storage on mac

cmeffa

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I have a Mac os x 10.4.11. I was wondering what is the best way to store written material on my computer. I have a zip drive ( not sure if such a thing is out of date or not). Would it be best to buy a cd/ dvd burner or just purchase zip discs for the zip drive?
 

kuwisdelu

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Zip discs?

Buy a CD/DVD burner?

Just how old is your Mac anyway?

Buy an external hard drive, format it to HFS+, and use that for backup.
 

Sea Witch

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Hi there:

I have an external hard drive, called a NexStar CX. It has a *lot* of room on it...like 1TB. It stays plugged into one of my USB port and just runs all the time, backing up constantly. My Mac is 10.7.2.
 

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I have a Mac os x 10.4.11. I was wondering what is the best way to store written material on my computer. I have a zip drive ( not sure if such a thing is out of date or not). Would it be best to buy a cd/ dvd burner or just purchase zip discs for the zip drive?

Zip discs are not reliable for backup, and hard to find now.

1. You probably have a CD/DVD burner in your mac.

Go to the Apple Menu and choose About This Mac.
Click More Info...
Click System Info...
Near the top is a category called Hardware; under it is an item called Disc Burning.

What does that say?

2. Consider a free DropBox account too, and an external drive, possibly, if you can swing it.

Multiple backups in multiple places is smart.
 
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kuwisdelu

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Go to the Apple Menu and choose About This Mac.
Click More Info...
Click System Info...

While you're there, under the hardware overview, give us the Model Identifier and Processor Name. It'll be useful for future tech help to know whether you've got a PowerPC (pre '06/'07-ish) or Intel Mac.
 

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We need a database of AW members' hardware.

But I'll bet they would never update their data.

I will confess to checking Apache logs in order to help some members (I create a specual URL, and ask 'em to click).
 

cmeffa

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It indicates there is no cd/dvd burner although I have an iomega cd+r device that is not connected to the mac ( i was given the computer and this device by a freind who bought it used), not sure if I even know how this would work, or if it would work with the mac?
 

cmeffa

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Kewisdelu, it says machine name: powermac g4, machine model: power mac 3,1, cpu type: power pc g4 (2.9). Not sure if this was the info you meant or not? I apologize as I am not the most knowledgable with computers.
 

kuwisdelu

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Kewisdelu, it says machine name: powermac g4, machine model: power mac 3,1, cpu type: power pc g4 (2.9). Not sure if this was the info you meant or not? I apologize as I am not the most knowledgable with computers.

Wow, that's pretty old. And explains why you don't already have a built-in CD/DVD burner.

Still, you can back up to USB thumb drives, external hard drives, and Dropbox's installer is Universal, so you get a Dropbox account and backup online to Dropbox, too.

It shouldn't be a problem when it comes to backup, but something to be aware of with a Mac that old is that it uses a different processor architecture (PowerPC vs Intel) than current Macs, so you might have trouble finding software for it sometimes.
 

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Wow, that's pretty old. And explains why you don't already have a built-in CD/DVD burner..

Well, no, not really.

There should be at least a read-only model.

Here's the entire suite for that production line:

http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/?search_keywords=PowerMac3,1

The Iomega burner might very well work--the issue would likely be drivers, and that's not impossible.

I'd try shutting the mac down, and connecting the Iomega burner, then boting.

Does it mount? Does it show in the About this Mac listing (it would show as a peripheral)?

And yes--a thumb drive, and/or external hardrive, with a free DropBox account would be wise.
 

cmeffa

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If I purchased a thumb drive, would I be able to use it on another computer, if I happened to buy a new one down the road? Do I need to get an external hard drive as well?