Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I am in the process of uploading various important files and folders from my hard disk to Google Drive. What folders that contain my contacts (from the Contacts application) and my appointments, birthdays, etc. (from the Calendar application) should I upload for safe keeping, and where can I find them on my computer's hard disk?
Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), null
You are welcome.
Thanks for that; I had earlier on been told otherwise elsewhere. But when I turn Time Machine on, it does not show Google Drive as an option, so how would I use Time Machine with Google Drive?
Google Drive is a folder on your Mac (unless you changed the defaults) Time Machine backs all folders on the Mac (unless you choose to exclude them) there is no include option, they are all included.
What I don't understand, though, is that Time Machine asks me to select a drive to upload to, and no external drive is shown.
And you do have an external drive connected I assume, does it show in Disk Utility?
No, I haven't got an external drive connected. I am uploading to the Web, in the form of Google Drive. I fully understand that Time Machine would work with a physical external drive. In any case I am using Google Drive's upload facility.
Open disk utility and see what it says about the external disk labelled as Untitled 1,
Michael Graubart wrote:
No, I haven't got an external drive connected. I am uploading to the Web, in the form of Google Drive. I fully understand that Time Machine would work with a physical external drive. In any case I am using Google Drive's upload facility.
So you are not going to backup then? you plan on just uploading to the Google Drive (i.e.: saving the files in the Google Drive folder) if so just remember that you have no backup in that case.
Dear Csound1, please accept that I am not trying to be awkward; nor am I totally ignorant of computers, nor of other technical matters, having a degree in physics, having taught maths and having worked as a development engineer in musical electronics before becoming a professional and academic musician.
Leaving aside the nomenclature, I understand that I essentially have two options. I can either store all my data externally in such a way that it does not update when I change files on my computer; that is what I believe you mean by 'backup'. Or I can store it so that it updates every time I change something on my computer; that is what, rightly or wrongly, I have been calling 'backup' and you have referred to as synchronicity, and it is what I want, even though I realize that it is no insurance against an accidental deletion.
If I change my mind after I have uploaded all my stuff to Google Drive, I can set the Google Drive app. so as not to sync any further. I shall then have the first option.
The same two options would be available to me if I used an external hard drive instead of Google Drive. In fact I am thinking of obtaining an external hard drive in due course. In that case I can have both options simultaneously, one on Google Drive, the other on the external hard drive.
A synchronous drive is one drive, no matter how many instances of it exist. If you break the sync then it can be a backup drive, that is correct. But all the time it is synchronous it is not a backup.
SugarSync would be a better alternative, you get sync and a non syncing archive which is an effective backup.
Thank you very much for this suggestion. I'll have a look at SugarSync. It looks like a very useful option. But it is now once more supper-time for me and then bed, so I shall do more in due course.
Contacts and Calendar: what to upload to cloud for safe preservation?
