Hi all, what's the best solution for backing up my native drive to an external drive incrementally without deleting files on the back up drive that are deleted from the source drive? I used to use Intego Personal Backup X4 but since upgrading to OS 10.11.4 that doesn't work anymore. Is there a better product these days?
time machine
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
I ignored it for years, now I don't have a mac I support that does not run it. - that's a few dozen macs.
the only downside is the external can not be NTFS or Fat32 or EXFat formats (all windows formats btw)
I prefer Time Machine.
My vote goes to Time Machine. Others I've tried has slowed or interrupted my workflow; TM is quite transparent in operation once you make the initial backup.
Time Machine doesn't do what this user is asking: it will erase files as it overwrites earlier backups, so if you're trying to keep free space on your native drive by backing up files to an external drive and then deleting them from your native drive, it won't work. I have had good experience with an older version of Intego Personal Backup and will now try their new version.
I also vote for TimeMachine: the best incremental backup system there is.
Usually at least 3x the size of the startup disk (if that is the only disk that is backed up) is recommended for the backup disk.
It will run fully automatic.
Only when the backup disk is full, it will inform you that: a. it is going to condense the oldest incremental backups, b. if that is not enough to save some space, it will delete some of the oldest backups..
It will always contain the latest system totally.
Lex
Please read what the user is asking for: incremental backup without deleting files, i.e, archiving. Time Machine will not do this. It will absolutely overwrite old files once the drive is full if they have been deleted from the source drive.
If one is looking to create an archive of files one needs software like Intego Personal Backup, Carbon Copy Cloner or Backup Pro. I don't have experience with the newest versions of these but can say that past versions of Intego's software worked fine.
GeorgeDruthers wrote:
Hi all, what's the best solution for backing up my native drive to an external drive incrementally without deleting files on the back up drive that are deleted from the source drive?
The bold text is important. You are not describing a backup; what you seek is an archiving utility.
Time Machine guarantees one and only one copy of a source volume's contents. Anything more than that will be stored only as long as the backup volume has sufficient space to retain it. Given sufficient space Time Machine can provide literally years worth of storage, but once a file is deleted from the source volume, it becomes a candidate for deletion when Time Machine eventually requires the space. When that occurs, the oldest files are removed first.
I have not found a need for it for quite some time, but "Carbon Copy Cloner" will do what you want: https://bombich.com/. It's not free, nor is it nearly as integrated with OS X as Time Machine.
Retrospect for the Mac -- I think the desktop edition costs about $100, so it's not cheap, but it is a complete backup AND archive program.
"Please read what the user is asking for: incremental backup without deleting files, i.e, archiving."
Yes I have read that. Which "user" ? you.
Archiving: when the archive location is too small it will either stop, ot delete. No method or app can work if there is no space.
TM warns you before it does.
a. it condenses hourly increments into monthly increments for the oldest date, so that the number is less and size is compressed.
b. it warns when really deleting: for example I have three years in TM: and the last increment of a file is 35 months ago: it could delete that one when you accept that it deletes, otherwise you have to use a bigger disk.
Best software for incremental back-ups 10.11.4
