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Backup 3 v3.2, is it still relevant?

Hi


I have the Backup 3 application on my iMac, running Mountain Lion.


I am also using time machine.


I was in the Apple Store today (not with my iMac). I couldn't find the application on any of their machines. Their techncians were not familiar with the program.


Is Backup still relevant to use?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iPhoto '11

Posted on Jan 17, 2013 2:06 PM

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Posted on Jan 17, 2013 2:08 PM

Backup is pretty much dead. It's not really relevant if you're using Time Machine.


It used to be nice because Backup could easily make offsite backups to MobileMe. That's obviously no longer an option. YOu could use it to make backup DVDs or something, if you're neighbors with Fred Flinstone or Barney Rubble :-)

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Jan 17, 2013 2:08 PM in response to A Silverstone

Backup is pretty much dead. It's not really relevant if you're using Time Machine.


It used to be nice because Backup could easily make offsite backups to MobileMe. That's obviously no longer an option. YOu could use it to make backup DVDs or something, if you're neighbors with Fred Flinstone or Barney Rubble :-)

Feb 10, 2013 6:23 AM in response to Gibbyice

I would not recommend doing that anymore. Backup uses a special backup format that only it can read. At some point in the future (how far in the future is impossible to guess), Backup will stop working due to some system update. At that point, your backups will be trash that you can't do anything with. Better to adjust your backups now than continue using something like this.

Feb 25, 2013 7:33 PM in response to thomas_r.

I have been using Backup for years (currently 3.2) and hadn't really noticed that it was no longer supported until I had a problem. Thank to this thread I realize I need to switch to Time Machine.


Here is my problem. So, in order to start my new Time Machine regimen, I need to free up space on my external HD. Years of incremental backups have now left it too full for further backups of my Home folder, much less a new "full backup" by Time Macine. There's a Support document that says you can chose to "recycle" old backups in 3.2, but I'll be darned if I can find any place in Backup to specify that. Which Backups can I safely toss: just the old "incrementals"?

Feb 26, 2013 2:32 AM in response to momisd

Hi


I would delete the oldest back ups first, but it depends on the size of the drive and the size of your hard disk.

look for full backups in there too delete the oldest if there is more than 1, however I would probably just format the drive, wiping it clean and do a fullbackup leaving the machine on overnight with sleep turned off in system preferences if it were me. Then in the morning everything you need is there!


If you want to hold onto some older files you no longer have but that has been backed up in the past, youll need to use time machine to locate those files, restore them and then do a full backup.


Kind Regards


Andrew

Feb 26, 2013 4:10 AM in response to momisd

Not exactly the help I was looking for


Yup, but sometimes the answer to the question you asked is less useful than an alternate answer like this one.


In this case, it's wise to keep a minimum of two completely separate backups. I've seen it happen time and again that someone assumed they were safe with one single backup, and only discovered that that backup was damaged when they really needed it.


What you will want to do is get a drive that is at least 2-3 times larger than what you plan to back up. (If you just have the one internal hard drive on the iMac, and no data anywhere else, then it needs to be 2-3 times the used space on that internal hard drive, maybe plus a little more if you think that used space might grow a lot in the near future.) Then use that drive with Time Machine, and only with Time Machine. Don't try to put anything else on it.


Keep the drive with the Backup backups until you've got a good Time Machine backup going. Once that's done, you can decide whether you want to keep those old backups for a while or if you can get rid of them. If the latter, erase that hard drive and then start using it for a secondary backup. You could use Time Machine for a secondary backup as well, but I recommend using a different program altogether for the secondary backup. I like Carbon Copy Cloner, personally.


If you do want to keep the old backups for a while, buy yourself a third hard drive and use that for a secondary backup.


My personal backup strategy now includes four separate hard drives. One in a Time Capsule, using Time Machine, so I stay backed up on an hourly basis while at home. Another, also using Time Machine that I connect directly now and then. Then I have two drives that I use Carbon Copy Cloner to back up to. One of those drives is currently in the safe deposit box at the bank. The other is at home, where I back up to it. Every now and then, I swap them. That way, there's always one reasonably recent backup in a safe location, so that if something terrible happens and I lose everything in my home, I don't lose all the priceless data I've accumulated over the years (like digital photos of my kids, for example).

Backup 3 v3.2, is it still relevant?

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