LaCie 2TB USB 3.0 Porsche Design P'9233 Desktop Hard Drive

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Can two computers share the same external hard drive?

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    Yes, and no...

    Two computers can use the drive, but not at the same time. You'll have to "eject" the drive from the desktop of one computer, then physically unplug it before it can be used on the next computer.

    Time machine can store backups for both computers on the drive, but can only do it one machine at a time.

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  • Yes and no. You can NOT plug one hard drive directly into 2 computers. It will only be usable by whichever computer connected to it first, the other computer will be ignored. However, if you set up the first computer as a server you can access the same drive from multiple computers. Connect the hard drive to a Mac and go to your system preferences. Under "Sharing" in the Internet and Wireless row. In the first box (Shared Folders:" click the plus at the bottom left and select the hard drive you want to share. When you have selected it, you can click on the hard drive in the System Preferences window to change your privacy settings by setting Users who can access it. If you are setting it up at home I'd set Everyone to Read & Write. On the second Mac, open a Finder window and click "Go" then "Connect to Server" then, in the window that appears, "Browse". Click on the Mac the hard drive is connected to and you should be able to access it as if the hard drive were plugged into the second Mac.

    It will work over Wi-Fi, but you really should have your Mac's connected by an Ethernet cable. It is MUCH faster and more reliable and the cables are very inexpensive.

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