Resource Center - External Hard Drive

Backup

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X Backup Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.
Data Backup and Storage Backup Introduction Imagine if all of the work that you spent hours completing suddenly disappeared and there were no way to bring it back from oblivion. A nightmarish scenario to be sure! Unfortunately, many face it every semester: ITS often assists students and employees whose computers have malfunctioned while either working on or after finishing some assignment, typically when such a loss is most painful and difficult to recover from. Thankfully, with a very little effort, this scenario can be easily avoided. Backing up your files serves many purposes. Beyond preventing a catastrophic loss of data, proper organization of one's data and easy options for retrieval will facilitate one's work at Hamilton and beyond, viz. graduate school, internships, and possibly future employment Storage Solution Finder External Hard Drive Employee Network Storage 1 Academic Server 2 Google Drive Flash Drive Dropbox or Similar Documents ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Images ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Music ✓ ✓ ✓ Video ✓ ✓ Computer Backup ✓ ✓ Easy Sharing ✓ ✓ is a solution that should not be used for sensitive or confidential information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, health information. 1 This solution is only available to staff and faculty. 2 This solution is for academic purposes (e.g. Coursework) only. And only members of the Faculty and Staff can request folders be created on the Academic Server.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for Primarily Mac Users Backup 1. Plug the external hard drive into the computer. Access the Disk Utility application which is located in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder at the bottom of the home screen. 2. The Disk Utility window will now open. In this window, double click the name of the attached external hard drive, which will appear in the list of Memory Storage locations at the left of the window. 3. If you're not partitioning your Hard Drive, select the Erase tab at the top of the window. If you are partitioning your hard drive, that process is covered further in the "Formatting an External hard drive for Users Working with Both Platforms" guide. In the Erase tab, make sure the selected format is the correct one. The Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the default for Mac users. Then go ahed and name your hard drive, so it's easier to recognize on the desktop. When your name and format are correct, click the Erase button at the bottom right. 4. You will be prompted with a window asking if you wish to use your external hard drive to back up the computer with time machine. Unless you know this is something you wish to do and know exactly what time machine is, go ahead and click Don't Use. 5. A Pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm that you wish to erase the disk. Click Erase. The Formatting should take a few moments, and once done an icon for the hard drive will appear on your Desktop. You will now be able to safely move files to and from your hard drive. Remember that if you have any questions or issues, please contact the interns at the MPC desk for assistance.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for Primarily PC Users Backup 1. From the Desktop, click on the windows logo at the bottom left and access the Control Panel. 2. In the Control Panel, change the View by: option at the top right to Small icons if it isn't already. Now, open the Administrative Tools icon. 3. In the Administrative Tools window, double click Computer Management from the list of applications. 4. In the Computer Management window, select the Disk Management option from the list at the left of the window. You will now see information pertaining to the disk storage options for the computer. Anchor5. From the Disk Management window, select the storage option that is your external hard drive. Look for something that looks similar to what is below. If you have a 500GB external hard drive, you could expect to see a large block of about 450GB or so under a name other than Disk 0. Once you've selected the storage area, right click, and select the New Simple Volume... option. * If you are reading for the "Formatting for Users working with both OS Platforms" section, know that the representation of the external hard drive in this window will now look different due to the partitions. You are still going to right click the "Unallocated" section and select New Simple Volume... however that section will simply be smaller and there will be other already allocated ones. The differences are highlighted here. 6. Now, the New Simple Volume Wizard will pop up. This is where you will set up how you want your hard drive formatted. Click Next. 7. The next page you see will be the Specify Volume Size page. Here you will select the size you want the New Simple Volume to be. The Default size is the entire free space you selected earlier, but you can change it if you like. After you've selected your size, click Next. The next page will be the Assign Drive Letter or Path page. It is very unlikely that you will have a reason to change this from the default, so feel free to just click Next. You'll notice the next page says Format Partition at the top. This is where you make your formatting choices. Since you will be working with a PC, the defaults should be fine, so just make sure that File System and Allocation unit size look like they do in the image below. Now you have the option of naming your hard drive, and then you should notice two checkboxes. Quick Format is faster than regular formatting, however it doesn't actually erase all the information on the hard drive. This obviously doesn't matter if the drive is new, so in most cases go ahead and leave this checked. Also, unless you expect issues with limited storage on your device, leave the second box unchecked and click Next. On the next page, you can look over all of your formatting settings. As long as everything looks good and all the choices are to your liking, click Finish. 8. You will now be returned to the Disk Management window and notice that the hard disk is now being formatted. When the disk is done formatting, you will be notified and from there you can safely transfer files to and from your Hard Disk on a PC. If you have any questions or issues, please contact the interns at the MPC desk for assistance.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for Users Working with Both Platforms Backup 1. Plug the external hard drive into the computer. Select the Applications folder that is usually located in the dock at the bottom of the home screen. Within that folder select the Utilities folder and then select the Disk Utility application from there. 2. The Disk Utility window will now open. In this window, double click the name of the attached external hard drive, which will appear in the list of memory locations and partitions at the left of the window. 3. Now, click on the Partition tab at the top of the window. Be sure to locate the Volume Scheme: label at the left of all of the information. Underneath this label are options for how you want your hard drive partitioned and a diagram showing the current scheme. 4. In the Partition screen, first select 3 Partitions from the options under the Volume Scheme: label at the left of the window. 5. Now, using the diagram of your current partition scheme shown under the Volume Scheme: label, select the top partition, which should be labeled Untitled 1 by default. This is the partition of your hard drive you will format to work with a Mac. It's a good idea to change the name of this partition to something that will remind you that this is the area that is formatted for a Mac. You can change the name under the Volume Information label. Also under this label is the Format: option, which you can leave the default since this partition is being formatted for a Mac. 6. Next, select the second partition down. This partition will be formatted as FAT-32, which is a format with a limited transfer size however it will work on both OS platforms. This is the partition you will use for transferring information between the Mac and PC partitions. As before, give this partition a name, but this time select the drop-down menu next to the Format: label, and select MS-DOS (FAT). 7. Now, select the third partition. This one will eventually be formatted to work with a PC, but we can't perform that action on a mac. So for now, just give this partition a name to help you remember this is the one you will format for PC use, and then change the Format: option to Free Space. 8. Now your window should look something like this. Notice that in this example the sizes are left to their default. If you wish to change the sizes of your partitions, do this under the Size: option that is under the Volume Information label right below Format. Keep in mind that your FAT-32 partition will ideally only be used for transfering information, so it wouldn't hurt to make that a smaller size, somewhere between 25 to 50 GB will probably do just fine. When all your information is set, click Apply. 9. A dialog box will pop up, asking if you wish to use either of the partitions available to back up your computer with Time Machine. Although Time Machine is a useful tool, for your use at the moment go ahead and click Don't Use. If you have questions about Time Machine or whether you should use it, there is a great deal of information available on the internet. After you click Don't Use, your hard drive will be formatted, and you will be notified when it is finished formatting. You will now be able to transfer files to the Mac and FAT-32 partitions on the drive. When you are ready, attach your drive to a PC, and continue reading to finish the formatting process. 10. Now you have to format the last partition of the hard drive to work with a PC. This is done essentially the same way as formatting the entire hard drive to work with a PC; however there is one key change which is highlighted below and on the Formatting for Primarily PC Users page. If you are unfamiliar with how to format the hard drive to work with a PC, please go to the linked page on the previous line. *2. (Partitioned Hard Drive) Here is what the partitioned hard drive will look something like, and the section you should select is highlighted. 11. Once you've finished formatting the partition which will be used with a PC, you have successfully formatted your Hard Drive to work with both Platforms. Remember that if you have any questions or issues, please contact the interns at the MPC desk for assistance.
Introduction to External Hard Drives Backup The Basics What is an External Hard Drive? You're probably aware that your computer has memory, or at the very least that you're able to save your various files and documents on the computer and then go back and retrieve them later. All that information that you save to your computer is saved into a hard drive of some sort. We often refer to hard drives as a form of data storage. An external hard drive is essentially just a portable data storage system. Without going into the intricate details of memory, simply know that an external hard drive allows you to save information and documents to a small portable device that you can remove from one computer and bring to another, allowing you to easily transfer that saved information and back it up. For more information about formatting hard drives, see this article. Why would someone need one? Here at Hamilton, if you are taking a video class you will be required to have an external hard drive of your own. This is because the video files you will be working with are too large to be stored in the student storage server the school provides, and you will want to be able to work on your projects on different computers as well as have them backed up. Students who are not taking a video class may still find it useful to have an external hard drive for the reasons mentioned earlier. Basically, purchasing an external hard drive will provide convenience and security for one's data. Recommendations Purchasing an external hard drive is a great way to back up important files and keep all of your work in one central location. Think of it as a portfolio of your work! When purchasing a drive, there are some technical details to consider. Ports While USB ports are found on all computers, there are many versions and some can be slow to transfer large files (think video files). Firewire and Thunderbolt ports are faster, but might only be available on Apple hardware. Look for a drive that has multiple types of connection ports. Portability/Power If you're buying an external drive, portability is important. Some drives can be powered right through their connection port, which means you don't need to carry the "wall wart" power cable. Also consider the size of the case. Small drives are easy to carry Ruggedness Hard drives are delicate and a big bump can destroy the drive and your data. Look for a drive that rugged enough to stand up to trips in your backpack to the computer lab. Capacity Bigger is better, but for the same price point you'll trade features for capacity. Video is the one medium that quickly eats up your hard drive space. If you plan on taking a class that uses video, think big... 500GB should do. Formatting The platform which you intend to use your external hard drive with will determine the formatting that is required for it. The resource center contains pages explaining ways to format your external hard drive for all of your possible needs, but in this section is some information as to what the different formats are and what they are for. The Formats FAT32 (File Allocation Table) Natively read/write FAT32 on Windows and Mac OS. Maximum file size: 4GB NTFS (Windows NT File System) Natively read/write NTFS on Windows. Maximum file size: 16TB HFS (Hierarchical File system, aka Mac OS Extended) Natively read/write HFS on Mac OS. Required for Time Machine Maximum file size: 8EiB ( Note: More than large enough for any file in the modern world.) How do the Formats affect you? You will need to select the correct format for the platform you intend on using your external hard drive with. If you are primarily a PC user who will not need to transfer files on a Mac, then NTFS is the format for you, and luckily for you most external hard drives are sold already formatted as NTFS. If you are primarily a Mac user who will not need to transfer files on a PC, then you would choose HFS (Mac OS extended). If you are a user who will have to transfer files across both platforms, then life becomes a bit more complicated. The information about the formats above may lead you to assume that you would simply format as FAT32, since it can read/write on Windows and Mac OS, however this is not a good idea for the following reasons. FAT32 offers no security FAT32 has a max file size of 4GB. This is an issue if you are a video student where you will likely deal with files larger than this. FAT32 is overall a less efficient and reliable format. So what does a user who needs to transfer across platforms do? There are a few solutions, but the one we suggest and provide directions to here at Hamilton is to partition your external hard drive into 3 partitions, and format each partition as a different Format. This will allow the user to read/write files on both platforms, and also transfer files under 4GB in size from either platform. So how does someone format an External Hard Drive? Directions on how to perform all of the above formatting have been included in the ITS Resource Center. The links are included below. Formatting for Primarily PC Users Formatting for Primarily Mac Users Formatting for Users working with Both Platforms

ESS

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X ESS Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.
Data Backup and Storage ESS Introduction Imagine if all of the work that you spent hours completing suddenly disappeared and there were no way to bring it back from oblivion. A nightmarish scenario to be sure! Unfortunately, many face it every semester: ITS often assists students and employees whose computers have malfunctioned while either working on or after finishing some assignment, typically when such a loss is most painful and difficult to recover from. Thankfully, with a very little effort, this scenario can be easily avoided. Backing up your files serves many purposes. Beyond preventing a catastrophic loss of data, proper organization of one's data and easy options for retrieval will facilitate one's work at Hamilton and beyond, viz. graduate school, internships, and possibly future employment Storage Solution Finder External Hard Drive Employee Network Storage 1 Academic Server 2 Google Drive Flash Drive Dropbox or Similar Documents ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Images ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Music ✓ ✓ ✓ Video ✓ ✓ Computer Backup ✓ ✓ Easy Sharing ✓ ✓ is a solution that should not be used for sensitive or confidential information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, health information. 1 This solution is only available to staff and faculty. 2 This solution is for academic purposes (e.g. Coursework) only. And only members of the Faculty and Staff can request folders be created on the Academic Server.

External Hard Drive

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X External Hard Drive Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.
Data Backup and Storage External Hard Drive Introduction Imagine if all of the work that you spent hours completing suddenly disappeared and there were no way to bring it back from oblivion. A nightmarish scenario to be sure! Unfortunately, many face it every semester: ITS often assists students and employees whose computers have malfunctioned while either working on or after finishing some assignment, typically when such a loss is most painful and difficult to recover from. Thankfully, with a very little effort, this scenario can be easily avoided. Backing up your files serves many purposes. Beyond preventing a catastrophic loss of data, proper organization of one's data and easy options for retrieval will facilitate one's work at Hamilton and beyond, viz. graduate school, internships, and possibly future employment Storage Solution Finder External Hard Drive Employee Network Storage 1 Academic Server 2 Google Drive Flash Drive Dropbox or Similar Documents ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Images ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Music ✓ ✓ ✓ Video ✓ ✓ Computer Backup ✓ ✓ Easy Sharing ✓ ✓ is a solution that should not be used for sensitive or confidential information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, health information. 1 This solution is only available to staff and faculty. 2 This solution is for academic purposes (e.g. Coursework) only. And only members of the Faculty and Staff can request folders be created on the Academic Server.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for Primarily Mac Users External Hard Drive 1. Plug the external hard drive into the computer. Access the Disk Utility application which is located in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder at the bottom of the home screen. 2. The Disk Utility window will now open. In this window, double click the name of the attached external hard drive, which will appear in the list of Memory Storage locations at the left of the window. 3. If you're not partitioning your Hard Drive, select the Erase tab at the top of the window. If you are partitioning your hard drive, that process is covered further in the "Formatting an External hard drive for Users Working with Both Platforms" guide. In the Erase tab, make sure the selected format is the correct one. The Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the default for Mac users. Then go ahed and name your hard drive, so it's easier to recognize on the desktop. When your name and format are correct, click the Erase button at the bottom right. 4. You will be prompted with a window asking if you wish to use your external hard drive to back up the computer with time machine. Unless you know this is something you wish to do and know exactly what time machine is, go ahead and click Don't Use. 5. A Pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm that you wish to erase the disk. Click Erase. The Formatting should take a few moments, and once done an icon for the hard drive will appear on your Desktop. You will now be able to safely move files to and from your hard drive. Remember that if you have any questions or issues, please contact the interns at the MPC desk for assistance.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for Primarily PC Users External Hard Drive 1. From the Desktop, click on the windows logo at the bottom left and access the Control Panel. 2. In the Control Panel, change the View by: option at the top right to Small icons if it isn't already. Now, open the Administrative Tools icon. 3. In the Administrative Tools window, double click Computer Management from the list of applications. 4. In the Computer Management window, select the Disk Management option from the list at the left of the window. You will now see information pertaining to the disk storage options for the computer. Anchor5. From the Disk Management window, select the storage option that is your external hard drive. Look for something that looks similar to what is below. If you have a 500GB external hard drive, you could expect to see a large block of about 450GB or so under a name other than Disk 0. Once you've selected the storage area, right click, and select the New Simple Volume... option. * If you are reading for the "Formatting for Users working with both OS Platforms" section, know that the representation of the external hard drive in this window will now look different due to the partitions. You are still going to right click the "Unallocated" section and select New Simple Volume... however that section will simply be smaller and there will be other already allocated ones. The differences are highlighted here. 6. Now, the New Simple Volume Wizard will pop up. This is where you will set up how you want your hard drive formatted. Click Next. 7. The next page you see will be the Specify Volume Size page. Here you will select the size you want the New Simple Volume to be. The Default size is the entire free space you selected earlier, but you can change it if you like. After you've selected your size, click Next. The next page will be the Assign Drive Letter or Path page. It is very unlikely that you will have a reason to change this from the default, so feel free to just click Next. You'll notice the next page says Format Partition at the top. This is where you make your formatting choices. Since you will be working with a PC, the defaults should be fine, so just make sure that File System and Allocation unit size look like they do in the image below. Now you have the option of naming your hard drive, and then you should notice two checkboxes. Quick Format is faster than regular formatting, however it doesn't actually erase all the information on the hard drive. This obviously doesn't matter if the drive is new, so in most cases go ahead and leave this checked. Also, unless you expect issues with limited storage on your device, leave the second box unchecked and click Next. On the next page, you can look over all of your formatting settings. As long as everything looks good and all the choices are to your liking, click Finish. 8. You will now be returned to the Disk Management window and notice that the hard disk is now being formatted. When the disk is done formatting, you will be notified and from there you can safely transfer files to and from your Hard Disk on a PC. If you have any questions or issues, please contact the interns at the MPC desk for assistance.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for Users Working with Both Platforms External Hard Drive 1. Plug the external hard drive into the computer. Select the Applications folder that is usually located in the dock at the bottom of the home screen. Within that folder select the Utilities folder and then select the Disk Utility application from there. 2. The Disk Utility window will now open. In this window, double click the name of the attached external hard drive, which will appear in the list of memory locations and partitions at the left of the window. 3. Now, click on the Partition tab at the top of the window. Be sure to locate the Volume Scheme: label at the left of all of the information. Underneath this label are options for how you want your hard drive partitioned and a diagram showing the current scheme. 4. In the Partition screen, first select 3 Partitions from the options under the Volume Scheme: label at the left of the window. 5. Now, using the diagram of your current partition scheme shown under the Volume Scheme: label, select the top partition, which should be labeled Untitled 1 by default. This is the partition of your hard drive you will format to work with a Mac. It's a good idea to change the name of this partition to something that will remind you that this is the area that is formatted for a Mac. You can change the name under the Volume Information label. Also under this label is the Format: option, which you can leave the default since this partition is being formatted for a Mac. 6. Next, select the second partition down. This partition will be formatted as FAT-32, which is a format with a limited transfer size however it will work on both OS platforms. This is the partition you will use for transferring information between the Mac and PC partitions. As before, give this partition a name, but this time select the drop-down menu next to the Format: label, and select MS-DOS (FAT). 7. Now, select the third partition. This one will eventually be formatted to work with a PC, but we can't perform that action on a mac. So for now, just give this partition a name to help you remember this is the one you will format for PC use, and then change the Format: option to Free Space. 8. Now your window should look something like this. Notice that in this example the sizes are left to their default. If you wish to change the sizes of your partitions, do this under the Size: option that is under the Volume Information label right below Format. Keep in mind that your FAT-32 partition will ideally only be used for transfering information, so it wouldn't hurt to make that a smaller size, somewhere between 25 to 50 GB will probably do just fine. When all your information is set, click Apply. 9. A dialog box will pop up, asking if you wish to use either of the partitions available to back up your computer with Time Machine. Although Time Machine is a useful tool, for your use at the moment go ahead and click Don't Use. If you have questions about Time Machine or whether you should use it, there is a great deal of information available on the internet. After you click Don't Use, your hard drive will be formatted, and you will be notified when it is finished formatting. You will now be able to transfer files to the Mac and FAT-32 partitions on the drive. When you are ready, attach your drive to a PC, and continue reading to finish the formatting process. 10. Now you have to format the last partition of the hard drive to work with a PC. This is done essentially the same way as formatting the entire hard drive to work with a PC; however there is one key change which is highlighted below and on the Formatting for Primarily PC Users page. If you are unfamiliar with how to format the hard drive to work with a PC, please go to the linked page on the previous line. *2. (Partitioned Hard Drive) Here is what the partitioned hard drive will look something like, and the section you should select is highlighted. 11. Once you've finished formatting the partition which will be used with a PC, you have successfully formatted your Hard Drive to work with both Platforms. Remember that if you have any questions or issues, please contact the interns at the MPC desk for assistance.
Introduction to External Hard Drives External Hard Drive The Basics What is an External Hard Drive? You're probably aware that your computer has memory, or at the very least that you're able to save your various files and documents on the computer and then go back and retrieve them later. All that information that you save to your computer is saved into a hard drive of some sort. We often refer to hard drives as a form of data storage. An external hard drive is essentially just a portable data storage system. Without going into the intricate details of memory, simply know that an external hard drive allows you to save information and documents to a small portable device that you can remove from one computer and bring to another, allowing you to easily transfer that saved information and back it up. For more information about formatting hard drives, see this article. Why would someone need one? Here at Hamilton, if you are taking a video class you will be required to have an external hard drive of your own. This is because the video files you will be working with are too large to be stored in the student storage server the school provides, and you will want to be able to work on your projects on different computers as well as have them backed up. Students who are not taking a video class may still find it useful to have an external hard drive for the reasons mentioned earlier. Basically, purchasing an external hard drive will provide convenience and security for one's data. Recommendations Purchasing an external hard drive is a great way to back up important files and keep all of your work in one central location. Think of it as a portfolio of your work! When purchasing a drive, there are some technical details to consider. Ports While USB ports are found on all computers, there are many versions and some can be slow to transfer large files (think video files). Firewire and Thunderbolt ports are faster, but might only be available on Apple hardware. Look for a drive that has multiple types of connection ports. Portability/Power If you're buying an external drive, portability is important. Some drives can be powered right through their connection port, which means you don't need to carry the "wall wart" power cable. Also consider the size of the case. Small drives are easy to carry Ruggedness Hard drives are delicate and a big bump can destroy the drive and your data. Look for a drive that rugged enough to stand up to trips in your backpack to the computer lab. Capacity Bigger is better, but for the same price point you'll trade features for capacity. Video is the one medium that quickly eats up your hard drive space. If you plan on taking a class that uses video, think big... 500GB should do. Formatting The platform which you intend to use your external hard drive with will determine the formatting that is required for it. The resource center contains pages explaining ways to format your external hard drive for all of your possible needs, but in this section is some information as to what the different formats are and what they are for. The Formats FAT32 (File Allocation Table) Natively read/write FAT32 on Windows and Mac OS. Maximum file size: 4GB NTFS (Windows NT File System) Natively read/write NTFS on Windows. Maximum file size: 16TB HFS (Hierarchical File system, aka Mac OS Extended) Natively read/write HFS on Mac OS. Required for Time Machine Maximum file size: 8EiB ( Note: More than large enough for any file in the modern world.) How do the Formats affect you? You will need to select the correct format for the platform you intend on using your external hard drive with. If you are primarily a PC user who will not need to transfer files on a Mac, then NTFS is the format for you, and luckily for you most external hard drives are sold already formatted as NTFS. If you are primarily a Mac user who will not need to transfer files on a PC, then you would choose HFS (Mac OS extended). If you are a user who will have to transfer files across both platforms, then life becomes a bit more complicated. The information about the formats above may lead you to assume that you would simply format as FAT32, since it can read/write on Windows and Mac OS, however this is not a good idea for the following reasons. FAT32 offers no security FAT32 has a max file size of 4GB. This is an issue if you are a video student where you will likely deal with files larger than this. FAT32 is overall a less efficient and reliable format. So what does a user who needs to transfer across platforms do? There are a few solutions, but the one we suggest and provide directions to here at Hamilton is to partition your external hard drive into 3 partitions, and format each partition as a different Format. This will allow the user to read/write files on both platforms, and also transfer files under 4GB in size from either platform. So how does someone format an External Hard Drive? Directions on how to perform all of the above formatting have been included in the ITS Resource Center. The links are included below. Formatting for Primarily PC Users Formatting for Primarily Mac Users Formatting for Users working with Both Platforms

Google Docs

Data Backup and Storage Google Docs Introduction Imagine if all of the work that you spent hours completing suddenly disappeared and there were no way to bring it back from oblivion. A nightmarish scenario to be sure! Unfortunately, many face it every semester: ITS often assists students and employees whose computers have malfunctioned while either working on or after finishing some assignment, typically when such a loss is most painful and difficult to recover from. Thankfully, with a very little effort, this scenario can be easily avoided. Backing up your files serves many purposes. Beyond preventing a catastrophic loss of data, proper organization of one's data and easy options for retrieval will facilitate one's work at Hamilton and beyond, viz. graduate school, internships, and possibly future employment Storage Solution Finder External Hard Drive Employee Network Storage 1 Academic Server 2 Google Drive Flash Drive Dropbox or Similar Documents ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Images ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Music ✓ ✓ ✓ Video ✓ ✓ Computer Backup ✓ ✓ Easy Sharing ✓ ✓ is a solution that should not be used for sensitive or confidential information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, health information. 1 This solution is only available to staff and faculty. 2 This solution is for academic purposes (e.g. Coursework) only. And only members of the Faculty and Staff can request folders be created on the Academic Server.

Mac OS 10.4 Tiger

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X Mac OS 10.4 Tiger Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.

Mac OS 10.5 Leopard

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X Mac OS 10.5 Leopard Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.

Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.

SSS

Backup and Restore Files in Mac OS X SSS Employees There are two ways to back up your files on your MAC without purchasing commercial software. Manual Backup In order to manually backup your folders all you have to do is click and drag the desired folder(s) from your MAC to your personal folder on the ESS server. *****DO NOT BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE***** You will have to do this periodically on your own and whatever you save to the server will be the only files backed up. Example of backing up your local Documents folder to your ESS folder First, ensure that you are connected to your EES folder. Open up your Macintosh hard drive and click on the documents folder or you can click on the icon with your username and then click on the documents folder. You can also select the Users folder. In Users, select your user name’s folder (e.g. “jsmith”). In your user name’s folder, locate the Documents folder. NOTE: The Documents icon on the left side of the screen is only a shortcut; if you click and drag that icon, you will remove the Documents shortcut, not back up your files. Open your Macintosh hard drive again by double-clicking the desktop icon. This will create a second window. Click on the ESS “Users” icon and locate your folder (the list is alphabetical). Drag Documents from the first window to your folder in the EES window. If you have already saved the local folder to your ESS folder before then you will see the following prompt. Click Replace. If this is the first time saving the folder then it will automatically begin saving. After you click Replace it will begin saving the folder to your ESS folder. You should now be able to see your Documents folder on your ESS share. Your files in the Documents folder are now successfully backed up on your ESS share. Create Archive Files and folders can also be compressed within OSX, and then the resulting file (with a .zip extension) can be copied to the server for back up. A folder or file that is compressed usually results in a smaller file size. In the example shown below, the original folder is 104.2MB and the resulting ZIP file is 65.7MB. Select the file(s) or folder. From the File Menu choose Create Archive. If multiple files or folders are selected, a file will be created named Archive.Zip. If a single file or folder is selected, a file will be created named Foldername or filename.zip. Unarchiving a Zip file In order to make edits to any file contained within a zip file, you must first unarchive it. Double click on the zip file. If a folder was compressed, after double clicking on a zip file, a folder will appear in the same location as the zip file. If a single file was compressed, the original document will appear. The zip file will remain until you delete it.
Data Backup and Storage SSS Introduction Imagine if all of the work that you spent hours completing suddenly disappeared and there were no way to bring it back from oblivion. A nightmarish scenario to be sure! Unfortunately, many face it every semester: ITS often assists students and employees whose computers have malfunctioned while either working on or after finishing some assignment, typically when such a loss is most painful and difficult to recover from. Thankfully, with a very little effort, this scenario can be easily avoided. Backing up your files serves many purposes. Beyond preventing a catastrophic loss of data, proper organization of one's data and easy options for retrieval will facilitate one's work at Hamilton and beyond, viz. graduate school, internships, and possibly future employment Storage Solution Finder External Hard Drive Employee Network Storage 1 Academic Server 2 Google Drive Flash Drive Dropbox or Similar Documents ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Images ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Music ✓ ✓ ✓ Video ✓ ✓ Computer Backup ✓ ✓ Easy Sharing ✓ ✓ is a solution that should not be used for sensitive or confidential information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, health information. 1 This solution is only available to staff and faculty. 2 This solution is for academic purposes (e.g. Coursework) only. And only members of the Faculty and Staff can request folders be created on the Academic Server.

Windows 7

Data Backup and Storage Windows 7 Introduction Imagine if all of the work that you spent hours completing suddenly disappeared and there were no way to bring it back from oblivion. A nightmarish scenario to be sure! Unfortunately, many face it every semester: ITS often assists students and employees whose computers have malfunctioned while either working on or after finishing some assignment, typically when such a loss is most painful and difficult to recover from. Thankfully, with a very little effort, this scenario can be easily avoided. Backing up your files serves many purposes. Beyond preventing a catastrophic loss of data, proper organization of one's data and easy options for retrieval will facilitate one's work at Hamilton and beyond, viz. graduate school, internships, and possibly future employment Storage Solution Finder External Hard Drive Employee Network Storage 1 Academic Server 2 Google Drive Flash Drive Dropbox or Similar Documents ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Images ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Music ✓ ✓ ✓ Video ✓ ✓ Computer Backup ✓ ✓ Easy Sharing ✓ ✓ is a solution that should not be used for sensitive or confidential information, e.g. bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, health information. 1 This solution is only available to staff and faculty. 2 This solution is for academic purposes (e.g. Coursework) only. And only members of the Faculty and Staff can request folders be created on the Academic Server.

External Hard Drive

Available Resources