HOWTO: Complete System Backup

[mcs37]

I'm preparing to send my PowerBook back to Apple for repairs ( ). The LCD has a slight imperfection that falls under their warranty (which I have for another 6 months or so). So I want to make sure I back up everything because I have EVERYTHING that's important to me on the machine: photos, emails, all my music, etc. I have other PC's but I've come to associate my PowerBook with my digital home, while the other PC's act as file servers and workstations.

Can anyone please send me a URL that details specifically everything I need to do to backup everything (iPhoto, iTunes, Mail, Documents, etc.) in case Apple swaps my machine with another one?

I am the only user of the PowerBook (1.33 GHz, 12.1", Panther) so I was thinking I might just backup my entire home directory onto my file server here and then simply pick out everything I need when I restore my machine in the future. I'm worried about my music though since iTunes has some crazy complicated folder structures (to the uninformed at least). Same for iPhoto. And I haven't a clue where my Mail is stored, but I'm sure it's somewhere in my home directory.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[mactropy]

If you are a .Mac member, you can download Backup, which lets you do exactly what you described. If you're not, I'm sorry but then I cannot help.

 

[ollie]

easy

cp -R / //mywindowsfileserver/macbackup

or something similar. cp --help for info!!

im assuming that mac keeps with the unix style of ".folder" for preferences and such for applications and would keep it in your home folder. i dont really know since apple havnt updated the powerbook line so im macless

hope i help at least a little

 

[mcs37]

easy

cp -R / //mywindowsfileserver/macbackup

Yeah but that seems like a hell of a lot of waste. The actual program files can be re-installed (I have all my purchased serial keys stored in e-mail) on a clean machine but I want to make sure I get all my music, photos, etc.

So I suppose the question becomes: is there anything other than program files that's NOT stored in my Home directory that is particular to my user account that needs to be stored?

Thanks!

 

[jeremy.king]

Just CCC your drive and worry about it should you need to restore.

 

[munkle]

Check out SuperDuper - it's CCC on steroids. You can clone for free.

 

[arogge]

You can start with your user profile directory. The Apple Mail files should be in "/Users/<User>/Library/Mail". You should also back up "/etc", "/Library", and "/System" in addition to any other directories where you may have stored your files. If you have the disk space, simply log in as root and copy the entire hard drive.