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Does time machine back up bootcamp and windows?
- Thread starter cfII
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No - Time Machine is for OS X only. Since Windows uses a completely different file system, you'd have to literally back up to two seperate partitions and/or drives anyways.
It backs up Windows on Parallels. If you so choose, you can have Parallels also run the same windows as your bootcamp, thus backing it up. Good luck setting it up.
It backs up Windows on Parallels. If you so choose, you can have Parallels also run the same windows as your bootcamp, thus backing it up. Good luck setting it up.
Lol
Clarification on Windows backup
Wanted to add a few cents of clarification on Time Machine.
Time Machine will back up everything on the OS X boot partition and only that partition.
So, a Boot Camp partition (or any other partition, whether running Lynux or another OS X install) will NOT get backed up.
If you have a virtual computer (VMWare or Parallels) that is virtual only and the hard drive image is stored on your boot partition, that will get backed up. The danger of that is that Time Machine is not a delta-level backup utility--if a file is different the entire file is backed up, not just the difference in the file since last backup. So, something like a VM, which might be a 20GB file, will get backed up in its entirety at every backup, which could use up hard drive space fast.
So, there you go.
Cheers.
Wanted to add a few cents of clarification on Time Machine.
Time Machine will back up everything on the OS X boot partition and only that partition.
So, a Boot Camp partition (or any other partition, whether running Lynux or another OS X install) will NOT get backed up.
If you have a virtual computer (VMWare or Parallels) that is virtual only and the hard drive image is stored on your boot partition, that will get backed up. The danger of that is that Time Machine is not a delta-level backup utility--if a file is different the entire file is backed up, not just the difference in the file since last backup. So, something like a VM, which might be a 20GB file, will get backed up in its entirety at every backup, which could use up hard drive space fast.
So, there you go.
Cheers.
^^This. Which is why I exclude the folders that hold my Virtual Machines and, whenever I feel necessary, copy the files over to my 2nd external drive that I use for media.
Seeing that I only play games on my Bootcamp partition, I'll wait a bit until I find a good, solid backup solution and grab an extra external drive to backup that part with.
Or until I clean out the ~100 movie storage folders I have on there. Whatever comes first
Seeing that I only play games on my Bootcamp partition, I'll wait a bit until I find a good, solid backup solution and grab an extra external drive to backup that part with.
Or until I clean out the ~100 movie storage folders I have on there. Whatever comes first
Not necessarily. I don't know if Fusion supports this (I gave up on it a version ago when my VM session froze every time I blinked), but Parallels has built-in support for Time Machine using snapshots. The first time Time Machine backs up the VM, it will back up the entire thing (as expected). From then on, Parallels will make regular snapshots at intervals (snapshots are similar to deltas) which will then be backed up via Time Machine. I've not had to use this (yet), but theoretically when your VM inevitably becomes corrupted or infected or a hostile driver hoses your system, this will allow you to restore your Virtual Machine to a time when everything was still running (relatively) smoothly. Of course you'll lose whatever new or updated files you might have on your virtual disk since that particular snapshot.
In any case, this saves loads of time and space when backing up your VM to TM.
That sounds like a handy convention instituted by Parallels there.
From this perspective, I might say we are both right.
I think it worthwhile noting that it is Parallels, not Time Machine, that adjusts its storage methods to be Time Machine friendly. Time Machine doesn't know any better, but Parallels goes out of its way to store the VM files in such a way to prevent runaway backup storage.
On a different note, sorry to hear about your VMWare Fusion experience. I've been using it since the beginning and have always found it a very good and reliable product. No doubt competition is a good thing!
Cheers.
Got Time Machine to Back Up Bootcamp
As I sit here, Time Machine is busily backing up my Bootcamp partition.
Installing the Paragon NTFS driver seemed to do the trick.
As I sit here, Time Machine is busily backing up my Bootcamp partition.
Installing the Paragon NTFS driver seemed to do the trick.
It backs up Windows on Parallels. If you so choose, you can have Parallels also run the same windows as your bootcamp, thus backing it up. Good luck setting it up.
Well, you can but it will save a new backup of the image every time that you back up.