Q: How to back up?

BackUp means having a copy of your important files, just in case an accident happens... for example, when my powerbook was stolen, I had a copy of my thesis (been working on it for over 18 months at that time), and could keep working on it for the last 3 months of the deadline.

You can back up as simply as choosing wich files you want to backup and burning them to a CD or DVD, or using any of this free apps: MBR, Lar-A, Baktro, Phew, Back@Home, iSauvegardes, Backup 1.0, SilverKeeper.

Once you have Backed up data, it is recommended you keep this copy in another location (let's say your home burns or sinks because of a Tidal Wave or a hurrican, if your backed up data sits right beside your computer, it won't survive to the accident).

Hope this help you.

Consider Apple's Backup application, which is bundled with a .mac account. You can set it to do a backup of any or all files you choose -- automatically, at times and on dates you select. You can direct Backup to save copies of your files (and applications?) to an external hard drive and/or to iDisk (on Apple's servers -- making your stuff available to you online -- from any computer). I'm new at using Backup and am just beginning to tap into its benefits. Love it! Set it and forget it. Don't have to remember to do those important back-ups!

.Mac only gives you one GB of backup space, not enough for most people, and that cost is a little much just for a backup utility.

Yes, but that it's only for online storage, and it let's you backup diferent files to different places. I, myself have a monthly backup of my home folder to CD, trimestral iPhoto backup to DVD, bianual backup of my Tunes to DVD, and a weekly backup of personal data (like Address book, iCal, Keychain, and research and study notes) and computer settings to iDisk.

Also, I agree .Mac is too expensive for being only a Backup utility, but it gives you much more, an email address with .mac.com ending, 5 email aliases, webpage, groups, calendars, etcétera.

Last time I was trying to give examples of applications to backup, but there are also some tips that do not require extra apps, however, they usually imply a more trough knowledge of the bundled apps in the mac. For example, this iPhoto tip that also applies to any other app.

P.S. I do not work for apple, and this was not intended to sound as an add to promote .Mac, altough it does sound as one. Sorry.

I purchased a Western Digital 120GB external hard drive to back my computer up to. The hard drive came with Retrospect Express software which allows me to back up my hard drive with the push of a button. I usually back my mac up once a week. That way, if my computer ever crashes or is stolen, I will have pretty much all my stuff on my external hard drive, ready to restore back to my computer.

iBook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

You may want to consider a cloning program such as SuperDuper! which is free from ShirtPocket software. You can pay a a registration fee to get extra time-saving capabilities, but the free version works.

A clone is an exact and complete copy of your system. If you bought an external firewire drive (not USB) then you will also be able to boot up your computer using the cloned system as the startup disk. This is especially useful when your main hard drive fails or has significant problems. You can simply boot from the clone and keep on working.

I've found this to be the simplest and most-complete back up solution. I recommend partitioning your external drive to include a partition that is the same size as your main drive. That leaves the rest of the external drive as free space for storage. This is just my preference though, but I do think it makes everything simpler to keep the clone separate from the rest of the storage space.