Backing up documents without Time Machine

Could someone please explain to me how to back up my pictures without using Time Machine? I bought an external hard drive but when I plug it in, it immediately connects to Time Machine every time. I don't want my entire computer backed up, just pictures and certain important documents.
Thanks so much for your time, I greatly appreciate it.

You can exclude specific folders from the backup in Time Machine's Preferences:
Otherwise use a backup application like Synk Pro that incrementally backs up selected folders.
OT

Similar Messages

New to Mac: Backing Up Applications (without Time Machine)

I just got my first mac and I'm wondering if applications can be backed up or need to be reinstalled? I'm used to working with partitions in Windows and currently I only backup my data partitions -- I never backup my /Windows or my /Program Files because if I reinstalled Windows I'd need to reinstall the applications anyway (let's ignore Windows backup imaging programs for now).
I've never been a fan of imaging programs for a lot of reasons. I'm in the process of trying Time Machine so I don't want to talk about that here because I'm trying to learn about backing up outside of time machine (even though it may be the best solution for many people).
So on my mac I'm currently only backing up my home directory. If I go ahead and backup my /Applications directory, is this something that could be copied directly back from an external hard drive? If I were to reinstall OS X 10.6, could I then attach an external drive and just copy over the /Applications folder and have it work??? As everyone knows, in a Windows environment this is impossible, so I'm eager to see if this is one of the other things that make Mas flexible. It would be mind blowing for me to find out that re-installing photoshop on a Mac is just a copy and paste operation, whereas on the PC it's a production!
And lastly, since there is no registry per se, where are application preferences stored on a Mac -- so I can back that up, too.
Thank you!

I think we've answered you query: I'm wondering if applications can be backed up or need to be reinstalled? The answer is yes they can be backed up and no they don't have to be reinstalled. That's accomplished by using cloning apps such as CCC or SD! Time Machine is a different animal and you've excluded it from the discussion. This is Macland and we use cloning apps to make bootable backups which meet all of our needs and eliminate any of what you also included in your OP.
Peruse these for more details:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106941
http://www.bombich.com/mactips/image.html
http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/installswupdates.html
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/backuprecovery.html
Once you sort out this area, see:
Switching from Windows to Mac OS X,
Basic Tutorials on using a Mac,
Mac 101: Mac Essentials,
Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts,
Anatomy of a Mac,
MacTips, and
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition.
Additionally, *Texas Mac Man* recommends:
Quick Assist.
Welcome to the Switch To A Mac Guides,
Take Control E-books, and
A guide for switching to a Mac.

Where can i find steps to back up iPhone to time machine?

where can i find steps to back up iPhone to time machine?

can't back up iPhone to time capsule? only MACs?
You can also back up to iCloud.
See this support document for more details on backups:
Back up and restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iCloud or iTunes - Apple Support

Time Capsule as external hard-drive, as back-up drive with Time Machine

Two questions today:
I understand that I can use the Time Capsule as an external hard-drive while using it as my back-up location, using Time Machine. It has been suggested that to do this, it is best to partition the Time Capsule to prevent the TM program from confusing the files it manages, the data files from the backed-up files. (I hope I got that right.) I believe I read in this forum that one can partition the TC after the fact, and not destroy any data on it. Is this possible? A clerk at the Apple Store in San Francisco told me that I would want to partition, but that it would require that I erase the TC. Which to believe?
Secondly, how does TM create the back-ups? I have used SuperDuper and appreciated the difference in how (and what) it backs up. My example: my first back-up involved having an 80gb external drive attached to my computer and TM backed up both my HD and the External Drive. I then turned off the TM. Today I turned it on and allowed it to back-up every hour as it is designed to do, but without the 80gb External drive attached. When I checked the newer back-ups, they all showed the original configuration of HD and 80gb external drive.
So for it's incremental back-ups, does TM back up new files and updated files without deleting missing files? Is it an additive process? Or does it at some point delete missing files from it's most recent back-up? Or since it recognized that it was backing-up two different drives, it will always keep them separate, maintaining one (80gb External drive), even as it backs-up and changes the other (the HD)?
O.K. a third request. Has anyone published a manual on TM and/or TC with this level of understanding so we can make the most of it's 1 TB storage capacity?
Thanks in advance, LeRoy

LeroyHoward wrote: So, does this mean that TM never deletes a file?
It will when it starts to run out of space and it should likely be the oldest deleted files first.
As I understand it, as long as I have a multi-linked file icon on the TM, I have the original data. And everytime the TM backs-up, it recreates every multi-linked file icon on the previous back-up. Right? So, if you delete a file by mistake, you can go back and find it. But I see a contradiction here. If you delete it on your desktop, shouldn't it be deleted from the back-up of that desktop? We expect it to be on earlier back-ups, but not the most recent one right? So, eventually as the TM fills up and begins deleting earlier back-ups, that data will be lost.
The newest timeline will not point/display the deleted file(s), but it still exists on the backup until the backup drive fills up and needs to erase deleted data.
I'm trying to understand this aspect of the TC and TM, because we want to use it as both an external HD and as one of our back-ups. Any light you can shed on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, LeRoy
Read Glenn's response to dedicating TC to TM backup and the difficulty in partitioning the TC HDD.
Glenn Carter wrote:
However, this is not an option for Time Capsule users as there is not an easy way of partitioning the Time Capsules’ internal had disk without elaborate effort. In this case, use the Time Capsule hard disk solely for Time Machine backups. Then attach an additional hard disk to the Time Capsules USB port and store additional files there. This added disk will still be available to all Macs that can access the Time Capsule.
This works to share the files on the USB HDD attached to TC, but if you want this drive backed up by TM (and this drive is formatted HFS+), then it needs to remain plugged into the Mac directly for TM to back it up.

When I tried to back up my computer, Time Machine says 'an error occurred while creating the backup folder.' When I check the side of the partition where I manually saved old files, the folders are there, but NONE of the files are.

I haven't backed up my computer in over a year. When I tried to back it up today, Time Machine says 'an error occurred while creating the backup folder.' When I check the side of the partition where I manually saved old photos and documents (including all the pictures from the year I studied abroad/traveled a bunch), the folders are there, but NONE of the files are.
Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be, or how I could fix it? I really don't want to lose all those photos

So you were doing a time machine backup to another partition on the same hard drive? Just trying to gather some information so i can provide a helpful response.

Can't open documents in Time Machine using "Open with..."

When I'm viewing a document in Time Machine and I'd like to open it, I can't do so. I can use Quicklook on a .txt file, for instance, and in the top-right corner it says "Open with Textmate" (because I'm using Textmate to read .txt files), but clicking it does nothing. How can I fix this?
Thanks in advance!

I apologize for stressing the point, but, again, can I ask why you're trying to go through Time Machine to get to your Reunion files? From your first post, it sounded as though you recovered everything from your backup (presumably you used the "Recover from TM backup" option when you installed the new hard drive?)
Does Reunion run normally when you launch it from your Applications folder (forgetting about Time Machine for a minute)? If so, do you have your current Reunion data somewhere in your Documents folder (or wherever you stored it before?) If not, and you believe you still have Reunion files in your backups, you should quit Reunion itself, then go into the Finder, go to the Time Machine interface, and locate your data file. Not the Reunion application, the family data file. Then recover that from the backup.
Again, the reason you're seeing what you're seeing through Time Machine is that TM is not "aware" of most applications (ie, you can't just launch any app, go to TM and expect that app's data to appear in the interface). It works for Mail, Address Book, iPhoto and the Finder. It's the Finder you're experiencing when you're going back in Time Machine, not Reunion itself. You just happen to be looking at the Reunion icon when you do so.
Matt

Backups without Time Machine?

I'm wondering what the options are for backups without Time Machine. I'm a tech support guy from a way back who's primarily worked with *nix and Windows machines, and I'm no stranger to setting up networks, NAS devices and filers, etc.
This is an all-Apple setup - MacBook Pros, iMacs, iPads, iPhones, etc. There were 2 Time Capsules in the mix, but they both began to fail so we replaced them with a single Seagate 4-bay NAS attached to 2 LAN ports. This is a 10/100/100 network with N-wireless and Gigabit switches.
Both before and after swapping out the Time Capsules for the NAS, we received the "
Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you.
message on the MacBooks, less often on the iMac. Post-NAS implementation, we are still seeing on the MacBooks. I've tried relaxing the backup settings to every 3-4 hours since all machines were set to backup every hour as default and I believe they were stepping on each other.
I'm not ruling out the network, or anything at this point, but it seems odd that Time Machine will complete a backup, then at some point in the future find that it's not valid and need to go again from scratch. It's not ideal to use Time Machine if it needs a new full backup every ~2 days or more.
So I'm simultaneously looking for any advice on how to resolve the Time Machine error, and/or how to perform routine backups to the NAS without Time Machine.
Thanks in advance.
MM

I'm wondering what the options are for backups without Time Machine
Time machine is NOT a data backup, its a system (/emergency) backup. (whats the difference? the system is data?!, Yes, however the difference is huge).
....and most pros (nearly all) are absolutely NOT using Time machine as a source, and never as a single source to archive important data.
Time machine by definition is absolutely not a data archive, nor a storage nexus for vital data, which is secure by definition.
here you go:
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Data Storage Platforms; their Drawbacks & Advantages
#1. Time Machine / Time Capsule
Drawbacks:
1. Time Machine is not bootable, if your internal drive fails, you cannot access files or boot from TM directly from the dead computer.
OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks include OS X Recovery. This feature includes all of the tools you need to reinstall OS X, repair your disk, and even restore from a Time Machine
"you can't boot directly from your Time Machine backups"
2. Time machine is controlled by complex software, and while you can delve into the TM backup database for specific file(s) extraction, this is not ideal or desirable.
3. Time machine can and does have the potential for many error codes in which data corruption can occur and your important backup files may not be saved correctly, at all, or even damaged. This extra link of failure in placing software between your data and its recovery is a point of risk and failure. A HD clone is not subject to these errors.
4. Time machine mirrors your internal HD, in which cases of data corruption, this corruption can immediately spread to the backup as the two are linked. TM is perpetually connected (or often) to your computer, and corruption spread to corruption, without isolation, which TM lacks (usually), migrating errors or corruption is either automatic or extremely easy to unwittingly do.
5. Time Machine does not keep endless copies of changed or deleted data, and you are often not notified when it deletes them; likewise you may accidently delete files off your computer and this accident is mirrored on TM.
6. Restoring from TM is quite time intensive.
7. TM is a backup and not a data archive, and therefore by definition a low-level security of vital/important data.
8. TM working premise is a “black box” backup of OS, APPS, settings, and vital data that nearly 100% of users never verify until an emergency hits or their computers internal SSD or HD that is corrupt or dead and this is an extremely bad working premise on vital data.
9. Given that data created and stored is growing exponentially, the fact that TM operates as a “store-it-all” backup nexus makes TM inherently incapable to easily backup massive amounts of data, nor is doing so a good idea.
10. TM working premise is a backup of a users system and active working data, and NOT massive amounts of static data, yet most users never take this into consideration, making TM a high-risk locus of data “bloat”.
11. In the case of Time Capsule, wifi data storage is a less than ideal premise given possible wireless data corruption.
12. TM like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
13. *Level-1 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. TM is very easy to use either in automatic mode or in 1-click backups.
2. TM is a perfect novice level simplex backup single-layer security save against internal HD failure or corruption.
3. TM can easily provide a seamless no-gap policy of active data that is often not easily capable in HD clones or HD archives (only if the user is lazy is making data saves).
#2. HD archives
Drawbacks:
1. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
2. Unless the user ritually copies working active data to HD external archives, then there is a time-gap of potential missing data; as such users must be proactive in archiving data that is being worked on or recently saved or created.
Advantages:
1. Fills the gap left in a week or 2-week-old HD clone, as an example.
2. Simplex no-software data storage that is isolated and autonomous from the computer (in most cases).
3. HD archives are the best idealized storage source for storing huge and multi-terabytes of data.
4. Best-idealized 1st platform redundancy for data protection.
5. *Perfect primary tier and level-2 security of your vital data.
#3. HD clones (see below for full advantages / drawbacks)
Drawbacks:
1. HD clones can be incrementally updated to hourly or daily, however this is time consuming and HD clones are, often, a week or more old, in which case data between today and the most fresh HD clone can and would be lost (however this gap is filled by use of HD archives listed above or by a TM backup).
2. Like all HD-based data is subject to ferromagnetic and mechanical failure.
Advantages:
1. HD clones are the best, quickest way to get back to 100% full operation in mere seconds.
2. Once a HD clone is created, the creation software (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) is no longer needed whatsoever, and unlike TM, which requires complex software for its operational transference of data, a HD clone is its own bootable entity.
3. HD clones are unconnected and isolated from recent corruption.
4. HD clones allow a “portable copy” of your computer that you can likewise connect to another same Mac and have all your APPS and data at hand, which is extremely useful.
5. Rather than, as many users do, thinking of a HD clone as a “complimentary backup” to the use of TM, a HD clone is superior to TM both in ease of returning to 100% quickly, and its autonomous nature; while each has its place, TM can and does fill the gap in, say, a 2 week old clone. As an analogy, the HD clone itself is the brick wall of protection, whereas TM can be thought of as the mortar, which will fill any cracks in data on a week, 2-week, or 1-month old HD clone.
6. Best-idealized 2nd platform redundancy for data protection, and 1st level for system restore of your computers internal HD. (Time machine being 2nd level for system restore of the computer’s internal HD).
7. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
HD cloning software options:
1. SuperDuper HD cloning software APP (free)
2. Carbon Copy Cloner APP (will copy the recovery partition as well)
3. Disk utility HD bootable clone.
#4. Online archives
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to server failure or due to non-payment of your hosting account, it can be suspended.
2. Subject, due to lack of security on your part, to being attacked and hacked/erased.
Advantages:
1. In case of house fire, etc. your data is safe.
2. In travels, and propagating files to friends and likewise, a mere link by email is all that is needed and no large media needs to be sent across the net.
3. Online archives are the perfect and best-idealized 3rd platform redundancy for data protection.
4. Supremely useful in data isolation from backups and local archives in being online and offsite for long-distance security in isolation.
5. *Level-1.5 security of your vital data.
#5. DVD professional archival media
Drawbacks:
1. DVD single-layer disks are limited to 4.7Gigabytes of data.
2. DVD media are, given rough handling, prone to scratches and light-degradation if not stored correctly.
Advantages:
1. Archival DVD professional blank media is rated for in excess of 100+ years.
2. DVD is not subject to mechanical breakdown.
3. DVD archival media is not subject to ferromagnetic degradation.
4. DVD archival media correctly sleeved and stored is currently a supreme storage method of archiving vital data.
5. DVD media is once written and therefore free of data corruption if the write is correct.
6. DVD media is the perfect ideal for “freezing” and isolating old copies of data for reference in case newer generations of data become corrupted and an older copy is needed to revert to.
7. Best-idealized 4th platform redundancy for data protection.
8. *Level-3 (highest) security of your vital data.
[*Level-4 data security under development as once-written metallic plates and synthetic sapphire and likewise ultra-long-term data storage]
#6. Cloud based storage
Drawbacks:
1. Cloud storage can only be quasi-possessed.
2. No genuine true security and privacy of data.
3. Should never be considered for vital data storage or especially long-term.
4. *Level-0 security of your vital data.
Advantages:
1. Quick, easy and cheap storage location for simplex files for transfer to keep on hand and yet off the computer.
2. Easy source for small-file data sharing.
#7. Network attached storage (NAS) and JBOD storage
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to RAID failure and mass data corruption.
2. Expensive to set up initially.
3. Can be slower than USB, especially over WiFi.
4. Mechanically identical to USB HD backup in failure potential, higher failure however due to RAID and proprietary NAS enclosure failure.
Advantages:
1. Multiple computer access.
2. Always on and available.
3. Often has extensive media and application server functionality.
4. Massive capacity (also its drawback) with multi-bay NAS, perfect for full system backups on a larger scale.
5. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
JBOD (just a bunch of disks / drives) storage
Identical to NAS in form factor except drives are not networked or in any RAID array, rather best thought of as a single USB feed to multiple independent drives in a single powered large enclosure. Generally meaning a non-RAID architecture.
Drawbacks:
1. Subject to HD failure but not RAID failure and mass data corruption.
Advantages:
1. Simplex multi-drive independent setup for mass data storage.
2. Very inexpensive dual purpose HD storage / access point.
3. *Level-2 security of your vital data.
Time Machine is a system hub backup, not a data hub backup
Important data you “don’t dare lose” should not be considered ultimately safe, or ideally stored (at the very least not as sole copy of same) on your Time Machine backup. Hourly and daily fluctuations of your system OS, applications, and software updates is the perfect focus for the simple user to conduct ‘click it and forget it’ backups of the entire system and files on the Macbook HD.
Bootable clones are the choice of professionals and others in that Time Machine cannot be booted from and requires a working HD to retrieve data from (meaning another computer). Your vital data needs to be and should be ‘frozen’ on some form of media storage, either in a clone, as an archived HD containing important files, or on DVD blank archival media.
A file that is backed up to Time Machine is unsafe in that if that file is deleted off the computer by accident or lost otherwise, that file will likewise vanish from Time Machine as it reflects changes on the internal computer HD/SSD.

How can I downgrade my Os x Maverick to Os x mountain lion without time machine

downgrade os x maverick to os x mountain lion without time machine back up and disc

To downgrade you have to have a copy of the Mountain Lion installer, download from the Mac App Store but be sure to go to System Preferences > App Store first and uncheck boxes that will automatically install the download.
You will have to erase the hard drive and then install from a saved copy of the installer, saved to a flash drive for instance.
This is going to be a time consuming exercise, so is there a specific reason for wanting to downgrade?

I deleted a pop email account from mail. How can I recover those sent messages without Time Machine?

I deleted a pop email account from mail. How can I recover those sent messages without Time Machine?

Thomas,
"Note that you were warned that this would happen and approved it. When you delete an e-mail account in Mail, you are shown a message like the following:"
You didn't read my problem - I said I deleted a POP email account. I always read the messages that pop up and in Mail when you delete a POP account - IT DOESN'T TELL YOU NUTHIN! It just deletes it - which *** for me. Fortunately, I had an iPhone and on that device I had about a 1000 messages that I could recover but on all my POP accounts I download them from the server onto my Mac so they were only on Mail (the really old ones that I wanted to keep.) I had to move them into another directory one by one basically because when I would move 50 some of them would move and some wouldn't and I never did figure out that problem. Basically the ones that would not move are the ones that were associated with my domain changes with GoDaddy, and there were a lot of those. Have no idea as to why only those were resistant to moving but I can get all that data from GoDaddy anyway.
This thread is now moot seeing as how I've recovered everything I can and am going to just move on - and back up more often. ;-)
Apple and Mail need to rewrite that program to include a WARNING MESSAGE when deleting an Account in Mail that says ALL YOUR MESSAGES ARE GOING TO DISAPPEAR NEVER TO RETURN IF YOU DELETE THIS ACCOUNT, SO YOU DANG WELL BETTER HAVE A BACK UP IF YOU WANT TO KEEP ANYTHING BEFORE PRESSING THAT MINUS SYMBOL! ;-)

My external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive. Same thing has happened with Final Cut Express.

My new LaCie external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive.
The same thing happened recently between Final Cut Express and my other LaCie external hard drive used as the Scratch disk. It fixed itself.
I've run out of ideas. Help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

have you done some searches on FCPx and time machine? Is there a known issue with using a TM drive with FCPx? dunno but ...wait...I'll take 60 sec for you cause I'm just that kind of guy.... google...." fcpx time machine problem" Frist page link
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fcpx-bug-best-practices-for-using-external-hard- drives-and-final-cut-pro-x/
You cannot have time machine backups on your hard drive if you intend to use it in FCPX.
booya!

How do I back up iPhone to time machine?(I'm new)

How do I back up iPhone to time machine?(I'm new)

-Mayor- wrote:
How do I back up iPhone to time machine?(I'm new)
If you're new to this, I suggest you read the manual:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1565/en_US/iphone_user_guide.pdf

Having downloaded Mavericks to my IMac I now find Time Machine couldn't back up to the Time Machine HDD. I am using a WD 1TB independent Hard drive

Having downloaded Mavericks to my IMac two weeks ago, I now find Time Machine couldn't back up to the Time Machine HDD. I am using a WD 1TB External Hard drive. I understand that a number of people have lost data since installing Mavericks on their Western Digital external drives. Has anyone any futher info. Or is there a better way of backing up my computer. Thanks. Lee

Check the More Like This section at the right particularly i upgraded my imac hard drive to a 2tb drive. how do i use time machine to get my computer back to normal?

I recently did a full reinstall from my time machine and now my MacBook pro won't back up to the time machine. It starts a full backup ignoring the original back up, can anyone help?

I recently did a full reinstall from my time machine and now my MacBook pro won't back up to the time machine. It starts a full backup ignoring the original back up, can anyone help?

Did you follow the instructions on the page linked below?
OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system

HT3275 EMERGENCY!!!!!!!! NEED TO RETREIVE AN ACCIDENTALLY DELETED BACKUP! BACK UP FROM MY TIME MACHINE DRIVE???? In other words, I emptied out a folder on my main MAC to make space and the next subsequent backup backed up the EMPTY FOLDER and then delet

EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!
IS THERE ANY WAY TO RETREIVE AN ACCIDENTALLY DELETED BACK UP FROM MY TIME MACHINE DRIVE????
In other words, I emptied out a folder on my main MAC to make space and the next subsequent backup backed up the EMPTY FOLDER and then deleted the "old backup" that actually contained the contents of the very important folder.
Now only the emptied folder exists on my MAC and in the two backups on my Time machine backup drive.
This was clearly a big mistake on my part not realizing that the "old backup" being deleted by Time Machine would include backed up files that I had no intention of getting rid of....
What can I do now?
Is DATA RETREIVAL even an option?
I am sure that the Folder of files that I need are on the most recently deleted "OLD BACKUP" but how do I get to this, if even possible?????
Super desperate situation here...
M

inna-help-me wrote:
Is DATA RETREIVAL even an option?
It may be possible to recover some of the data, if it hasn't been overwritten, but it won't be cheap or easy.
You've posted in the Time Capsule forum, but you mention a "backup drive." If your backups are on a Time Capsule's internal HD, instead of an external HD, it's even worse.
See Data Recovery.
Good luck.

I get this error message when I try to back up my laptop: Time machine could not complete the backup. The backup disc image "/Volumes/Data/Lou Ann Buesing's Mac Book Pro. sparse bundle is already in use. Anyone know how to fix it?

I get this error message when I try to back up my laptop:
' Time machine could not complete the backup. The backup disc image "/Volumes/Data/Lou Ann Buesing's Mac Book Pro. sparse bundle' is already in use. "
Anyone know how to fix it?

Reboot the TC.. Sometimes you need to reboot the whole network.
This is what comes of Lion and then made worse in Mountain Lion of Apple not spending enough time to fix the bugs.
Read C12 in pondini.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
C17 can be related I think.

Backing up documents without Time Machine

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