Member Avatar for tony harrington

Okay so I kept d/ling apps off different websites for my mac till it finally said that it was too full to continue. Then my wife bought me this Maxtor OneTouch and I tried to load it. How do I increase the space on my Mac using this and if it is supposed to be an external hard drive, how do I use it. Please type slowly and clearly, I am not quite as computer savy as I thought I was. Thanks. PS it is a Maxtor OneTouch iii Mini Edition with 120GB and my mac is imac 20-inch flat screen.

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A practical checklist for using the Maxtor OneTouch as extra storage (follow-up to and ):

As pointed out, the external drive is a second volume for files and backups rather than a way to "make" the internal disk bigger. A safe workflow is: copy important large folders to the Maxtor, open the copies from the Maxtor to confirm they work, then delete the originals and empty the Trash to free internal space.

Prepare the drive first. Open Disk Utility and set the partition map to GUID. For a Mac-only setup choose APFS (on macOS 10.13+) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for older systems; for sharing with Windows use exFAT. Formatting erases the drive, so back up anything already on it before changing the format.

Move content that’s safe to relocate: Movies, Photos, Music, Documents and large Downloads. For app-managed libraries (Music/iTunes, Photos) copy the library folder to the Maxtor, then launch the app while holding Option to point it at the new library; verify playback and thumbnails before removing originals. Avoid moving system files or most Applications — many rely on files in /Applications or system locations and can break if moved.

Use the Maxtor as a backup destination (Time Machine or the drive’s bundled software) rather than the only copy of important data. Always eject the volume before unplugging, keep some free space on the internal drive for virtual memory (rough guideline: ~10%), and test access to moved files for a few days before deleting originals.

Member Avatar for John A

Hi Tony,

I won't go over the actual technical details of hooking up the hard drive to your iMac; that should be covered in the manual. What I will mention is the storage works: hooking up a second disk drive does not "magically" make the problem of disk space disappear. It simply gives a second place for you to store your files.

When the external hard drive is plugged in and functioning, you should see a second icon appear below your hard drive on your desktop. I've attached a screenshot to the bottom of my post. While the names may be different (perhaps "Macintosh HD"?), the concept is the same. Double-click the icon that corresponds with your external hard drive, and you'll see a new window open up. This is where you must store your data.

What I would recommend doing is opening up your Applications folder and taking out applications and moving them to your external hard drive. The only problem is that some applications might not work after you've transferred them to the other hard drive, so you'll have to test each one individually. The ones that don't work on the external hard drive will have to remain on the original (internal) hard drive within your iMac. Additionally, programs that have special installer programs usually allow you to choose which volume to install them on. Make sure you click on your external hard disk before continuing.

I hope this made sense, and if it didn't, please say so.

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