Backing up iphoto to external drive

Get another back up app. I'd be wary of any utility that "works on macs and windows" as the two OSes are very different. Further, iPhoto is a sophisticated database, with a complex library. Does this app understand that? Does it work with SQL and XML? I could see no mention whatever of a: what version of OS X Goodsync runs on, nor do I see any mention of it understadning complex data models like iPhoto, iMovie, Final Cut etc...

What format is the External Disk?

Get a backup application that can do incremental backups, i.e. backing up only those new or changed files. I use Synk Pro. There are others that can do incremental backups. It takes only several seconds to backup after the first full backup.

OT

Mac cannot write to NTFS without additional software. Further, you can't use NTFS for an iPhoto Library.

iPhoto needs to have the Library sitting on disk formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Users with the Library sitting on disks otherwise formatted regularly report issues including, but not limited to, importing, saving edits and sharing the photos.

How often do you backup your library to that drive and how do you do it? Are you using a backup application that does incremental backups so you don't have to copy the entire library every time you backup?

I would occasionally copy the library back to your Mac's desktop and open it there to make sure your backup copy is a valid working copy,

The iPhoto library must be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled)

Buy a properly formatted drive and use Time Machine

LN

Try creating a sparse ro sparse bundle disk image big enough to hold your library and put it on the NTFS drive and move the library into it. Then relink the backup application to the ibrary in the disk image and see if it will backup. You may have to open the sparse image each time you want to backup.

Other wise I'd try Larry's suggestion of an EHD and Time Machine. It's proven compatible with Macs and all it's files.

The following about sparce disk images if from Disk Image vs. Sparse Disk Image vs. Sparse Bundle Disk Image - Macworld Forums

A sparse disk image is an automatically expanding disk image. In other words, you can create a 50 gigabyte sparse disk image, yet only put 5 megs inside it. The disk image will only take up five megs of space on your harddisk, but will be capable of storing up to 50 gigs of data should you choose to add it. Note that it auto-expands but does not auto-contract. In other words, if you delete files from the image, you will not regain any free space on your harddisk (although you will on the image). Disk Utility can be used to "shrink" a sparse image, reclaiming any unused space on the image.

A sparse bundle is essentially the same thing, the only difference is that while a sparse image is one giant file on your disk, a sparse bundle is actually lots of small files (8 megabytes each). They work and look the same way, but you can right-click on a sparse bundle, select "show package contents" and see the individual 8 meg "bands".

The sparse bundle was introduced with OS 10.5 in order better support Time Machine (Especially with FileVault, where the entire home directory is a sparse bundle). Previously, a backup programme would see the image as one file, and if any changes had to been made to it, it would have to recopy the entire image. With sparse bundle, it can only copy the bands that have been changed since the last backup, so the backups are much quicker. It also is likely to decrease the chance of data loss, as you could conceivably restore parts of a damaged image.

Basically, if you want a sparse image, use the sparse bundle under 10.5. Only use the sparse image if you need backwards-compatibility with earlier versions of the Mac OS.

I just made the move from a PC to a MBP in July. I have a much larger photo library, about 45 gigs. I do 2 backups of my photos. I have a usb2 EHD that I set up as a time machine drive, and I use that for incremental backups. I have a second EHD, udb3, that I formatted as exFat since that works well with both computers. I was using it with my PC to house my pictures and iTunes media since they didn't fit on the PC IHD. Within iPhoto I selected all events and exported them to this EHD. iPhoto gave me the option of exporting them in folders by event so I'll be able to use this backup on my old machine. Both drives are plugged directly into the MBP when I'm using them, and neither process takes a lot of time, certainly not overnight.

If there's something I'm losing with this process I'd appreciate feedback, but I can testify that backing up doesn't have to take such a long time.

What you are doing is fine and the only way to share photos with a PC. Note that on that drive you only backing up and sharing your photos, not your iPhoto library

LN

So if the library on my MBP is corrupted or lost, and the time machine backup fails, and I import these folders back into iPhoto, will I be losing any information? I did this second backup to be able to share the pictures with my PC, but also as insurance against losing my pictures.