Clean install, where to backup data

[deefer68]

Hi,
I have been an iMac and MBP user for about 6 months (previously windows) and during those 6 months whilst learning, have installed / uninstalled various apps etc.

Now I feel, because of all the junk I have everywhere it would be best to make a clean install.

With iCloud not yet available, which online storage solution would be best for backing up / syncing documents, spreadsheets and database. As well as 5gb music and pics?

Thanks in advance

 

[djrbx]

Hi,
I have been an iMac and MBP user for about 6 months (previously windows) and during those 6 months whilst learning, have installed / uninstalled various apps etc.

Now I feel, because of all the junk I have everywhere it would be best to make a clean install.

With iCloud not yet available, which online storage solution would be best for backing up / syncing documents, spreadsheets and database. As well as 5gb music and pics?

Thanks in advance

Your best and cheapest bet would just to buy an external HDD to back up all your data. The cost of having all your data on the cloud for backups are still to high for the average user. Typically the thumb of rule is that "if you have to ask, it's too much". Dropbox, Sugarsync, Jungledisk, etc. are all great for storing small data like documents but not so great for backing up personal music and movie collections. This is due to the costs of storage and bandwidth.

Take Dropboxs lowest tier paid account pricing, at about $10 a month for only 50GB of storage, in half a year, you could have easily bought a 1TB hard drive to store your backups on an external HDD.

I say, go out and buy yourself an external drive and backup to that. Gather all your installation files, documents and movies and organize when you backup and keep that drive somewhere safe. Then once you complete your backup and perform a clean install, install Dropbox to store some documents in the cloud if you really need to.

 

[Fishrrman]

"With iCloud not yet available, which online storage solution would be best for backing up / syncing documents, spreadsheets and database. As well as 5gb music and pics?"

Can you afford about $25 for a USB/SATA docking station?
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0

Then, just add a "bare drive" of your choice (I like Seagate drives from newegg.com).

Partition if necessary.

Then, use CarbonCopyCloner to create a bootable backup clone of your current drive on the docked drive.

You can even boot from the dock. It's a VERY useful accessory to have nearby.