Time machine questions

[bandofbrothers]

Hi.

As a new user I'm in the throes of setting up my new MBA.

Time Machine.

1. Do you use this and how good is it ?
2. I have the 128gb MBA so what size external harddrive size would suit. Could I use a USB data stick ?

3. Once a backup is done will I need to do anything else. Ie do any future backups on a regular basis or just keep the 1st backup safe just in case something occurs.

4. If I choose not to use time machine and my system has a failure will I be still able to do a clean install from apples website and just lose my data from the SSS drive.

Sorry for the noob questions but after searching on google etc the infos not clear to me !

 

[MrCheeto]

1. Do you use this and how good is it ?

Yes. It's so effective that you could swap my hard drive, restore from Time Machine, and I wouldn't know until I used a program that required a license key. I love it.

2. I have the 128gb MBA so what size external harddrive size would suit.

Anything larger than the amount of your personal data. The larger the drive, the farther back you can restore from.

Could I use a USB data stick ?

Yep.

3. Once a backup is done will I need to do anything else. Ie do any future backups on a regular basis or just keep the 1st backup safe just in case something occurs.

Just plug in the backup drive every now and then and it will backup every hour on the hour so long as it's attached. The more often you backup, the less you will lose.

4. If I choose not to use time machine and my system has a failure will I be still able to do a clean install from apples website and just lose my data from the SSS drive.

You can restore using the Restore Partition. If, however, the drive or partition is damaged... I don't know, I haven't tinkered with these new ones yet.

 

[bandofbrothers]

Thank you for your answers.

I really don't hold much on my MBA.

My music that's in iTunes is already on a USB stick.

I dont use it for work just play !

I don't keeps documents on it, so

If I don't use time machine and my system crashes if I restore Lion from Apples website would it just be alike to having a new MacBook ?

Will a 500gb external harddrive be ample.
How often is it recommended to hook it upto the MBA ?

Would I simply lose applications and apps I've downloaded ?

If not what else would I lose ?

 

[Bob Coxner]

There are other options. I'm using Carbon Copy Cloner. It's free. It can create a backup image of your hard drive. http://www.bombich.com/

I have a MBA 13 with not a lot of added applications. The first backup took about 30 minutes. After the first run, I have it set up to only backup files that have changed. My most recent backup took about 3 minutes.

Other people seem to prefer SuperDuper. http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html I think it's also free and works the same way as Carbon Copy.

 

[jcg878]

It is fantastic. I have never lost anything that I've had to go back to restore, but I've used it to when moving from one computer to another twice, once on a computer that fried after some water damage (that's when I moved to the Air). Both times everything moved with no issues, though when I moved to the Air it copied over an app (AirDisplay) that gave me issues with scrolling.

I save all my documents with Dropbox, so I don't need it for that. But having a backup of all the apps and media is fantastic.

I've used both SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner also. I used them 3 times to clone the HD of a MacBook and MBP to bigger drives (twice) and an SSD (once). Both worked just fine, but they are different apps from Time Machine.

 

[bandofbrothers]

Thanks guys for your help.

I will be purchasing a 500gb external hard drive today and turn on the time machine feature.

Better to be safe than sorry !

 

[macbookpro45]

I have a question too. I have an external hard drive. Can I partition part of it for time machine? Everytime I've plugged it in the mbp asks me if I want to wipe the HD and use it for time machine. I have other things that need to stay on the HD from my desktop so i don't want to wipe it/dedicate an hd to my macbook

 

[MrCheeto]

Can I partition part of it for time machine?

Yep.

 

[bandofbrothers]

I have a question too. I have an external hard drive. Can I partition part of it for time machine? Everytime I've plugged it in the mbp asks me if I want to wipe the HD and use it for time machine. I have other things that need to stay on the HD from my desktop so i don't want to wipe it/dedicate an hd to my macbook

I am using a 500gb external drive and was told you could partition say 250gb for time machine and 250gb for your own use as long as the partition for time machine matches or is slightly over the hard drive size on your macbook air.

In my case I have large usb data sticks that i keep my data on so I've just dedicated the whole 500gb to time machine files.