- Hard Disk External For Mac Hard Drive
- Hard Disk External For Mac Computers
- External Hard Drive For Mac
- External Hard Drives For Mac Air
- Best External Hard Drives For Mac
- External Hard Disk For Macbook Pro
- Mac Hard Disk Repair
Disk Utility User Guide
To format an external hard drive for Mac with Time Machine, you must follow the steps below. Step 1 Open Finder, Applications, then go to Utilities and Disk Utility. Step 2 Follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac system. Part 3: Bonus Tip – Data Recovery from Formatted Hard Drive on Mac. The Best Mac External Hard Drive and SSD Deals This Week. WD My Passport 5TB Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive — $115.00 (List Price $149.99; Save $34.99).Deals are selected by our partner. The LaCie Porsche Design is one of the best external hard drives for Macs on sale today, and comes with both USB Type-C to Type-A and USB Type-C to Type-C connectors, making it a versatile way to expand the storage space of your Mac, regardless of what ports it has.
- Encrypt and protect a storage device with a password in Disk Utility on Mac. When you format an internal or external storage device, you can encrypt and protect it with a password. If you encrypt an internal device, you must enter a password to access the device and its information. If you encrypt an external device, you must enter the password when you connect the device to your computer.
- Most external hard drives connect to a Mac either through the USB port, or through the Mac's Thunderbolt port, and thus will likely come with the appropriate cable. If you are looking for an external hard drive to connect to a Windows PC instead of to a Mac, check our reviews of five of the best external hard drives for safe data storage.
When you format an internal or external storage device, you can encrypt and protect it with a password. If you encrypt an internal device, you must enter a password to access the device and its information. If you encrypt an external device, you must enter the password when you connect the device to your computer.
Important: If you encrypt an external storage device, you can't connect it to an AirPort base station for Time Machine backups.
To encrypt and protect the device with a password using Disk Utility, you must erase the device first. If the device contains files you want to save, be sure to copy them to another storage device or volume.
If the device contains any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device or volume.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.
In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to encrypt.
Click the Erase button in the toolbar.
Enter a name for the volume.
Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose GUID Partition Map.
Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose an encrypted file system format.
Enter and verify a password, then click Choose.
To change the password later, select the volume in the sidebar, then choose File > Change Password.
(Optional) If available, click Security Options, use the slider to choose how many times to write over the erased data, then click OK.
Secure erase options are available only for some types of storage devices. If the Security Options button is not available, you can't use Disk Utility to perform a secure erase on the storage device.
Writing over the data three times meets the U.S. Department of Energy standard for securely erasing magnetic media. Writing over the data seven times meets the U.S. Department of Defense 5220-22-M standard.
Click Erase, then click Done.
You can encrypt your data without erasing it by turning on FileVault in the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences (see Encrypt Mac data with FileVault).
You can also encrypt a disk and protect it with a password without erasing it. See Encrypt disks or memory cards to protect your Mac information.
- 1. Mac Files Tips
- 2. Mac Software
- 3. Mac Storage Tips
- 4. Mac Troubleshooting
- 5. Mac OS
Hard Disk External For Mac Hard Drive
by Jenefey AaronUpdated on 2020-01-10 / Update for OS X
You may need to boot up your Mac using an external drive or boot volume once in a while, rather than using a start up disk. Booting with an external disk has a lot of significance. Maybe you want to troubleshoot some problems, repair the disk, do partitions, format the entire disk, update, and install OS X etc. All these are executed perfectly when you use an external boot volume to boot up your Mac. In this article, we are here with the detailed step by step guide on how to boot Mac from external hard drive easily. So, let's get started…
Part 1: How to Boot Mac from USB Drive/CD/DVD
Hard Disk External For Mac Computers
Actually, it is possible to boot Mac from external drive or a hard drive, but there are a few specific requirements needed for your Mac to become eligible for that process.
- First, you have to have an Intel-Based Mac.
- Second, the CD or DVD you are using to boot must contain Apple's Super Drive or if you are using a USB drive then it should be formatted with GUID Partition, and you are also required to install OS X installer. Apple is against booting Mac from an external storage device, because you may install an older version of OS X than the one you were using.
Boot from CD or DVD:
If you want to boot your MacBook/Air/Pro/iMac from an optical media like CD or DVD you need to follow the steps below:
1. Open your Mac or restart the device if you were already using it.
2. When the startup music is playing press and hold the 'C' key from the keyboard.
3. This will start the OS X installer from the CD/DVD on your Mac.
So, it is not too complicated to Mac boot from CD/DVD. You can easily burn a bootable image of OS X on a DVD by using Disk Utility.
Boot from External USB:
Using your USB drive to boot Mac is not as simple as you think. You need to prepare your USB drive beforehand for this specific purpose. You have to format the USB drive and insert the proper Operating System, which is OS X.
1. Turn on your Mac.
2. As soon as the startup music begins you need to press and keep holding the 'Option' key.
3. After that release that key, the Startup manager will be launched.
4. Startup Manager will begin scanning your device and you will be provided with a list of devices that are connected to your Mac.
External Hard Drive For Mac
5. Now, select the drive you want to use with your mouse.
6. Finally, press 'Return' key on the selected option to boot Mac.
This way you can boot your Mac with an external USB drive, but the most critical part is to prepare the USB drive. If you have multiple USB drives connected, then the Startup Manager shall list the drives with the bootable OS. So, this is how to boot Mac from USB drive.
Part 2: Common Problems and Fixes When Boot Mac from External Drive
You may face several issues during MacBook Pro Boot from USB or any external drive. So, a few FAQs are mentioned below which may help you when you are facing any difficulties.
- 1. Have you tried connecting to a different USB port?
- 2. Have you formatted the USB drive with GUID partition?
- 3. Is your Mac shutting down after connecting the disk?
- 4. Is your Disk needs repair?
- 5. Have you connected the USB drive properly?
If you are unable to startup the installer after connecting the USB drive to your Mac, then first you should try connecting it to a different USB port. It may fix the problem.
If you are having problems with your USB storage device then you need to make sure that if you have properly formatted the drive with GUID partition. You have to do it properly otherwise the Intel-Based Mac won't start.
Actually, the MacBook contains a preventive measure and because of that computer shuts down automatically when a damaged USB drive is connected or if the USB port itself is damaged.
If your Mac fails to boot from an external drive even though you have properly installed the OS X installer, then maybe your disk is damaged. You should open Disk Utility and ask permission to repair disk.
There are two types of Apple keyboards, Wired and Wireless. There are also some keyboards with inbuilt USB ports but they may not have enough power to run the drive.
External Hard Drives For Mac Air
So, this is how to startup Mac from external drive. Follow the frequently asked questions to clear any doubts that you have while booting from external hard drive Mac.
In case, you want to recover any lost or deleted Mac files after a boot, we highly recommend you to go for Tenorshare Any Data Recovery for Mac. It is a utility data recovery tool capable of recovering any type of data from Mac with ease. Go for it!
Best External Hard Drives For Mac
3. This will start the OS X installer from the CD/DVD on your Mac.
So, it is not too complicated to Mac boot from CD/DVD. You can easily burn a bootable image of OS X on a DVD by using Disk Utility.
Boot from External USB:
Using your USB drive to boot Mac is not as simple as you think. You need to prepare your USB drive beforehand for this specific purpose. You have to format the USB drive and insert the proper Operating System, which is OS X.
1. Turn on your Mac.
2. As soon as the startup music begins you need to press and keep holding the 'Option' key.
3. After that release that key, the Startup manager will be launched.
4. Startup Manager will begin scanning your device and you will be provided with a list of devices that are connected to your Mac.
External Hard Drive For Mac
5. Now, select the drive you want to use with your mouse.
6. Finally, press 'Return' key on the selected option to boot Mac.
This way you can boot your Mac with an external USB drive, but the most critical part is to prepare the USB drive. If you have multiple USB drives connected, then the Startup Manager shall list the drives with the bootable OS. So, this is how to boot Mac from USB drive.
Part 2: Common Problems and Fixes When Boot Mac from External Drive
You may face several issues during MacBook Pro Boot from USB or any external drive. So, a few FAQs are mentioned below which may help you when you are facing any difficulties.
- 1. Have you tried connecting to a different USB port?
- 2. Have you formatted the USB drive with GUID partition?
- 3. Is your Mac shutting down after connecting the disk?
- 4. Is your Disk needs repair?
- 5. Have you connected the USB drive properly?
If you are unable to startup the installer after connecting the USB drive to your Mac, then first you should try connecting it to a different USB port. It may fix the problem.
If you are having problems with your USB storage device then you need to make sure that if you have properly formatted the drive with GUID partition. You have to do it properly otherwise the Intel-Based Mac won't start.
Actually, the MacBook contains a preventive measure and because of that computer shuts down automatically when a damaged USB drive is connected or if the USB port itself is damaged.
If your Mac fails to boot from an external drive even though you have properly installed the OS X installer, then maybe your disk is damaged. You should open Disk Utility and ask permission to repair disk.
There are two types of Apple keyboards, Wired and Wireless. There are also some keyboards with inbuilt USB ports but they may not have enough power to run the drive.
External Hard Drives For Mac Air
So, this is how to startup Mac from external drive. Follow the frequently asked questions to clear any doubts that you have while booting from external hard drive Mac.
In case, you want to recover any lost or deleted Mac files after a boot, we highly recommend you to go for Tenorshare Any Data Recovery for Mac. It is a utility data recovery tool capable of recovering any type of data from Mac with ease. Go for it!
Best External Hard Drives For Mac
External Hard Disk For Macbook Pro
Mac Hard Disk Repair
- Recover data deleted, formatted or lost on Mac;
- Restore files from hard drive and external storage devices;
- Recover data from failed/crashed/dead MacBook;
- Fully supported latest macOS 10.15 Catalina;
