Time Capsule [Question]

[Jabman]

Getting straight to it!

I've owned a Mac Mini for 2 years now. I like to always keep it on and I've gotten used to certain things always being in a certain place. I use 8 desktops on my Mini and countless folders in a certain 'way' opened on each desktop with files I use daily.

What I love is that even if I need to turn off my Mac mini, when I turn it back on ALL of the folders are in the desktop they were opened in.

I'm also a tab-aholic! I have a certain set of tabs that I never close.

I've been thinking of getting a new Mac soon and my question is as follows:

If I buy a Time capsule and back up my Mac mini - would it be possible to have my new computer looking exactly the same as my Mac mini? With everything the way it was on my Mac mini as if it wasn't even a new computer? Even down to the smallest details such as the way I have my dashboard set up and the tabs I have on my browser?

Since my mini runs on OS Lion would that effect anything if I were to use the backup on a Mac that runs mavericks?

And also what does a time capsule have in advantage over using a normal external hardrive as a back up other than backing up your files wirelessly?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Tomorrow]

If I buy a Time capsule and back up my Mac mini - would it be possible to have my new computer looking exactly the same as my Mac mini? With everything the way it was on my Mac mini as if it wasn't even a new computer? Even down to the smallest details such as the way I have my dashboard set up and the tabs I have on my browser?

Depends on what software you use to make your backups. Time Capsule is really just a piece of hardware.

And also what does a time capsule have in advantage over using a normal external hardrive as a back up other than backing up your files wirelessly?

That's pretty much it. You could accomplish the same thing with an Airport Extreme base station and a plugged-in USB drive. Although in my experience, having the Apple-based hardware and firmware in your router (like with Airport Extreme or Time Capsule) is easier to use and more feature-rich than using a different brand router, like Linksys or Netgear.

 

[Jabman]

Depends on what software you use to make your backups. Time Capsule is really just a piece of hardware.

My mini runs on Lion if that's what you mean.

Which also makes me think of another question. Since my mini runs on OS Lion would that effect anything if I were to use the backup on a Mac that runs mavericks?

 

[Tomorrow]

My mini runs on Lion if that's what you mean.

No, that's not what I mean.

I mean if you use Time Machine for your backups, it's not going to make backups of your configuration (like tabs, desktops, etc.). It's only going to back up documents.

If you use something like Carbon Copy Cloner, it will definitely back up more than Time Machine will, but I don't know whether it will keep mundane settings like tabs, etc.

 

[Bruno09]

I mean if you use Time Machine for your backups, it's not going to make backups of your configuration (like tabs, desktops, etc.). It's only going to back up documents.

???

By default Time Machine backups ALL, including the User's Library, the OS and (from Lion 10.7.2) the Recovery partition.

 

[ColdCase]

Are you going from Lion on your mini to another new computer running Mavericks?

You could use a USB drive instead of a time capsule, or nothing extra.

You would use timemachine to backup your current mini to either a time capsule or USB drive.

When you startup your new machine you will set it to migrate either from the time capsule or the USB drive. You can also have it migrate directly from the old mini without needing a TC or USB drive, although that may be slow.

Do a search on migration, there are quite a few guides out there. I'm pretty sure all your bookmarks, tabs, and desktop will be pulled over to the new machine, but you may need some adjustments. There may be some Lion things that don't translate well to mavericks.

CCC is useful if you need a bootable copy of your current machine or are just replacing the hard drive. Not so useful for migrating to a new OS version and machine.

I think the folks at your local Apple Store genius bar can do the migration for you.

How are you backing up the mini now?

 

[Altemose]

Getting straight to it!

I've owned a Mac Mini for 2 years now. I like to always keep it on and I've gotten used to certain things always being in a certain place. I use 8 desktops on my Mini and countless folders in a certain 'way' opened on each desktop with files I use daily.

What I love is that even if I need to turn off my Mac mini, when I turn it back on ALL of the folders are in the desktop they were opened in.

I'm also a tab-aholic! I have a certain set of tabs that I never close.

I've been thinking of getting a new Mac soon and my question is as follows:

If I buy a Time capsule and back up my Mac mini - would it be possible to have my new computer looking exactly the same as my Mac mini? With everything the way it was on my Mac mini as if it wasn't even a new computer? Even down to the smallest details such as the way I have my dashboard set up and the tabs I have on my browser?

Since my mini runs on OS Lion would that effect anything if I were to use the backup on a Mac that runs mavericks?

And also what does a time capsule have in advantage over using a normal external hardrive as a back up other than backing up your files wirelessly?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Either using a Time Capsule or a simple USB hard drive will get you the same result. Before you get your new Mac, simply backup the old one to a freshly formatted hard drive using Time Machine. Then when you boot the new Mac up, follow through the setup wizard until it lets you migrate from a Time Machine backup. It will then restore settings, files, and applications from the backup to your new Mac.

As a note, the Time Capsule is an AirPort Extreme with a hard drive in it.

 

[Jabman]

Your replies are much appreciated. Will tell you guys how it pans out.

Also if any wish to contribute further with more information you are more than encouraged to do so

 

[Bruno09]

For maximum safety, just in case something went wrong with the migration from the Time Machine backup, you could do a clone of your Mini to another external hard drive.
(use Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.4 free trial).

This would be my choice.

 

[Altemose]

Your replies are much appreciated. Will tell you guys how it pans out.

Also if any wish to contribute further with more information you are more than encouraged to do so

Essentially have a backup of the backup.

 

[Jabman]

I got a 2TB Time Capsule and am currently in the process of backing up over wifi.

I expected a long wait because, well, it's over the internet. My backup file is rather large and I don't mind waiting. The wait is currently 4 days with over 1 TB of backing up.

My question: Is the initial backup longer than later back ups? I mean if time capsule supposedly backs up ever hour and I have over 1 TB of stuff how will it be able to do this in under an hour? It says that when the capsule is full it will delete the oldest backups. Considering my back up is 1TB and the capsule I purchased is 2TB does that mean it will delete the previous back up every hour? Or do future backups only make minor changes on latest backup? And Does this use up my Internet bandwidth backing up over wifi? Will the backup be interrupted if say my Mac loses the wifi connection for a while? If the backup gets interrupted will it resume where it left off or start from beginning?

Thanks again for any help.

 

[NukeIT]

My question: Is the initial backup longer than later back ups? I mean if time capsule supposedly backs up ever hour and I have over 1 TB of stuff how will it be able to do this in under an hour? It says that when the capsule is full it will delete the oldest backups. Considering my back up is 1TB and the capsule I purchased is 2TB does that mean it will delete the previous back up every hour? Or do future backups only make minor changes on latest backup? And Does this use up my Internet bandwidth backing up over wifi? Will the backup be interrupted if say my Mac loses the wifi connection for a while? If the backup gets interrupted will it resume where it left off or start from beginning?
Thanks again for any help.

Initial backup is the longest/largest, it includes everything. All backups after that are just modifications to the initial. (Things that changed)

It uses your wifi bandwidth but not your internet bandwidth. I have never noticed a slowing down because it was running.

If interrupted for whatever reason, it will start where it left off.

 

[ColdCase]

Because TimeMachine is saving changes and not throwing anything out, expect your backup file size (on the TimeCapsule) to grow and grow and eventually nearly fill the TC drive. When it reaches a certain point, however, time machine will start pruning out older files (that have been trashed) to make room for new changes.

 

[Tomorrow]

I got a 2TB Time Capsule and am currently in the process of backing up over wifi.

I expected a long wait because, well, it's over the internet.

Wait, are you backing up to a Time Capsule, or are you backing up to the internet? The TC should be on your LAN. You don't need the internet to back up to it.

If you want to speed up the first backup, you can just connect the TC directly to your Mac with an Ethernet cable. It's much faster than using wifi.

 

[Jabman]

Wait, are you backing up to a Time Capsule, or are you backing up to the internet? The TC should be on your LAN. You don't need the internet to back up to it.

If you want to speed up the first backup, you can just connect the TC directly to your Mac with an Ethernet cable. It's much faster than using wifi.

I'm backing up using wifi. And It's already done and I was in no hurry. I have my TC set up in another room so that is why I'm doing it over wifi.