Backing up Library incrementally?

I have been pleasantly surprized with iPhoto's snappy performance and its relative ease in playing nicely with other programs. I have spent many hours working with Aperature and Lightroom, and have come to the conclusion that iPhoto 6 suits my purposes quite well, at least until and if Aperature's RAW conversion gets improved or it becomes easier to integrate with other conversion programs.
But one of the things I really like about Aperature is the ease of backing up to the 'vault'. I have backed up my entire iPhoto Library of some 4000 images to an external FireWire drive and that took about 10 minutes. I wish there was a way to do an incremental backup in iPhoto. I figure I'll probably do auxilary piecemeal backups of my new files and then redo the entire Library occasionally. Is there any way to add new files to the Library backup?
G5/2.0GDP   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

dbowers:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. How are you doing the backup? Are you backing up to disks or to another HD? If another HD you can just copy the entire iPhoto Library folder to it and then do backups of your library from the working library to the one on the other HD. I do that with Synk but there are many backup utilities you can use. You do not want to synchronize them, just backup from A (the working library folder) to B (the backup folder on the HD). This workflow allows me to backup every day if desired or just after new additions and/or lots of current editing or books, etc.
If you using disks then burning rolls from within iPhoto will allow you to mount that disk in iPhoto for viewing or copying back into the library if necessary.

Similar Messages

  • In Lion the command to back up library to disc has been removed? How do I do this now?

    In Lion the command to back up library to disc has been removed? How do I do this now? Apple Support has given me a case number and accelerated it with a call back in a few days, and even the techs were surprised by the removal of the ability to incrementally back up to any kind of disc any items added to the iTunes Library since it's last back up.
    While this command was in all previous iterations of iTunes, even most of the techs are working from iTunes 10.3, the Lion version has this removed. Help only mentions Time Machine as the back up method. Sorry, I've had too many hard drives go bad, and not one DVD or CD has failed when I needed to retrieve a past purchase or addition of any kind to the iTunes library.
    Purchasing from the iTunes store just got less viable, IMHO.

    Dave-
    Thanks for the feedback. Those nasty old deprecated features, eh? Seems you are correct that it will now be a third party solution.
    I just finished chatting with Mike Bombich about using his Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1 ( http://www.bombich.com/index.html ) to do the job.
    He gave me a rough outline of how to set it up for incremental back up of iTunes ~/Music/iTunes or
    ~/Music/iTunes Music. Creating filters ( http://help.bombich.com/kb/explore/excluding-files-and-folders-from-a-backup-tas k#creating ) tells how to create and save different tasks.
    I'l check it out and report back shortly.

  • Help! Can't back up library to disc

    My computer has cooties, so I plan to reformat and start over. The only things I'm afraid of losing are a few pictures and my iTunes library (about 10 gigs).
    When I try to back up library to CD-R, everything works until I see "Burning Disc...finishing". Then it just stops. No prompt to insert another disc, no nothing. It does the same when I burn an audio disc, but when I eject the disc (despite warnings) it plays fine. But to back up, I need to insert like 16 CD-R's. Any suggestions?

    Update: Success! I used my iPod as an external hard drive following these instructions:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329?viewlocale=en_US
    After I reformatted I reinstalled my old iTunes 6 and dragged the folder back to My Music. At first, iTunes wuldn't sync a couple hundred songs to my iPod because I wasn't "authorized" so I had to enter my Apple ID and password. Downloaded latest software for Itunes and iPod and all is good.
    Investing in an external hard drive still sounds like a good idea, since this was my first reformat and it was a bit nerve-wracking.

  • Can t back up library to disc. error 2131 . whats wrong ?

    Hi , Can anyone help me back up library to disc. error 2131 keeps appearing.

    Update: Success! I used my iPod as an external hard drive following these instructions:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329?viewlocale=en_US
    After I reformatted I reinstalled my old iTunes 6 and dragged the folder back to My Music. At first, iTunes wuldn't sync a couple hundred songs to my iPod because I wasn't "authorized" so I had to enter my Apple ID and password. Downloaded latest software for Itunes and iPod and all is good.
    Investing in an external hard drive still sounds like a good idea, since this was my first reformat and it was a bit nerve-wracking.

  • Cant back up library to disc

    im trying to back up my entire library to disc so i bought a bunch of CD-Rs and DVD+Rs, and neither way works. when i use the DVD+R to back the library up, it gets halfway through the first disc and i get an error message and it tells me it cant back it up. then when i tried the CD-R (brand new ones), i insert the first disc and it tells me that it's not blank... i know it can fit on 3 of the DVD+Rs, and i like that way better anyway because it can fit easier on the dvd's, and it starts to back up about half of the first disc on the dvd, but then out of nowhere it says there's a problem...
    any help is appreciated

    Thank goodness, I thought it was only me. When I tried to backup my new purchases it comes up with unknown error 1951, when I try to back up my entire library it pops each disc out saying insert blank disc. I even bought a brand new pack of discs. anyone have any ideas out there???
      Windows XP  

  • Noise Partially Comes Back in Library View & Exports

    Ok I have a very strange thing happening in LR3.  When I select a very noisy image in my library and take it into develop mode, convert it to 2010 calibration and make the adjustments to noise it looks spectacular.  But when I click to go back to Library mode the noise partially comes back.  So it looks partially crappy again. When I export the photo it exports as it looks in library view, poorer than when in develop view.  I find that it is more noticeable on certain colors like browns but still noticeable on anything I have tried nonetheless.
    So I thought to myself ... lets check it in LR2!  Discovered the strangest thing.  When I do it in LR2, I get the opposite effect.  It actually looks better in Library mode than in develop mode.  I never noticed that before.
    Is anyone having the same issue?
    I am using an i7 iMac 27 inch with 4GB RAM and OSX 10.6.4

    When you compare noise in something versus another, always examine the pictures at 100% view. Otherwise, you risk too fool yourself.

  • How the **** do i get back my library i was just using.No didn't save image or restore been using it for months the same way no tells me to choose or create a library and my previous versions don't recover

    How the **** do i get back my library i was just using.No didn't save image or restore been using it for months the same way no tells me to choose or create a library and my previous versions don't recover.Please help I just deleted all doubles did allmy artwork Etc..

    Do you have a back up?
    If not you're into using file recovery software like  File Salvage - you can download a free trial and it will scan the disk for you and tell you with might be recoverable. Actual recovery will require that you purchase the app. There may be many files with the same or similar names. Always recover the largest file size.
    There are other such apps. Search on Macupdate or the App Store

  • Backed up library onto external hd - want to get music bk into itunes lib - moved 2 files library.itl and library.xml but reverts bk to 5kb and 11kb (ie. no music)

    I backed up library onto external drive. (itunes directory - with Album artwork, itunes music directory, and xml/itl files)
    Now I am trying to upload music back to a new Windows XP computer - I have new itunes version.
    First I moved/copied the itunes directory whole to the new computer - then opened itunes and the library.itl and library.xml reverted to 5 and 11kb
    Then tried just moving those two files - still nothing
    Help - as I have over 28MB of music I am trying to recover.
    Thanks,

    The "missing file" thing happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
    Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. I can provide a step by step guide if you give me the two paths.
    Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
    tt2

  • IPhoto does not open back-up library and requests library manager which does not work either

    Hello,
    I have a problem and NO idea how to fix it. I try to write it in bullet points to make it easier to read:
    - My MacbookPro (from 2009) with current software (mavericks, all updates) went offline due to lack of battery while I was working in iPhoto
    - When I rebooted the Mac, iPhoto said that the library is damaged and should be repaired
    - The "repaired" version had lost tons of organizing elements (e.g. the order of the pictures and so on) so I used my time machine and took a back-up of the library from 1 hour ago
    - The back-up library was copied successfully in the according file (user-pictures) after I deleted the current one
    - When I wanted to open iPhoto now it requested to use the library manager as the version of the pictures are "old"
    - I downloaded the library manager and tried to use it, however, this tool explains me now that the pictures were used with a newer version of iPhoto so I shall open iPhoto instead
    - Again, when I then try to opne iPhoto, it requests the library manager and so on
    So, I am not able to get access to my pictures again, although the library in the folder seems to be of correct size (around 55 GB). Does anyone have any idea how to fix that problem?
    Many thanks in advance!!!
    Johannes

    Option 1
    Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
    If that fails:
    Option 2
    Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
    This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
    Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.  
    Regards
    TD

  • Problem backing up library to DVD - disk not recognised

    Hi all,
    I have just tried to back up my iTunes library (approx. 7000 songs) to Sony DVD-R (for General Version 2.1 / 16X-Speed DVD-R Revision 6.0, 7 DVDs in total).
    There didn't seem to be any problem with the burning process - I am using an HP Pavilion laptop (bought in 2005) with DVD R/RW.
    When the backup was complete, I tried inserting the first DVD to check it had worked - however, nothing was recognised by iTunes (latest version - 7.3.2) and when I looked at the disc in Windows Explorer it appeared to be empty.
    However, there was no indication when I was burning the files that there was a problem - it seemed to work perfectly.
    Should I try a different brand of DVD? I tried to burn some pictures to the same kind of disk, through Windows XP, and it did not work, so it may well be that the brand of DVD is not compatible with my laptop.
    I am also considering backing up using an external hard drive - is this a reliable method? Is it just a case of copying my iTunes folder over to the external drive?
    Also, would it be a good idea to copy to an external drive in stages, to avoid corrupting files, or could I do it in one single step?
    There is no problem with my laptop (yet!), but I am keen to back this library up as I know how quickly things can change with computers!
    Many thanks for any help.

    See this User Tip.
    tt2

  • BACKING UP LIBRARY-STARTS,AND SHORTLY READS"CANCELING DISC BURN"WHY??

    ive been going through the initial steps offered on itunes to back up library.i am only trying to back up purchased items.i then receive the info that says multiple discs required.so i put in first disc,it starts saying "writing to disc" and initializes the burning.i see several tracks pass by as though being burned.but at a certain point it starts reading "canceling the burn,will take a min or two".however more than 10 to 15 mins go by and nothing happens,except same message.and when i go to take the disc out,it informs me that if i cancel disc burn,info will not be burned.but it is not doing anything kind of in a frozen stasis with same message.what do i do?

    You might want to direct your question to the iTunes forum. You might also want to search the forums for that and see if there are any threads regarding it.
    btabz

  • Import Backed-up Library in iPhoto '09

    Hi all,
    This summer, the hard drive of my MBP crashed. While i lost a few photos, most of them where backed using Time Machine on an External Hard Drive. As I was trying to copy them back, I just dragged the iPhoto Library file onto iPhoto. This was definitely not successful as it did copy all the photos, but from about 8,000 they became over 20,000 as the 'faces' feature saved each face in the library as a different photo. This also changed all my ex-well-organized 121 events to about 200 extremely disorganized new events. What do I do? I just want to import a backed up library to iPhoto so that it is just as it was when i saved it.
    Thank you in Advance!

    I wish it could be so easy, but I have some new pictures I have on my current *screwed up* library that I have imported and that I only have over there. I tried selecting all the bad events and drag them to the trash but that did not work. Do you have any advice?
    What did not work?
    Did you try to move these events to the "iPhoto trash" using the iPhoto program or the system trash using the finder?
    For now I suggest dragging the existing bad iPhoto library to the desktop and dragging the old one ot the pictures folder and getting it working - then you probably will have two choices - trying to rebuild the bad library with iPhoto library manager - http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ - and using it to move events to the now working older library - or using just the original photos form the newer, bad library and importing them into the now working older library - if you need details post back with the method you want to try
    LN

  • HT4059 Started writing a review of book after reading.  Cannot close out window to get back to library.

    Started writing a review of book after reading.  Cannot close out window to go back to Library.

    A few days ago I ran Onyx and it told me to repair disks from my boot up disk..
    Did you do that? If not, you should follow these directions:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
    If you did, was the repair successful?
    Basically, the 'licence' window that comes up when you open certain applications e.g. Aperture, doesn't disappear like it is supposed to and just stays put..
    Sounds like those applications are crashing at startup... unless they are opening other windows behind that "splash screen" window, in which case there's something very weird going on. If they just get to the splash screen and then stop, they've crashed.
    Sounds like whatever hard drive problems you had have caused some corruption to important parts of your system or those applications. I would imagine you're going to have to reinstall those applications at a minimum. Since it seems like it's happening with new apps that you have downloaded recently, though, it's more likely you're going to need to reinstall the system.
    Whatever the case, if you don't have good backups, the absolute first thing you need to do before you do anything else is to make a backup. See my [Mac Backup Guide|http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/backups> for help with that. Depending on the level of damage your hard drive experienced, though, it may be too late... there may be documents somewhere that are damaged and can't be opened that you haven't discovered yet.
    If you reinstall the system, I'd advise moving your data back over from a backup manually and reinstalling applications from scratch, using Migration Assistant sparingly, if at all. You don't want to move damaged settings files or applications back onto a squeaky-clean system.

  • Has anyone ever SUCCESSFULLY gotten iTunes to back up library to disc?

    I've tried numerous times over different versions of iTunes, and I can NEVER get iTunes to back up my purchased library to disc.
    It offers to do it to DVD, to regular CD--- and nothing works. It spits the tray out, says to put in a blank CD and I do-- and it "checks Media" and never accomplishes anything. I'm starting to doubt the function even works and was put in there to make it look good.
    Has anyone ever successfully gotten the "Back Up Library to Disc" function to work?
    im running the latest version of iTunes.

    GOOD POINT. You cannot backup to an external hd. Who wants to use dvds OR cds for backup anyway? The whole reason for buying an ipod was to avoid these two optical disc nightmares and get with a hard disk management solution. itunes doesn't recognize external hard drives for backup. Ridiculous. Try using an ext hd as the itunes location for your music if you really want to see problems develop. Managing music instead of playing music has become my past time since I got into the ipod/ itunes mess. All I do is try to clean up it's messes. The software developers need to be accountable. Class action? No support, except forum, unless you want to pay.

  • How do you merge a backed up library with a different library on a different device but same account, not shared?

    I have a backed up library from a now broken PC.  I want to move it to the library on my husband's laptop.  It's the same iTunes account but we've never been able to share libraries, we've tried many times.  How can I get the backed up library into the one on his laptop?  As my PC is now dead, I have no access to my iTunes content, just a back up.  Hope someone can help?

    Restore the backup of your library to any suitable location then shift-start iTunes to switch libraries. See iTunes: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one for details.
    See also Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
    tt2

Maybe you are looking for