Backup basics

September 4, 2006 5:25 PM

Per an earlier question, I've finally bought an external hard drive for my iMac. How do I go about backing stuff up?

I've done a little poking around on the internets, and haven't found any details on how to do this effectively.

I want to move a bunch of files over to the new drive and delete them from my computer to save space. I know enough to drag and drop, but beyond that I have some questions. How do I get applications like iTunes, GarageBand etc. to "find" these files on the new hard drive instead of trying to read them from the internal drive once they're deleted from the latter? Does this happen automatically, and am I thus being a big idiot about the whole matter? Any tips for organizing things on the new drive? (For instance, there's a folder with GB's files called "GarageBand," and the folder with my projects has the same title. Do I need to rename stuff, or store them in different folders?)

I realize that answers to these questions are probably somewhat obvious to many of you, but it's not something I've ever done before... plus, I'd like to get this done tonight for a few different reasons, and don't have a lot of time to teach myself. I appreciate any help y'all can give me.

posted by the_bone to computers & internet (6 comments total)

iTunes -> Preferences -> Advanced -> iTunes music folder location.
posted by NucleophilicAttack at 5:36 PM on September 4, 2006

GarageBand shouldn't be too hard, since the file extension is recognised. But it can be tricky if you want to keep files in your local iTunes folder, particularly if you don't plan on having the external HD plugged in all the time. This hint provides some advice. The important preferences are to uncheck 'Keep iTunes Library organized' and 'Copy files to iTunes'. There are also scripts that make life easier, such as the File Manager here.

The easiest way to handle things is to keep the external drive running at all times (easier with an iMac than a laptop) and move the entire iTunes folder, following NucleophilicAttack above.
posted by holgate at 6:12 PM on September 4, 2006

Awesome. Only question there: How do I enter the new hard drive? The location currently says, "Macintosh HD:Users:admin:Music:iTunes:iTunes Music:" and I'm not sure what the new drive is named or where to enter it in that string of stuff.
posted by the_bone at 6:17 PM on September 4, 2006

Click on the 'Change' button. More here.
posted by holgate at 6:25 PM on September 4, 2006

Ugh. Did all of that, and iTunes is now empty.

Bleah. It's been one of those weeks.
posted by the_bone at 9:53 PM on September 4, 2006

Did you 'Consolidate library'? With the 'Copy files to iTunes' preference checked?
posted by holgate at 4:37 PM on September 5, 2006