Imac Backup

[tman3x]

Hello guys, new member and first time post. I bought my base 27" imac last summer in time for college and been having a fun time with it. Yet I've just now gotten to actually backing up the computer. Yeah shame on me , and I would just like to know what would be the best way since I have two hard drives. A 640gb seagate that was format ntsf for the previous windows computer (now installed ubuntu) my family had before buying the imac. Since I couldn't use it for time machine I bought the 2tb WD My Book for Mac and now just realized I could've format the seagate one. Mac Extended Journal seemed to be the de facto choice according to the responses I found on the internet. I was wondering should I format the 2tb one to fat32 as a link between the linux and mac or partition it (and what is partition? I only get the gist of dividing up distinct space on a hdd but the concept is still vague to me). And once I've gotten the external hd set up, should I use ccc or tm on separate hard drive or both on the mac os journaled one? Phew, man sorry for the laundry question lists, I'm pretty new to mac and only have a limited googler computer knowledge. Thanks for your help.

 

[GGJstudios]

I was wondering should I format the 2tb one to fat32 as a link between the linux and mac or partition it (and what is partition? I only get the gist of dividing up distinct space on a hdd but the concept is still vague to me). And once I've gotten the external hd set up, should I use ccc or tm on separate hard drive or both on the mac os journaled one?

You can use Time Machine if you like, but I prefer Carbon Copy Cloner to make bootable backups.

Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)

Choose the appropriate format:

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac OS X system files.
  [*]To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
  [*]To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
• Maximum file size: 8EiB
• Maximum volume size: 8EiB
• Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits
• You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)

NTFS (Windows NT File System)

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
  [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
  • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
  • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
  • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
  • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
  • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
• Maximum file size: 16 TB
• Maximum volume size: 256TB
• You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
• exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
• Maximum file size: 16 EiB
• Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
• You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
  [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB
• You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.

 

[tman3x]

Thanks for your response. Would you recommend partitioning the 2tb hdd? Thanks for your time and help.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for your response. Would you recommend partitioning the 2tb hdd? Thanks for your time and help.

Yes, one partition formatted HFS+, for bootable backups. The other partition, formatted as you need for sharing with other computers.