pranaone

Q: best backup and dupe finder

I do work for a tech company and go to people's houses. I have a client this Saturday. She and her husband have 2 Apple computers, several external drives, and a lot of data! She would like to consolidate, organize, get rid of duplicates, and have an ongoing backup. Here's what she told me she has:

 

  • Mac desktop from 2008
  • MacBook Pro from 2013
  • 1 T Time Capsule from 2009
  • 2 3 T WD external drives
  • 1 1.5 T Seagate
  • 1 4 T Seagate (nearly empty)
  • 2 iPhone 6, 16 GB each I think
  • no paid iCloud plan

 

Both computers are about maxed out, and the external drives have varying amount of files. Seems it's just a bunch of stuff. She's not a videographer or anything like that. Just a bunch of photos, videos, documents, etc...

 

I am more of a PC kind of a guy, so, while I've had Macs, and my way around, I don't know what programs exist, nor what hardware, if any, she would need, to handle this kind of a thing. So, I am wondering what would be a good game plan.

 

Should I have her buy any additional equipment? What is/are the best software(s) for this kind of a situation, especially for duplicate checking, organizing, and creating backups?

Posted on Apr 14, 2016 12:43 PM

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Q: best backup and dupe finder

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  • by OGELTHORPE,Helpful

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 17, 2016 1:54 AM in response to pranaone
    Level 9 (52,469 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 17, 2016 1:54 AM in response to pranaone

    The best backup options are Apple's Time Machine, a part of the operating system and a third party application, Carbon Copy Cloner from Bombich.

     

    https://bombich.com/download

     

    CCC is not free but worth the cost.

     

    As for duplicates, try dupGuru:

     

    https://www.hardcoded.net/dupeguru/

     

    I have not used it but I have received good feedback on it.

     

    Ciao.

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Apr 14, 2016 12:51 PM in response to pranaone
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Apr 14, 2016 12:51 PM in response to pranaone

    I use this enclosure http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MSTG800U3K/  that is also available on the shelf at MicroCenter (if one of them is near you).  Swap 2.5 in multiple HDs (reliable WD or HGST Travelstar) that are less expensive than SSD for multiple backups.

     

    CarbonCopyClon ($40, download at bombich.com) to make bootable clones (good for emergencies when the internal drive has issues) that are "incremental" replacing old files with new copies and keeping the old files in a parallel folder when the source folder deletes or changes them.

     

    My humble opinion, of course, but it is what I trust.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Apr 14, 2016 1:08 PM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 9 (54,265 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 1:08 PM in response to OGELTHORPE

    As for duplicates, try dupGuru:

     

    https://www.hardcoded.net/dupeguru/

     

    I have not used it but I have received good feedback on it.

     

    Ciao.

    Except when you read: May 2013 Old Toad post - https://discussions.apple.com/message/22106172#22106172 - "I just ran a test with Dupe Guru and it's a disaster.  It is not designed to be used with an iPhoto Library as it removes/trashed photos essentially from the Finder rendering the library a mess.  DON'T USE DUPE GURU on an iPhoto Library."

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 14, 2016 1:15 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 9 (52,469 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 14, 2016 1:15 PM in response to Limnos

    That is interesting.  A couple of years ago a user lauded dupguru for identifying duplicates in iPhoto.  I offer no explanation what the differences may have been.

     

    Ciao.

  • by pranaone,

    pranaone pranaone Apr 17, 2016 2:02 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 17, 2016 2:02 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thank you all for the advice. I went there today. There was a lot of stuff was going on. Here's a recap. This is what I mostly saw and worked with when I was there:

     

    • iMac with a 500 GB drive, 2 partitions (one was 'Image', as I recall)
    • MacBook Pro, with a 250 GB drive I think...
    • iPad II

     

    Drives & other equipment

    • 1 T Time Capsule Machine from 2009
    • 2 3 T WD external drives
    • 2 1.5 T Seagate
    • 1 4 T Seagate

     

    Worked around 6 hours. Mainly, cleared off the 4 T drive, reformatted as ExFAT so it could receive PC files as well (read about that on a break!).

     

    The iMac was completely full. I copied off, then deleted every folder except the photo one, onto one of the WD drives. Then I updated it and the MacBook Pro to OS X 10.11, El Capitan.

     

    On the iMac, I looked further at the photos folder, (or was it Pictures, I forget), and was a little shocked. Seems the photos are 'encapsulated' in one file, unlike the jpgs I usually see on a PC/Linux, only to be read as a library by Photos, the application, so, consolidating seems to be not so straightforward. I am reading http://www.macworld.com/article/2909654/software-photography/how-to-import-merge -and-consolidate-your-libraries-in-photo…, trying to gain more insight.

     

    What I thought was a Time Capsule was really a Time Machine. The 1 T drive was almost full. Tried to move all files from it to the 4 T drive, couldn't see how, however, found Carbon Copy Cloner, and started offloading around 900 GB, which I calculated would take 6 hours.

     

    I told them I'd come back Wednesday. In the meantime I suggested, since they seemed they could, to:

    • move all the data from the other drives (it was about 2T total) to the 4T Seagate
    • run a duplicate checker. I suggested Duplicate Finder (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/49266/duplicate-finder), after finding it on a google search, as it states it's compatible with OS X 10.11. I also recommend dupeguru as another option, but it seems only goes to 10.10.
    • delete all files from the 1 T Time Machine
    • turn on the Time Machine software in the OS, and have the iMac and MacBook back themselves up to the 1 T Time Machine (I figured this would work, even though I did not know)

     

    One other thing they wanted was to be able to access their files remotely.


    I have a few concerns and questions

    • Any suggestions or other links to read on consolidating photos from all their locations: iMac, MacBook, iPad II, iPhones and various external drives, which are from older versions of OS X, may be in "iPhoto format", and probably several in PC format?
    • Will the iMac and MacBook both be able to back themselves up to the single 1 T drive on the Time Machine?
    • Can they access their files remotely on any of the internal or external drives? If so, what would be the best way to so?
  • by OGELTHORPE,Helpful

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 18, 2016 1:29 AM in response to pranaone
    Level 9 (52,469 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 18, 2016 1:29 AM in response to pranaone

    pranaone wrote:


    • Any suggestions or other links to read on consolidating photos from all their locations: iMac, MacBook, iPad II, iPhones and various external drives, which are from older versions of OS X, may be in "iPhoto format", and probably several in PC format?

    Regarding your photo problem, post a query in the iPhoto for Mac forum.  There are three forum participants there who know that application inside and out, much better than I.

     

    • Will the iMac and MacBook both be able to back themselves up to the single 1 T drive on the Time Machine?

    Yes, read this:

    http://pondini.org/TM/4.html


    • Can they access their files remotely on any of the internal or external drives? If so, what would be the best way to so?

    It is not clear to me here.  "They" I assume are the MBP and the iMac.  Which 'files' are you referring to?  Under what conditions?

     

    Ciao.

  • by pranaone,

    pranaone pranaone Apr 18, 2016 1:36 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 18, 2016 1:36 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thank you OGELTHORPE.

     

    I created a post in the iPhoto for Mac forum.

     

    Read the TM link, thanks. Will reread it again. I didn't catch the model # or the gen of the TM. I just know it's from 2009. Just had a thought after reading Uses for the USB port of AirPort Time Capsule. They also have a 4 port USB hub. Wondering if I should connect the external drives with that hub to the USB port on the TM for more breathing room? Any suggestions on what to do with all those drives?

     

    As for 'they' - I mean the client. They, the client, asked if they could connect to their home machines (iMac and/or MBP) if they are out and wanted to access photos or retrieve a document. I thought they could, not exactly sure how.

  • by KimUserName,

    KimUserName KimUserName Apr 18, 2016 4:48 AM in response to pranaone
    Level 4 (1,400 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 18, 2016 4:48 AM in response to pranaone
  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Apr 18, 2016 5:02 AM in response to pranaone
    Level 9 (52,469 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 18, 2016 5:02 AM in response to pranaone

    How you configure the HDDs is up to you.  Just make certain that there is sufficient power to each of the devices.

     

    As far as remote access, these two links should prove to be useful:

     

    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18726?locale=en_US

     

    http://osxdaily.com/2012/10/10/remote-control-mac-screen-sharing-os-x/

     

    Ciao.