To conveniently copy all files, including your photo library, to an external drive, use Apple's Time Machine backup software or a third-party program such as Get Backup Pro, ChronoSync or SuperDuper!.

But copying from a HFS+ drive to a NAS will typically treat all hard links as real files, duplicating them. Our reader’s 340GB Time Machine volume wants a whopping 75TB on the NAS.

I am trying to find a way to legally copy DVDs we own to an external hard drive for storage connected to my laptop. When we take long road trips it would be nice to not have to haul all our movies ...

When used as a docking station, the Copy Cruiser Mini connects to a computer through its USB 2.0 port and user-supplied HDDs act as external storage or data backup drives.

The easiest option is to simply purchase an external USB DVD drive. Apple makes such a thing in the form of its $79 USB SuperDrive . Just jack it into your MacBook’s USB port and shove your ...

You didn't miss anything, PeterN. We've burned a fair number of CDs on my friend's external drive, but I think we've only burned only one non-Retrospect DVD on it--and that was almost certainly ...