Browse Storage Help and Tips

Browse Storage Help and Tips

Four ways to access files from afar
If you work in lots of locations, you may find yourself wishing you could access your files from everywhere. Here are four ways to do just that.
Upgrading a MacBook Pro's hard drive
Laptop in one hand, replacement raw drive in the other. No, you needn't reinstall everything when you install the new hard drive.
Build your own photo booth
Liven up your parties and weddings with an easy DIY photo set-up that won't break the bank.
Recover from digital photo disasters
Got a little too enthusiastic about pressing the Delete button on your camera? With a little know-how you can quickly recover lost photos and protect your digital memories.
Put spare hard drives to work
What to do with that stack of old hard drives gathering dust? Here are three suggestions.
Identify inserted recordable media
Learn a few ways to identify recordable media in your Super Drive, without ejecting the disc.
Turn your iPod or iPhone into a portable drive
Whether you use your iPod or iPhone for entertainment, communication, or to amplify your cool quotient, all models share one thing in common: they can function as portable storage devices.
Buying advice: Network-attached storage
Network-attached storage (NAS) makes it easy to add file servers to your network.
Macworld Buying Guides: Optical drives
If you have a Mac with a Combo drive (CD burner that can read but not write to DVD) or a single-layer DVD burner, buying an external optical drive is an affordable and attractive upgrade.
Macworld Buying Guides: Desktop RAID
If you have heavy-duty storage needs, a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is the most cost-effective, mind-easing solution.
Macworld Buying Guides: Portable hard drives
A portable hard drive allows you to carry a large amount of data without you, in a device that can easily fit in a bag, backpack, briefcase, or pocket.
Buying advice: Internal Hard Drives
With a little bit of handiwork, you can upgrade the hard drive that came with your Mac. Here's what to look for when buying a new internal hard drive.
Macworld Buying Guides: External desktop hard drives
If you’re looking for a quick and painless way to add massive amounts of storage for your music, photos, videos, or system backups, an external hard drive is hard to beat.
Look before leaping... and formatting hard drives
Rob Griffiths learns—the hard way—the importance of double-checking one’s plans before implementing them, especially when it comes to hard drives.
Connect: How to add network attached storage
If you need to back up multiple Macs or share media files on your home (or small-business) network, you might need more than a USB drive attached to your AirPort base station or Time Capsule. Kirk McElhearn explains why network attached storage might be a better solution.
Upgrading a MacBook Pro's hard drive
Unsure about upgrading a MacBook Pro's hard drive? Here are a couple of helpful resources.
Bugs & Fixes: The trouble with USB ‘smart’ flash drives
Ted Landau discovers that the new generation of U3 smart drives can cause a lot of headaches for Mac users.
In case of emergency
In a summer full of natural disasters how prepared are you (and your Mac) for unanticipated emergencies?
Time Machine tips and troubleshooting
Some people will be able to set up and turn on Time Machine with a single click. But you may need to do some manual configuration to get it to work the way you want. You should also be aware of some quirks in Time Machine’s operation, particularly when restoring data.
Excerpt: Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard
The inclusion of Time Machine as part of Mac OS X 10.5 shows the importance of good backups for every Mac user. And while backing up and restoring files may be easier than before, you’re still going to need a place to store all that data. In this excerpt from his Take Control of Easy Backups in Leopard ebook, Joe Kissell tells you what to consider when shopping for a backup drive to hold all that Time Machine-saved data.
How to: Upgrade a G5's optical drive
How to upgrade the optical drive on a first-generation Power Mac G5, and what kind of results you can expect after the upgrade.
RAIDing the Mac Pro
The Mac Pro and the previous top-of-the-line desktop Mac, the Power Mac G5, may look alike on the outside—cheese-grater exterior, huge brushed-aluminum handles, and USB and FireWire ports up front—but inside, they’re entirely different beasts.
Upgrading Apple TV's hard drive
Dan Frakes decided that 40GB wasn't enough space, so he upgraded his Apple TV's hard drive -- and documented the process so you can, too.
Backup storage options
When you don’t back up your data, you choose to live life on the edge. But what sort of media should you use for storing your backups? You have numerous options, depending on your needs, preferences, and budget.
Backing it up
It’s sad, but true. Few Mac users create backups of any sort, and fewer still have thorough, automated backups. There is no complete and final answer to everyone’s backup needs, but that fact shouldn’t become a reason to put off implementing a backup strategy. The key to making it happen is identifying your needs.
Mobile backup tips
Sure, you back up your Mac laptop at home or at the office. But what about when you hit the road? If the answer is “no,” you’re only asking for trouble. After all, a hard-drive failure could happen just as easily when you’re traveling. Here are some backup tips geared toward on-the-go users.
Mac 911
Chris Breen offers help on ways to Shrink slide shows for TV, change Mail subjects, resurrect Sherlock, flush bad addresses and much more in this month’s edition of Mac 911.