How to get Time Machine to backup Windows files?

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Level 1

94 points

How to get Time Machine to backup Windows files?

Hi,

I have Windows 7 installed on a Bootcamp partition of my MacBook's hard drive, and I access that OS via Parallels Desktop.

Although I've only had a Mac for less than six months, I have already discovered how amazingly useful, (to the point of near-magicality!), it's Time Machine backup facility is.

But of course the Windows side of things doesn't get backed-up by Time Machine. (The folders & files are visible in the TM Finder window, but one cannot actually restore them to an earlier time. Or, at least, I can't.)

I can, of course, manually copy the file in question from the Bootcamp partition into the Macintosh HD side, where it will be backed-up by TM. The snag here is remembering to do it regularly, of course...

So I'm thinking along the lines of getting Automator to do that regularly, (say once a day), so that my Windows stuff is backed-up with everything else.

The snag is, I can't work out how to get Automator to do what I want.

Am I thinking along the right lines here, or is Automator confined to dealing with Macintosh HD files only, like TM is?

If I am, can anyone suggest how I can 'tell' Automator what I want it to do, please?

If I'm not, can anyone suggest an alternative workaround?

MacBook Pro 15" 2.66GHz, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on May 18, 2011 2:39 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

probe_droid

Level 3

519 points

May 18, 2011 5:03 AM in response to Steve Zodiac

He is what I do for backing-up some of my own files created under Windows.

I store the files I would like to get backed-up from Windows into the Mac's partition. Under Bootcamp, additional (paid) software is needed (e.g. MacDrive) to allow Windows to write to the HFS+ disk format. Under a VM solution, there is usually an option to "share" a Mac folder so that it gets visible (and writable) under Windows.

The TimeMachine could just backup these file and I do not need to worry when I would need to copy them over between the partitions.

Automator might work, but as I am not a fan of storing data in multiple places (except for backups of course!), this would not be an option for me.

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Answer 2

Steve Zodiac Author

Level 1

94 points

May 18, 2011 6:15 AM in response to probe_droid

Thanks for that.

I downloaded the week's trial of Macdrive 8, installed it under Windows and, as you say, it worked a treat. I was about to throw them the purchase fee straight away. What an elegant solution. 🙂

But...

As soon as I went back to Mac OS X and launched Parallels Desktop, Macdrive threw up an error message telling me that my Mac drives were not accessible from Windows when working under Parallels. 😟

And, as this is how I run Windows, (under Parallels but on my Bootcamp-created partition), this was a major disappointment, and I am back to square one.

Thanks anyway; a brilliant suggestion if it had worked.

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Answer 3

May 18, 2011 6:22 AM in response to Steve Zodiac

I get the same error message from MacDrive when I start Windows 7 within VMware Fusion.

I suppose this because the VM solutions offer a much more stable way of letting you share an OS X folder with your Windows guest, and probably also because of the MacDrive software could interfere with the shared folder feature.

As I use both Bootcamp and the VM, I use both solutions and they run fine.

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Answer 4

Steve Zodiac Author

Level 1

94 points

May 18, 2011 6:24 AM in response to probe_droid

Actually...

I followed the Macdrive bit of your reply, but I failed to spot the 'VM Sharing' bit. Doh!

You are absolutely correct, Parallels does indeed have a 'Sharing' setting that I hadn't realised it had. 🙂

I can now certainly read from my Mac HD under Windows running under Parallels; I will need to redirect where my Windows program saves it's data and do further testing. I anticipate it will work as it should though.

Apologies for not awarding you a 'Correct Answer' tick... I really should have done. 😊

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Answer 5

May 18, 2011 6:26 AM in response to Steve Zodiac

You could still give me a Correct Answer tick on my last post 😀

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Answer 6

May 18, 2011 6:26 AM in response to probe_droid

Thanks, you had been faster than me.

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Answer 7

Steve Zodiac Author

Level 1

94 points

May 19, 2011 3:55 AM in response to Steve Zodiac

Okay...

Yesterday I was able to read & write data in my Windows program onto my Mac hard drive, using the 'sharing' option within Parallels, and Time Machine automatically backed it up. Brilliant! 🙂

Today, I find that all my Windows filepaths have been wrecked because something decided to re-name my Mac hard drive as it appears in Windows. (Yesterday it was my Y:\ drive, this morning for some unknown reason it became my Z:\ drive.) 😟

So sadly I am back to storing my Windows data on my Bootcamp (ie. Windows) C:\ drive again. 😟

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Answer 8

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,572 points

May 19, 2011 4:10 AM in response to probe_droid

You could still give me a Correct Answer tick on my last post

Your begging for points is quite unbecoming.

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Answer 9

May 19, 2011 4:25 AM in response to Barney-15E

If you would have read more closely the post that I was responding to, you might have noticed that he wanted to award me anyways.

So I did not mean begging for points, which I thought to indicate with the grinning smiley.

Have a nice day.

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Answer 10

May 19, 2011 12:13 PM in response to Steve Zodiac

We all know that Windows is famous for its drive letter madness, and therefore I just checked this on my VMware Fusion 3.

If I add any Mac folder to the ones that should be shared, it creates a new Z:\ drive that contains all the shared Mac folders underneath. So instead of needing one drive letter for each Mac folder, they are grouped under one drive letter.

And VMware seems to always pick the latest available one, which should be Z:\ if not used otherwise.

I am sure that Parallels works similar or you might check for an update.

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Answer 11

Steve Zodiac Author

Level 1

94 points

May 21, 2011 2:20 PM in response to probe_droid

Thanks for staying with me on this one...

Yeah, Parallels does indeed seem to work in a similar fashion to how you report VMware as doing, and my Mac Home folder does now seem to be remaining as my Z: drive, called " Home on 'psf' (Z:) ", so I think I will give it another go. (But, for obvious reasons, it would not be practical to continue trying to use the Mac partition if the drive letter for it keeps changing, as it did the other day.)

I'm still unsure why it was initially given the letter 'Y' by Parallels. A couple of possibilities are that a) By sheer coincidence I set it to share while a Time Machine backup was actually occurring, and it had already given the Z to my Time Capsule, or b) Having my Macbook connected to a cinema display at the time had some bearing on the drive letter -it was after I'd disconnected it that it changed from Y to Z, but I'm not sure on that.

I'd also had to re-start Windows because of a glitch, and it was after that re-start that I saw it had changed to Z.

But I think that a Parallels forum might be a more suitable venue to discuss all that though.

(And apologies for apparently getting you into trouble...)

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