[Ham-Mac] External HD Recommendations

[R M Greenwood]

I used Super Duper to back everything up and I couldn't retrieve the  
data I needed.   A very long story and I don't remember all the  
particulars now.  In my case, I didn't need to reboot from the  
external drive, I needed to retrieve some data and was unable to.   
Now, I am not a Super Duper expert by any means, but I couldn't make  
it work, and neither could the expert at a local independent Apple  
reseller.  I was under an extreme time crunch to get something out and  
paid for some tech support time to retrieve the data another way.  I  
have since moved on to Leopard and use Time Machine, and have a  
modified Western Digital drive that is now Mac bootable.

But in researching my problem, I discovered that some external drives  
being sold (even at Apple Stores) are not Mac bootable which I am told  
is advisable if you are going to use the drive with a Mac.  I talked  
with the manager of the local independent Apple reseller that helped  
me and he researched it and found that the Western Digital book-type  
external drives are not Mac bootable.  I also verified this with our  
local Apple store (where I had purchased the drive and had failed to  
ask the very important question, "Is this drive Mac bootable?" ).   
Based on my experience, I recommend any Mac use make sure they ask  
whether an external drive is Mac bootable.

Mike, KC4VG


On Apr 15, 2008, at 1:29 PM, Dick Kriss wrote:

> Mike KC5VG,
>
> I don't understand why you cannot boot from a Western Digital
> book if (big if) you backed up using SuperDuper of Carbon Copy
> Cloner.  Please clarify how you did the backup....that may explain
> why you cannot boot.
>
> Dick AA5VU
>
>
> On 4/15/08 12:43 PM, "R M Greenwood" <rmikegreenwood at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> Be careful of the Western Digital "book look".  I have one and it is
>> not Mac bootable.  I learned the hard way.  I  now have the drive
>> itself mounted in another enclosure that has the chipset need to be
>> Mac bootable.  This is probably less of a problem if you are using
>> Time Machine with Leopard.
>>
>> Mike, KC4VG
>> Des Moines, Iowa
>>
>> On Apr 15, 2008, at 12:31 PM, Lon Kinley wrote:
>>
>>> I'm in the market for an external drive for my 24" iMac. I have
>>> prowled MacMall and MacSales and a couple of others, but can't come
>>> to a decision. The WD "book look", the line from MacSales and the
>>> Mac Mini form factor drives from MacSales all look interesting.
>>>
>>> What do you recommend (specific brand) and what do you suggest to
>>> run away from? I have already returned two LaCie 500g drives because
>>> they sound like thrashing machines.
>>>
>>> Thanks for your input.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>>
>>> Lon - W3LK
>>> Naugatuck, Connecticut
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ham-Mac mailing list
>>> Ham-Mac at mailman.qth.net
>>> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-mac
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ham-Mac mailing list
>> Ham-Mac at mailman.qth.net
>> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-mac
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ham-Mac mailing list
> Ham-Mac at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-mac