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=store+iphoto+folder+on+external+hd

[johnnylightnin]

awesome...thanks for the help guys.