crashplan take forever.
where can i get a list of folders that i can safely remove from the backup set. or, which folders MUST be backed up.
Thanks
Backing up the OS and applications to crash plan is counterproductive. If you want to backup your data to a cloud service, that's one thing, but since you can't restore from crash plan without first re-installing a working OS on your machine, backing up the OS there is pointless.
There is no list.
Don't exclude anything you need to back up.
You don't have to overthink it. iCloud Backup does not back up anything obtained from the Mac App Store, the iTunes Store, iBooks, etc, because whatever you obtain from Apple can be downloaded again free of charge. Those items do not count against available iCloud storage. Refer to What does iCloud back up? - Apple Support.
Apply that knowledge to content obtained from other sources: don't worry about anything that can be dowloaded again. To summarize, back up your work products (almost always stored in Documents), photos (you can use iCloud Photos if you wish), music not obtained from Apple or other downloadable sources... only you can determine what those items are. Email messages for example don't need to be backed up if they are stored on your email service's servers. Messages such as iMessage aren't backed up anywhere other than locally.
Different people will have different backups needs and there is no simple answer to your question. The true test of a backup strategy is to simulate a sudden, catastrophic loss of your Mac and all the information it contains (including perhaps any devices directly connected to it... such as a backup drive). If you can recover from that event with only a minor investment of time and money, then your backup strategy is a good one. If that event fills you with fear and dread, reevaluate your backup strategy.
As I wrote no one can tell you what to exclude.
I could tell you to exclude ~/Library (for example). That will certainly save a lot of space.
Then, you lose your Mac and the license information for Adobe or Microsoft products (for example), and you'll be mad at me. See?
That appears to be a perfectly sound backup strategy to me. I think you have your answer, and you answered it yourself.
maybe you misunderstood the question. which folders are important to backup and which are not. if you do not know, that is ok.
i am a retired IT professional in the field for nearly 40 years, know s/w development. don't need other unasked questions answered. i backup my mac to time machine, and 2 local networked drives. i also backup to crashplan pro for business and would like to streamline how long it takes, thus the question.
Are you aware of the change for CrashPlan?
Effective August 22, 2017, Code42 will no longer offer new – or renew – CrashPlan for Home subscriptions, and we will begin to sunset the product over several months. CrashPlan for Home will no longer be available for use starting October 23, 2018. https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/consumer/nextsteps/?AID=11669504&PID=6164706&SID =j9nfwsk428013t3g04337&utm_source=CJ&utm…
hi, thanks, i guess, still does answer my question. i am aware of all this. i was asking specifically for files/folders to back up on a mac os... such that after a restore, these files would come in handy since a restore or rebuild would not have them.
here is what i found but was looking for a better or more recent example.
macos - What folders should I be backing up? Are there any I should avoid? - Ask Different
so so that you all. as an aside, i think i need to better articulate my question, and we all need to (in online forums) try and answer the specific question and not stray from it like some of the above kind of (sorry people) irrelevant replies.
agreed. i have found where my LR and PS adding etc are and have them backed up. i am not using crashplan to do a full restore but to possibly have some files i may need after a restore or even for other reasons. i use roboform similar to 1password.
thanks all. i will hunt through some of the folders and find the stuff i know i may need or may come in handy. better than just saying backup the library folder . too big, most useless as was mentioned.
i have a TM backup. i also have my data backed up 2 more times, one of which i switch out to an offsite location monthly, and i use crashplan. my data is very important to me.
crashplan also gives me the ability to see all my files at any tome anywhere on any mobile device. so it is looking having my macbook pro with me in my pocket on y phone.
but this discussion is kind of irrelevant as it was not answering the question ... i give up people, thanks, cheers.
I suggest you go out and get an external hard drive and do a local
backup to that. Relying on something you have no control over
as a backup, i.e. any cloud based, is not a good idea.
yes thank you. i have converted to crashplan pro for business a few months ago.
i know. my TM backup backups up all. my crashplan backup, i just want my data and as a safety precaution, any files like the info you mentioned above as an extra...
totally understood. but after a partial restore, there may be files with settings in the library folder for eg with preferences or other such that may be useful. so currently i backup the library folder but think i can cut that drastically by backing up just select folders within.
Restoring personal files like documents, pictures, movies, music are simple, but restoring preferences, activation and other files needed by apps like Adobe and Microsoft are in scattered in many folders some invisible.
Personally, I would not rely on data in a service like CrashPlan to fully restore if I had to do a clean install.
I use 1Password so all my passwords and other important data is synced allowing me to do a clean setup if needed.
With the understanding that everyone's needs are different, the only viable solution in my case is a full Time Machine backup of everything, excluding nothing. Files are only backed up once for as many complete system backups that can be stored on each device, so there is less effect on their overall capacity than you might imagine. For example, I have very approximately 500 GB of data on the Mac I'm using at present. A 1 TB backup drive happens to contain daily and weekly backups going back a few months. That represents many more complete system backups than I would ever need, and I have TM backup drives scattered among different geographic locations in three US states. If some rogue dictator were to launch an ICBM to create an EMP over Kansas this evening, I think they'd be OK. I'm pretty sure I'd have bigger problems than restoring any particular Mac's contents though.
Needless to say I don't think Crashplan would be available for a while, but it certainly has its purposes for some people's needs.
Storage is cheap. Each one of those backup drives costs less than $100 and there are no recurring costs. I have no use for offsite backup services—other than iCloud, which is also cheap and convenient. However, should I ever need it, a complete system restoration from iCloud would not be nearly as simple as restoring from a TM backup.
what folders should and should not be backed up in high sierra to make the backup smaller (ie to the cloud)
