I am considering switching from time machine to ccc because Ive had some problems with TM and have heard nothing but good about CCC...
which do you prefer and why?
which do you prefer and why?
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Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner? which do you use? why?
- Thread starter thechidz
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You're not really comparing like with like. Neither one is 'better' than the other - it depends on your specific needs.
CCC is primarily for cloning bootable partitions. It can also be used to backup specific directories to a regular schedule, but it will overwrite the old backup each time.
Time Machine is intended for keeping every version of each file through hourly revisions, so if you, for instance, b0rk up the only copy of your latest novel *grin*, you can go back to the earlier version.
There are, of course, other ways of keeping incremental backups of files, but Time Machine's USP is the ease with which it does it.
CCC is primarily for cloning bootable partitions. It can also be used to backup specific directories to a regular schedule, but it will overwrite the old backup each time.
Time Machine is intended for keeping every version of each file through hourly revisions, so if you, for instance, b0rk up the only copy of your latest novel *grin*, you can go back to the earlier version.
There are, of course, other ways of keeping incremental backups of files, but Time Machine's USP is the ease with which it does it.
I kind of agree with this.
I actually use both. I have TM do its hourly backups, but I also make a .sparseimage (disk image, whatever) of my HDD (except my home folder, which I store on a DVD) each week.
So I guess I pretty much use TM for backing up files and stuff, but I use CCC more for a system backup.
I use CCC. Time Machine just doesn't want to play with me for some reason and I find the hourly backups too frequent. With CCC I can schedule 3 hourly backups of only my working documents and the bi-weekly clones of my entire HD.
I would suggest using either CCC or SuperDuper to clone your HD on a regular (weekly) basis, and then use TM for incremental backups of your files.
That way if your HD fails, you can immediately boot from the external clone. After you purchased a new HD, you can install it, then clone, and then use TM to restore any files since the last clone.
That way if your HD fails, you can immediately boot from the external clone. After you purchased a new HD, you can install it, then clone, and then use TM to restore any files since the last clone.
the problem with TM though is that every time I need to use it on a different computer I can only load up the most recent copy of my hdd... so for instance, when I had to send my brand new mbp back for a replacement in jan, the new one that I got was able to clone where I had left off but I wasnt able to access any other backups before Jan 10? then when I switched mbps again in march, the same thing, mirrored my lappy from the date of March 3 but cant access any backups before that, and I deleted a bunch of itunes stuff thinking I could just pull them up later, but my TM wont let me access before March 3rd??? Its kinda like whats the point????
so in essence, my TM hard drive has 3 separate partitions and I am only able to access the most recent.. they have names like (1)thechidz's macbook pro, (2)THECHIDZ'S MACBOOK PRO, and (3)Good. and I can only access the files from Good... I have tried changing the name of the computer under sharing and that doesnt work...
so in essence, my TM hard drive has 3 separate partitions and I am only able to access the most recent.. they have names like (1)thechidz's macbook pro, (2)THECHIDZ'S MACBOOK PRO, and (3)Good. and I can only access the files from Good... I have tried changing the name of the computer under sharing and that doesnt work...
Precisely correct. I use both SuperDuper and TimeMachine for complete backup protection.
I only use Superduper. I hardly have the need to recover any files that I've deleted - hence time machine is no good to me.
Time Machine because it came with Leopard. If it didn't, I probably wouldn't have been interested in backing up my stuff. My iMac is 6 months old, and if it had a hard drive failure this early into it's life then Apple would be hearing from me very promptly 
I'm with the "both" crowd. CCC is a cloning app, and that's what I use it for--I periodically clone my boot partition wholesale to an external drive so I can be back up and running relatively quickly even in the event of a complete drive failure.
Meanwhile, I have Time Machine running on my desktop doing its hourly thing, so that if I delete a file or need an older version I can retrieve it, and so that I can copy stuff newer than the most recent clone in the case of a drive failure.
And actually, I ALSO use Synk on my home server (also work server, in fact), because I like the more granular control it offers, and since my home server box doesn't have 10.5 on it anyway.
Meanwhile, I have Time Machine running on my desktop doing its hourly thing, so that if I delete a file or need an older version I can retrieve it, and so that I can copy stuff newer than the most recent clone in the case of a drive failure.
And actually, I ALSO use Synk on my home server (also work server, in fact), because I like the more granular control it offers, and since my home server box doesn't have 10.5 on it anyway.
I use Time Machine, but I'm increasingly annoyed that there's NO iDisk backup! Yes, I realize I already have a "backup" of iDisk since there's a local copy and a server backup, but the whole point of Time Machine is to be able to "go back" to previous versions of a file. If it's saved on iDisk there's no way to do that.
No offence but unfortunately, a lot of people think this way. At least your using TM though! Congrats.
So many people don't back up at all! I've lost count of the times that I've helped friends/family/customers recover data, and for them to continue on with no backup as before. Only paying customers get a second chance from me now...
Oh, and by the way, I used to use silverkeeper, but now I use SuperDuper.
Hey, another former silverkeeper user. That app impressed me by how incredibly old-fashioned it looked, yet it did its job remarkably well even on later iterations of OSX.