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Questions regarding proper backup - coming from Windows

T

turbodelta

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2012
18
0
Hi all,

Just recently moved from XP/Wind 7 to a mbpr and have some questions regarding the best solution for backing up.

On windows, I used to have an external drive I would copy everything over each month as a backup. My computers also had two partitions, one for the OS and one for my documents/pictures/music/etc.

Now on OSX I find myself again with one partition, and no idea what the best course of action is.

I downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner, in an effort to setup an automated backup, but from what I've read, you should create a partition on your external drive dedicated to the backup. I think Time Machine is the same...

I would prefer just backing up everything like I used to with a program, to do it automatically, rather than having to create a partition.

Also, I havent been able to find any info in regards to restoring OSX. Will one lose all the data on the HD like in Windows?

What do you guys suggest I do?

thanks :)
 
A couple of options.

1) Set up Time Machine to use your external drive as your backup drive, and let Time Machine do it's thing.

2) Use Carbon Copy Cloner to make regular, bootable backups to your external drive.

I use Time Machine to back up 3 MPBs, an iMac and a Mini to a Time Capsule, and I also make CCC bootable backups of my work MBP to an external USB drive. Just in case.
 
Dweez said:
A couple of options.

1) Set up Time Machine to use your external drive as your backup drive, and let Time Machine do it's thing.

2) Use Carbon Copy Cloner to make regular, bootable backups to your external drive.

I use Time Machine to back up 3 MPBs, an iMac and a Mini to a Time Capsule, and I also make CCC bootable backups of my work MBP to an external USB drive. Just in case.
Click to expand...

But do you use a separate partition on your external drive dedicated for the backups? or do you just choose a folder inside the external drive where to backup to?
 
turbodelta said:
Hi all,

Just recently moved from XP/Wind 7 to a mbpr and have some questions regarding the best solution for backing up.

On windows, I used to have an external drive I would copy everything over each month as a backup. My computers also had two partitions, one for the OS and one for my documents/pictures/music/etc.

Now on OSX I find myself again with one partition, and no idea what the best course of action is.

I downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner, in an effort to setup an automated backup, but from what I've read, you should create a partition on your external drive dedicated to the backup. I think Time Machine is the same...

I would prefer just backing up everything like I used to with a program, to do it automatically, rather than having to create a partition.

Also, I havent been able to find any info in regards to restoring OSX. Will one lose all the data on the HD like in Windows?

What do you guys suggest I do?

thanks :)
Click to expand...

Just use one partition, the way you go is in my opinion a good choice, the drive copied with CCC will be bootable, fyi you can also have multiple schedules for backup with CCC, for instance your Home Folder hourly and the rest every week/month.

As for repairing, most of the time OS X can be repaired without resorting to a reinstall, the good news is you have a bootable backup which means you can repair the internal HD with Disk Utilities or other programs, Disk Utility is also available in Restore (Command-v) but sometimes this DU can not repair a volume while others can, DiskWarrior can most of the time repair damage which DU can not repair.
 
Ok so I tried reading into Time Machine, and it seems that it basically makes the external drive exclusive to Time Machine, renaming it and all. So I won't be able to use it for anything other than Time Machine...is this right???

Second, I am trying to backup to my NTSF formatted 1tb external drive using CCCloner.

When I hit 'clone', three warnings pop-up.

1.The destination cannot support a backup of your Mac OSX system files.
2.External Hard drive does not provide support for Access Control Lists. Access control lists that are associated with files and folders on Mac HD will not be preserved.
3.External Hard drive does not provide support for file and folder ownership. Any ownership settings that are associated with files and folders on Mac HD will not be preserved.

It then goes on to say, if I require a backup of the installation of the OSX, choose an HFS+ formatted volume, or ask CCCloner to create a disk image of this volume instead.

What do you guys think? I still havent understood if CCCloner will make an image of the disk or if it will just create a straight backup with folders that I can access also on other computers? (thats what I would like...)
 
thanks for the link, whats still not clear to me is that if I dont want to partition my external drive, and go ahead to backing up to a folder what will happen? Will it create a exact copy (folder by folder) of my Mac HD?

Sorry if i missed the answer but I cant seem to find it on the page...:confused:
 
turbodelta said:
thanks for the link, whats still not clear to me is that if I dont want to partition my external drive, and go ahead to backing up to a folder what will happen? Will it create a exact copy (folder by folder) of my Mac HD?

Sorry if i missed the answer but I cant seem to find it on the page...:confused:
Click to expand...
If you want a bootable clone, you'll want to partition your external drive and dedicate one partition to your CCC backup, as opposed to just backing up some user files into a folder on the external. If something goes wrong with your internal drive, you can simply boot from the clone and you're back in business. All of your questions about CCC can be answered on their site, as they have extensive support resources.

Knowledge Base - Bombich Software Support
Carbon Copy Cloner - Support
 
turbodelta said:
Also, I havent been able to find any info in regards to restoring OSX. Will one lose all the data on the HD like in Windows?
Click to expand...
Firstly, you are much less likely to need to "Restore" the OS, as you might on Windows.
If you do hose the system, then you can just reinstall it in place, and by default it will keep your user data, apps and settings where they are.

(Even if something did go wrong, you will have a backup, of course!)
 
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