how do I back up my mac book pro
How do I back up my mac book pro
15" MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
How do I back up my mac book pro
15" MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
Some reading to start: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3045
Basic Backup
For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:
1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;
2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is
used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine
requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the
drive being backed up.
Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
Although you can buy a complete external drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
1. Cool Drives
2. OWC
3. WiebeTech
6. NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.
It's easy to back up a Mac. You have different applications, each one with its pros and cons, but the most used in general is Time Machine, integrated in OS X. It makes automatic, hourly backups to keep everything updated, but the main disadvantage is that the backups created with Time Machine aren't bootable.
Another option are clone applications, like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (you have to pay). These applications literally copy the content of the hard drive onto an external drive (you can select what files you want to back up). It contains near all the Time Machine features, being the main advantage that they make bootable backups. Bootable backups are useful when you have installed a new hard disk, for example
how do I back up my mac book pro