Easiest Way to Backup,etc.? Newbie Here!

[RedStreak]

I'm all new to Mac, and need help! What's the best way (easiest) to back up all my data? iTunes, what & how is the best way to back up? Have a MacBook Pro, and am new to Mac but like it.

How do I free up memory so it will stop saying startup disk is full? What is it that's causing startup disk to be full?

I have a lot to learn since I've been a long time PC user.

Thanks!

 

[wordmunger]

I'm all new to Mac, and need help! What's the best way (easiest) to back up all my data? iTunes, what & how is the best way to back up? Have a MacBook Pro, and am new to Mac but like it.

How do I free up memory so it will stop saying startup disk is full? What is it that's causing startup disk to be full?

I have a lot to learn since I've been a long time PC user.

Thanks!

Your startup disk is either full because you've put too much stuff on it, or (more likely) due to some bug in the system. Go into the finder and look at your hard drive in list view (command-2).

Then hit command-J to show list options and select "calculate all sizes"

It will take a while to calculate all your folder sizes but eventually you can narrow down which folder is taking up all the space, and drill down to find out where the problem is. It will probably be some obscure folder in your library.

Then do a search here or on the apple support discussion boards to see if it's okay to delete. Don't forget to empty trash! You should be set.

Most folks around here use Time Machine for backup. Buy an external hard drive, run Time Machine (which came with your computer), and your'e all set.

 

[superleccy]

Download WhatSize? or DiskInventoryX or OmniDiskSweeper (my favourite) to find out what's eating your HD space.

If you have multiple user accounts on the machine, you will have to run the tool from each user account in turn until you find your spacehog.

SL

 

[PkennethV]

Download WhatSize? or DiskInventoryX or OmniDiskSweeper (my favourite) to find out what's eating your HD space.

If you have multiple user accounts on the machine, you will have to run the tool from each user account in turn until you find your spacehog.

SL

Great suggestions! I personally like GrandPerspective

 

[richard.mac]

I'm all new to Mac, and need help! What's the best way (easiest) to back up all my data? iTunes, what & how is the best way to back up? Have a MacBook Pro, and am new to Mac but like it.

its pretty simple, just like using any other OS.

you can rely on manual backups by burning files to CDs, DVDs or dragging files to external drives. or you can use software such as Apple's Backup or the popular Time Machine or clone your whole drive to an external using carbon copy cloner.

my recommendation to backup your iTunes would be to use an external drive and manually copy over. just copy over the iTunes music folder. you can also if you want backup your iTunes library to DVD(s) by selecting "Back Up to Disc..." in iTunes' file menu.