Backing up

You absolutely MUST backup before you upgrade, unless of course you like living dangerously or don't value anything currently on your computer. If you've never backed up before without problems then you should count yourself a very lucky man, but times up. Don't push your luck, especially not with Leopard.

I could not recommend DVD's as a suitable backup strategy. An external drive is not that expensive and well worth the cost if/when you need to access the backup. It's no use having a backup system that is too awful and cumbersome to use if you need it. When something goes horribly wrong its already a disaster and you want a quick painless recovery system, DVD's are not it.

Enjoy Leopard. proceed with caution.
J

 

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Spring for an external drive. That way you can use it for Time Machine backups after you upgrade as well. Sooner or later, everyone loses a drive, and it never happens at a convenient time.