HT201250: Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac

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AddNic

Q: Time Machine

How big should an external drive be for use with Time Machine?

Final Cut Pro X, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Mar 11, 2015 5:26 PM

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Q: Time Machine

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Mar 11, 2015 5:27 PM in response to AddNic
    Level 10 (312,640 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 11, 2015 5:27 PM in response to AddNic

    At least twice the size of the data you’ll be backing up.

     

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  • by AddNic,

    AddNic AddNic Mar 11, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 11, 2015 5:32 PM in response to Niel

    That was quick . I have a mid-2012 MacBook Pro, 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7, 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 with Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB, and I want to back up the whole thing. My system came under attack recently and I want to make sure I can go back if malware ever completely tries to destroy my life. haha Should I get a terrabyte? I have an external lacie hd, but i think it's only 114 GB. Probably not enough, eh?

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Mar 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to AddNic
    Level 9 (52,476 points)
    Wireless
    Mar 11, 2015 7:18 PM in response to AddNic

    If the MBP has 500GB disk then a 1TB drive is about the min you should buy.. The cost per GB goes down as the disk size goes up.. so larger disks are better value than smaller ones.. I would not even bother with disks smaller than 2TB now.. unless you are after small 2.5" disks.. For most people 3 or 4TB are really great and cheap.. you can then partition it and use a disk image not just Time Machine.. make a bootable clone of your MBP and recovery is as simple as boot from USB .. back to your previous setup.. recovery from TM is a process that takes many hours or days.