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Best backup software.

C

cmuench

macrumors member
Original poster
May 15, 2007
82
0
I need backup software that I can easily restore from. Let me explain. I will be using an external firewire backup drive. I need software that will let me restore from the image. So either I do a quick reinstall of OS X and then do a restore with software or software that lets me grab specific files form the backup. The cheaper the better yet it has to have the ability to do incrementals. Thanks for any help in this matter.
 
SuperDuper! is great. I am using the free version and have no problems. I will probably end up paying the $25 to upgrade.
 
I have heard good things about superduper. However how is it to restore from?
 
cmuench said:
...I need software that will let me restore from the image.....The cheaper the better ....have the ability to do incrementals.
Click to expand...

Every Mac OS X system ships with "dump". It's free and you already have it on your system. Below is a quote from the Mac OS X's on-line manual:

Dump examines files on a filesystem and determines which files need to be backed up. These files are copied to the given disk, tape or other storage medium for safe keeping.......
Click to expand...

Dump can make multiple "levels" of incrementals so you can set up some complex cycles if yuo want or you could go with just the simple full backup followed by deltas from that. Your option. It works best if you set this up to be automatic and run at (say) 2:00am every morning

From the terminal type "man dump" for more info.
 
If you have .mac, you can use "Backup." (You can download it for free) I've been using for a while now and it works great.
 
What would be a good solution to backing up both the mac and windows bootcamp partitions on a HD? Perhaps just clone the mac side to another HD? (using carbon copy cloner or SuperDuper, etc.) But then what about windows?
 
Corran said:
What would be a good solution to backing up both the mac and windows bootcamp partitions on a HD? Perhaps just clone the mac side to another HD? (using carbon copy cloner or SuperDuper, etc.) But then what about windows?
Click to expand...

There's a utility called Winclone that works with bootcamp partitons.
I haven't had a chance to try it yet, though, so I don't know weather or not to recommend it yet.

Link: http://www.twocanoes.com/winclone/
 
I would like to run automatic nightly incremental backups to an external hard drive. I do not want a bootable clone of my hard drive, I want real backup software that can do incremental backups -- I want the ability to get a file back that was on my computer two weeks ago and deleted since.

What are my options?
 
david06 said:
I would like to run automatic nightly incremental backups to an external hard drive. I do not want a bootable clone of my hard drive, I want real backup software that can do incremental backups -- I want the ability to get a file back that was on my computer two weeks ago and deleted since.

What are my options?
Click to expand...

wait for time machine?
 
david06 said:
Is this seriously the only option?

I'm amazed I can't find anything... how can something without the ability to do incremental backups even call itself a backup program?
Click to expand...

the only other one i thought of was Retrospect, but that doesn't seem to have incremental backups either. :rolleyes:
 
david06 said:
Is this seriously the only option?

I'm amazed I can't find anything... how can something without the ability to do incremental backups even call itself a backup program?
Click to expand...

I think Synk has what you want, though I've never used it. It has a demo, so you can try it out.
 
I've used iBackup, and it seems to do a decent job. For the price (free), you can't beat it.
 
I use the paid version of SuperDuper! on a daily basis to backup my entire machine (well, it backs up automatically very early in the morning), and it works seamlessly.

coolosxapps
 
PlaceofDis said:
the only other one i thought of was Retrospect, but that doesn't seem to have incremental backups either. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
It can do incremental backups, but it is not user friendly, so I doubt you can recover just one file. Actually it looks quite confusing, there is a good chance you won't be able to recover anything if your harddisk fails. :)

I have never used SuperDuper, but once you have a copy or clone of your harddisk with incremental backups, you can just go in there, navigate through the same folder hierarchy as the one in your primary disk and locate your file. However, it will be the last version, let's say the one it copied over the previous night if you have automated your backups. You cannot skip three versions and use the one from two weeks ago. Most of the time that's OK.

I believe Retrospect can help you with that, as it does not delete the old versions while doing incremental backups. It is the same system big IT departments use. However, like I've said before, it is not very user friendly. You cannot just use Finder to locate something. You have to unarchive a lot of stuff up to a certain time period through Retrospect's interface, which may take some time and then locate the file you are interested in. For a user friendly, easy to use version, you need to wait for Time Machine.
 
i'm interested in using SuperDuper to make a nightly clone of my primary drive, complete w/ OS, apps, and registrations.

has anyone done a complete restore from such a clone, and did everything work perfectly? or did some apps have to be re-registered, for example.
 
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