backing up important files (photos, book marks, etc.)

[jayar182]

im planning to fresh install OSX, how would i back up:

how would i put photo booth photos into iphoto, then how would i back up all of iphoto and keep all of the meta data (such as time and place taken)? also some of the photos when i click to enlarge it just shows a blurred exclamation mark, what should i do?

also, how would i back up all of my book marks from safari, chrome and firefox, and hopefully make it into one bookmark for chrome or safari (if the new update makes it better than chrome)?

and how would i back up stickies?

lastly, is there anything i should back up?

thank you for all your help

 

[Eidorian]

Is there anything else but Time Machine?

 

[jayar182]

doesnt time machine back up everything? one of the reasons i want to fresh install is that it allows me to delete everything i do not need, i have 500 gbs of space, and ive used most of it through unnecessary apps and duplicate files

also, how do i back up address book?

thank you

 

[Eidorian]

Time Machine backs up everything. You can choose to only migrate over the user data when doing a clean install.

 

[angelwatt]

Address Book has an export option that you can use to archive the data, then you can import that later after reinstalling. A lot of programs like this have options like this. You can make a copy of your iPhoto library, which will give you a backup of that.

 

[jayar182]

my external isnt big enough for a time machine back up, if were to drag the "iphoto library" file in the "pictures" folder into my external, would it back up every photo including meta data?

thank you

 

[angelwatt]

if were to drag the "iphoto library" file in the "pictures" folder into my external, would it back up every photo including meta data?

Yes, it's self-contained with all that info.

 

[maflynn]

Time Machine is the best option and if your external drive is too small, pick up a larger one - they're inexpensive enough.