Hi guys,
My iMac arrived last night and the restore from time machine took just over 2 hours and worked perfectly,
So as I see it, I now have the iMac restored as a replica of the macbook air.
Now, the air is close to capacity, and what I want to do is take some stuff off the air to free up room, but things like iTunes I want to keep on by actually use the iMac as the main point of connection and storage for music.
Is there a simple way to do this, or if I delete program's / files will it put them back automatically from time machine?
Hope that makes sense
Cheers,
What I recommend as the #1 priority... decide where the "Master Copy" of your data resides. For me, that is my iMac... because it has the most resources.
Then I make sure that it is at least double backed up... 1) locally and 2) cloud. I use Time Machine/Time Capsule for local... and Crashplan+ for the cloud.
At this point... you know where the "master of all your data lives... and it is safe.
Next... I use as many cloud services as necessary to keep relevent data in sync:
1) I use only iMAP email... so now my iMac, MBA, iPad, iPhone all see the exact same state of mail... and modifying anywhere... modifies everywhere
2) I use Dropbox to store any documents/data that I want to have while mobile. I still consider my "master copy" on the iMac... but I have access and edit ability on my MBA... and if I modify it on my MBA... dropbox automatically applies the canges back home on my iMac (which is always on 24/7/356).
3) For music... you have a few of choices: a) use iTunes home sharing to access your music on the MBA but streamed from the iMac (useful while home)... b) use iTunes Match ($25/yr) to have cloud based access to your music on demand on any device... or c) Just copy a subset of your music and import it to your MBA. Note that at all times... your "master copy" of your music is still on your iMac... so you can delete it from your MBA as needed (for space) without worrying.
4) For Pictures... I use Aperture 3... which is fantastic about moving photo projects from machine to machine. That way, while I am on a trip, I upload photos into my MBA daily into a new project specific to that trip... and when I get home, I migrate the project into my iMac.
The key for me... is knowing where the "master" of all data is located... and ideally keeping it on one machine. That enables a coherent plan on managing your data... which then can lead to a good backup strategy. People who scatter their data around often get confused at some point... and or have duplicate copies everywhere without knowing what they can delete... and eventually leading to accidental deletion of important data.
/Jim