How to Make an Exact Copy of a MacBook Hard Drive on an External Hard Drive
- 1). Connect the hard drive to the computer via either the USB or FireWire connection cable that came with the device.
- 2). Click the "Finder" icon in the computer's dock, followed by the "Applications" folder icon. Double-click the "System Preferences" icon to launch the System Preferences application.
- 3). Click the "Time Machine" option under the "System" heading to open the Time Machine settings. Click the "Select Disk" button, locate the external hard drive you connected to the computer in Step 1, highlight it and click the "Use for Backup" button.
- 4). Slide the "Time Machine" slider to the "ON" position to begin the backup process. Allow several hours for Time Machine to make an exact copy of the computer's hard drive onto the external hard drive.