General backing up question.

[skinnylegs]

I copied my Home folder to an external HD yesterday, which took some time because it incorporates approx. 100 gigs.

My questions is this.....

If I drag that same folder to the external HD again today, I am presented with a dialogue box that states that the folder already exists and asks if I want to cancel the operation or replace the folder. If I replace the folder will it only copy over those files that are new and/or modified or does it literally start from scratch and copy all files over again?

 

[iBookG4user]

It erases the file that is on there are starts to copy the folder again.

 

[spinnerlys]

It will overwrite everything.

Can't you use Time Machine?

Or you could look into Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[old-wiz]

I prefer SuperDuper, which is similar to CC. It has the advantage of the backup being bootable.

Being a bit paranoid, I have two external HDs; both have backup from SuperDuper (not identical, different months), and a separate partition where I copy my home directory as <volume>/date/<home directory>

It never hurts to have too much backup.

 

[uberamd]

SuperDuper is good. You can also home-brew a RSYNC script which is easier IMO.

 

[GregE]

Or you can use CrashPlan.

 

[spinnerlys]

I prefer SuperDuper, which is similar to CC. It has the advantage of the backup being bootable.
.....

As for CCC not making a bootable backup: http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html .
It can, and I did, and the copy speed of CCC surpasses the copy speed of Super Duper, and CCC is free.

Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh.

 

[skinnylegs]

Everything has worked out great. Offloading my music files freed up approx. 50 gigs of HD space on my MBP which represents about 33% of the HD capacity. I decided to leave my photos on the MBP since HD space isn't an issue anymore.

I set up Time Machine on the MBP using a USB 2 external HD. I also have a FW external HD which I manually copy over my Home folder to once a week. Afterwards, I eject it and place it in a fireproof safe.

Thanks for the help, everybody!