Backing up on Mac?

I'm a longtime PC user who decided to take the plunge and get a Mac...
One thing I need to figure out is how to back up my stuff.
On the PC, I would simply start up the CD/DVD burning software, highlight several folders and burn them off to a DVD. How would I do the same on a Mac?
I've heard of Time Machine (and plan to implement that later) and other whole disk backup solutions, but I'm more interested in being able to burn selective backups at this time.
Any help / pointers would be appreciated.

I encourage both clone and selective backing up depending on your tolerance for length of time in restore to normal conditions in event of hard drive failure. My FAQ* explains the various methods possible on a Mac:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Similar Messages

  • How do I use Back to My Mac with other iCloud users?

    Under MobileMe, I had a family account. I had the main account, and my mother and father, had email only accounts. Also, as I am the unofficial tech support to some friends, I had their Airport base stations registered under my MobileMe account so I could configure and update them remotely.
    I've upgraded myself and my parents to free iCloud accounts. I have an admin account on each of their Macs, but both are set to log into their own accounts on startup.
    Now I can't see them in my list of Shared resources in the Finder's sidebar. I have no way of connecting with them, except via iChat, which is (in my experience) less reliable and requires more effort on my parents' part.
    Is there a way I can configure iCloud on my Mac or theirs, so that we all appear in each other's Shared list as before?

    Unfortunately, Back to My Mac only works across computers using the same iCloud account.

  • HT1284 Can I back up my Mac and my pc to the same external hard drive?  If so, could you explain how? Thanks.

    Can I back up my Mac and my pc to the same external hard drive?  If so, could you explain how? Thanks.  I am a new user with mountain lion.

    You could partition the drive into 2 partitions.  One formatted as HFS+ for Mac OS X back, and one formatted as NTFS for Windows backup.
    You would have to move the drive from system to system to do your backups.  If there are 2 systems, I would suggest just getting separate drives for each, unless they are both laptops, then you will be disconnecting the drives all the time anyway.
    Unless Windows is running in a virtual machine on your Mac.  Then a partitioned drive would be fine.

  • Use external drive for both Time Machine and storage for Back to My Mac

    Hi all,
    I have been "a Mac" now for over a year and just keep finding cool new things that make me happy I switched. The latest thing is Back to My Mac offered with my Mobile Me account. With a rather convoluted mix of PC/Mac/iOS devices to manage - best $99 I ever spent btw...
    I also have a 1TB Time Capsule that I have been using with Time Machine to back up all four of my Mac computers at home. Needless to say, the 1TB is really struggling to handle the amount of data being backed up and certainly leaves no room for anything else.
    What I wanted to do was to attach a larger external hard drive via a powered hub to the USB port on the Time Capsule and use it for Time Machine backups while using the internal 1TB drive with Back to My Mac so that I can have remote access to all my data from anywhere without having to leave my computer running at home all the time in order for my laptop to "see" it when I'm away. And, yes, the amount of that data far exceeds what any level of Mobile Me subscription can offer! I should also mention that the hard drive is the only USB device connected through the hub to the Time Capsule at the moment. There are no other devices that might be "getting in the way".
    I'm thinking maybe all this is asking too much without the addition of a dedicated file server (Mac Mini, perhaps - not a purchase my budget wants to make).
    I understand that the Time Capsule doesn't support partitions, so I bought a Western Digital 2TB Elements drive, connected it to my Macbook Pro and used Disk Utility to reformat the drive from the incompatible NTFS it shipped in to a single, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition. I then made two folders on the drive, one for Time Machine backups and one for Back to My Mac remote storage/access. Great.
    However, when I connected the 2TB drive to my Time Capsule I could not see it at all. Time Capsule was reporting problems in the way of a disk error. From within my Airport Utility, I could see the trouble was the external drive. The utility suggested connecting the drive to a Mac and using it's Disk Utility to troubleshoot.
    I followed through, checking the disk, etc. and ended up reformatted the drive on my Macbook Pro yet again with the same specifications as before but without the folders and reconnected it to the Time Capsule. Same deal. But now, I can't even remotely connect to the Time Capsule at all. I can see the Time Capsule in the shared area of my Macbook's Finder but can not connect. The connection tries and fails even before it gets to asking me for username and password credentials.
    Long story short, first of all, I suppose I would like to know if I'm asking for the impossible?
    Second, if what I want to do *is* possible, what steps do I need to take to make it so?
    Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you might have.

    Well, I have now reformatted/partitioned my poor WD Elements 2TB drive about a dozen times as well as restarted my 1TB Time Capsule so many times it's no wonder it's as confused as I am! <G>
    Last night, at your suggestion, William, and in respect for your continued support, I tried creating two 1TB Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partitions on the WD external USB drive, both with GUID partition tables. Both volumes mounted to my laptop's desktop flawlessly and without issue.
    Once the external drive was connected to the Time Capsule, however, it was a crap shoot as to whether or not the drive was recognized at all, reporting a problem with the disk, or, even at one point, mounting one of the two volumes but not both. <sigh>
    I read somewhere on the Internet that you need to restart the Time Capsule for volumes on an external USB drive to be recognized.
    So I tried that. I connected the freshly partitioned/formatted disk to the Time Capsule and restarted it. This succeed in removing the issue of reporting a nameless drive with a capacity of 0MB. It then reported the drive with its correct name but would not recognize whatever volumes in whatever partitions that particular crack at it contained with the exception of the once, as I mentioned above, when only one of two volumes mounted correctly and was listed with the right name and capacity on the Time Capusule's Setup's Disk tab.
    At this point I have given up on my goal to use the external drive with Time Machine to back up my Macs or to hope I will ever be able to see its contents remotely via Back to My Mac. All I would like to do now is simply find a reason why I can't get it successfully connected and playing nice with my Time Capsule in the first place!
    Any further suggestions or advice as to what steps I might take next would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you all.

  • HT201250 Hello i am using TimeMachine to back-up entire Mac image (data + system) on an usb-local drive. I would like (on top of it) add a specific plan to back up some files on a remote network drive. Does TimeMachine support multiple back-up plans ? How

    Hello i am using TimeMachine to back-up entire Mac image (data + system) on an usb-local drive. I would like (on top of it) add a specific plan to back up some files on a remote network drive. Does TimeMachine support multiple back-up plans ? How ?

    Time Machine is capable of backing up to multiple locations, and can be used to back up to both a local hard drive and a networked drive (provided that that drive is in or connected to a Time Capsule or another Mac that is sharing it over the network). The catch, though, is that you can't specify different things to back up to different destinations. Whatever you exclude from Time Machine backups is excluded from ALL backups, and whatever is included is included on all.
    So, get a large enough drive that you can back up everything you want in all locations, or use something else for maintaining the network backup.
    More information on these topics can be found here:
    How do I set up Time Machine to a shared drive on another Mac?
    How do I set up Time Machine to a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme?
    "Rotating" Time Machine backup disks

  • I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?

    I just backed up my mac to an external hard drive using Time Machine. What would happen if I turn Time Machine off and then plug the external hard drive back into my computer?
    What I am ultimately wanting to do is make more room on my computer by backing up all of my files onto the external hard drive and then deleting them off of my computer. However, neededing to be able to retrieve them from the external hard drive later down the road.
    From what I have read and am trying to understand, is that I probably shouldn't have used time machine. I need to use the external hard drive like a basic flash drive where I can put things on and get things off without having it automatically update through time machine everytime I connect it to my computer.
    Not tech savvy at all and barely understand basics. I need very simple and easy to understand explanations.

    sydababy wrote:
    and then deleting them off of my computer.
    BIG BIG MISTAKE ..... youre making a linchpin deathtrap for your data trying to shove everything on a single fragile HD.
    Dont suffer the tragedy other people make, buy another or 2 more HD, theyre cheap as dust.
    The number of people who have experienced terror by having a single external HD backup is enormous.  One failure that WILL HAPPEN, and kaput,......all gone!
    Dont do it, its all about redundancy, redundancy, redundancy.
    follow here:
    Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
    Deleting them off your computer is fine....having only ONE copy is extremely BAD.
    The Tragedy that will be, the tragedy that never should be
    Always presume correctly that your data is priceless and takes a very long time to create and often is irreplaceable. Always presume accurately that hard drives are extremely cheap, and you have no excuse not to have multiple redundant copies of your data copied on hard drives and squirreled away several places, lockboxes, safes, fireboxes, offsite and otherwise.
    Hard drives aren't prone to failure…hard drives are guaranteed to fail (the very same is true of SSD). Hard drives dont die when aged, hard drives die at any age, and peak in death when young and slowly increase in risk as they age.
    Never practice at any time for any reason the false premise and unreal sense of security in thinking your data is safe on any single external hard drive. This is never the case and has proven to be the single most common horrible tragedy of data loss that exists.
    Many 100s of millions of hours of lost work and data are lost each year due to this single common false security. This is an unnatural disaster that can avoid by making all data redundant and then redundant again. If you let a $60 additional redundant hard drive and 3 hours of copying stand between you and years of work, then you've made a fundamental mistake countless 1000s of people each year have come to regret.

  • Back to My Mac not working-a diagnosis and a solution

    Hello all,
    I own a small business and relied on Back to My Mac while traveling. I have had connection issues with BTMM since MobileMe was discontinued. I have found a solution but it is not an Apple solution. Skip to the end if you'd like the straight dope.
    FYI: I have exhausted all possible Apple-centric solutions, to the best of my knowledge. This was verified over the phone during an extensive troubleshooting session with a senior Apple specialist. All Macs and OS involved are optimized (in theory) to work with Back to My Mac. The appropriate file sharing options were checked. Users had appropriate access privileges. I have a valid MobileMe ID that has transferred over smoothly to iCloud. Firewall settings were not the issue.
    But before we go further, if you are having BTMM connectivity issues, you might want to examine this thread:
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4071540
    And see if it does the trick for you. It seems to have worked for a lot of people. But if it doesn't, please read on.
    I have an iMac at my office that I connect to. I have a MacBook that I use to make the remote connections. Before MobileMe was discontinued, I read all support docs on how to make the transition to iCloud. Nevertheless, once MobileMe was discontinued, I began to have BTMM connection issues. My Macbook could "see" my iMac, and vice versa, but once connection was attempted, either through "Share Screen" or "Connect As…",  the status bar would run indefinitely and no connection would complete.
    First, I tried the Keychain solution indicated above. No dice.
    Then I saw the System Preferences>iCloud message that Back to My Mac required NAT Port Mapping and/or Universal Plug and Play settings on my router. I have an old Linksys router, and I was able to upgrade its settings to UP&P, but not to NAT Port Mapping. The situation did not improve.
    I went to an Apple Store, spoke with a pair of salespeople who informed me that the problem would most likely be solved by replacing my old router with Airport Extreme, which would automatically upgrade my network to the necessary UP&P and NAT-PM protocols, and if any issues existed after that, they would probably be firewall-related, which I could either fix on my own or talk to an Apple person about.
    After installing Airport Extreme, the situation did not improve, and I called Apple Support. I entered the serial number into the web page, and was informed that I was not qualified for tech support because my warranty had expired, even though I had made the purchase the previous evening. I checked the option that indicated that I thought this was in error and that I was in fact qualified, and ten minutes later, I received a phone call from Apple.
    At first, I was on the line with a Airport Extreme specialist, who ran down the Airport Utility checklist. With my wife at the Macbook at home, and myself in my office at the iMac and on the phone with the Apple specialist, the troubleshooting began. Once it was apparent that nothing was working, I was transferred to a "senior" specialist who indeed knew everything under the sun about networking and Back to My Mac, at least as far as I could tell. We checked various settings on all devices, Airport configurations, iCloud account validity, my network's firewall settings, etc. 
    Finally, the specialist suggested we check the settings on my home router, which was supplied by my ISP and not an Apple device. I asked him why. He said that if we enabled UP&P and NAT-PM on my home router, that would probably help make the connection. I informed him that while that might be a short-term fix, I travel as part of my job and need to make remote connections to my office, often from places where I have no control over the router settings. He informed me that because of those "variables" I might very well continue to experience connection issues, and that in some locations I would be able to connect, and some, not.
    On the heels of all the time and money spent thus far, I was in disbelief. We spent some more time affirming beyond question that he was actually telling me what I thought he was telling me, and I cordially thanked him for his time and we ended the phone support session.
    THE STRAIGHT DOPE: I learned from a senior Apple specialist that network and router settings not only have to be just right at the server location but *also* the remote location in order for Back to My Mac to work. Simply having an iCloud ID is not always enough. If you travel, you most likely have no control over router settings at your hotel, coffee shop, etc., and if you rely on remote connections as part of your job, you can't afford to take the chance that wherever you reside might not be BTMM compatible. I signed up for LogMeIn Pro, at a cost of $59.95 a year. It has screen sharing, file sharing *and* iPhone access, which BTMM does not offer. My remote connections are now almost instantaneous and without issue. Problem solved.
    Please note, I have no ax to grind with Apple, I enjoy using their products and believe they are superior to Windows machines. I am also more than happy with the level of expertise, courtesy and efficiency of their support people. The Airport Extreme that I purchased is pretty cool, has kickass wireless signal, and has reduced the amount of wiring on my desk thanks to its wireless printing and hard drive capabilities. I feel a little burned that I bought it for no reason, but I have 14 days to return it, no questions asked. We'll see.
    In conclusion, Back to My Mac does not seem to work as advertised. I am curious if anyone has had a similar experience. Hope this helps someone or at least, saves you some time.

    Thanks for your thorough post. I too need to use BTMM on almost a daily basis for my job, and it has fallen short countlness times. I too have taken great pains to check all of the typical trouble shooting steps within iCloud and in the Apple keychain on each Mac etc, but after the latest rounds of system updates from Apple a few weeks ago to Mountain Lion, BTMM on one of my Macs is completely broken and unusable. I would concur that if you need remote access for "real" mission critical use, just bite the bullet and pay for a service like LogMeIn. You won't regret it and you will get real software support.

  • How do i use my time capsule to back up another mac?

    How do I set up my time capsule to back up another mac computer?

    If you have one Mac backing up already.. you can just use another.. TM is perfectly happy working with several computer on the same TC.. it will create a sparsebundle for its files.. it is a sort of virtual disk.
    There is nothing you need do except make sure there is enough space.

  • HT4907 I am able to connect to my Mac Mini on Back to My Mac through iCloud but the keyboard/trackpad on the MBAir or MBP with which I access does not register on the Mini.  So I can see the screen but cannot interact with it. Mini works accessing MBP/Air

    I am able to connect to my Mac Mini on Back to My Mac through iCloud but the keyboard/trackpad on the MBAir or MBP with which I access does not register on the Mini.  So I can see the screen but cannot interact with it. Mini works accessing MBP/Air and I can use Mini to input data or interact with screens of those computers.

    Regarding your first question about bookmarks, I think you discovered the answer in when you pressed the address bar. The second tab there has your bookmarks.
    As for the keyboard, I'm not sure why your Firefox is reacting so slowly; mine seems to show keyboards even when I don't want them. If you have accumulated a lot of history, perhaps that's an issue?
    Did you use any third party software to move your Firefox data from internal memory to the storage card?

  • Why does Back To My Mac work for my Time Capsule, but not my MacBook?

    I'm having problems using Back To My Mac from work to my home network. Initially, I thought it was something to do with the way the work network had been set up, but recently I realised that I have no problems connecting to my Time Capsule… It's just that I can't connect to my MacBook Pro. It is showing up in the devices on the left panel, but when I try to connect to it, I get this message:
    So why can I connect to the Time Capsule HD okay, but not the Mac?

    Hi, looks like you're stuck upgrading to Lion for iCloudy...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4908
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4907

  • ICloud & back to my mac - is this a screen share issue?

    Since installing Lion a few weeks ago on my Macmini (to help me fully upgrade / migrate from MobileMe to iCloud)  I've have a couple of issues which are bugging (no pun intended) the life out of me. I'm almost at the point of doing a complete erase and install of Lion it's that bad. Normally I always do an erase and install when upgrading OSX but the setup of my mini is such that it would take me a long time to rebuild it from scratch. That'll teach me.. I just upgraded Lion on top of Snow Leopard, whereas on my MBP I did a clean install of Lion and no problems.
    Here's my issue:
    On serveral occasions, whilst using back to my mac, to screenshare my mini on my MBP, I've had windows and hard drives disappear off screen. If I do a right mouse click on my finder I can view the windows on screen but when I select them they disapear. I have a feeling that mission control is doing something, but I never use this, nor do I have anything set-up, other than the intial configuration. This is *really* doing my head in. I can usually fix it by changing the screen dimensions on my mini through the Display control panel or switching my TV over to the hdmi input so I can view the desktop directly on my TV (as opposed to screensharing).
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    VP

    If you have a VPN installed (by mistake?) you should be able to go to your System Prefs > Network and see the VPN listed in the left hand column along with Aiport and Ethernet. You can un-install by using the minus button at the bottom of the column.
    The link provided shows you how to install a VPN client with screen shots, including one of this Network Prefs screen and what a VPN client looks like.
    https://www.publicvpn.com/support/MacOSX105.php

  • Can't get back to my mac to work

    I am guessing that this problem belongs somewhere in the server section.
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    Steve jobs and the apple home page make it look like kids play, why is it so hard for me then?
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    I have played with the UPnP of my router, the only thing I have not done so far is the port mapping thing.
    I was able to screen share with my son in Belgium from England, that part works, so I think that I am not so stupid as I do feel now....
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    Hi, Catherine,
    This forum is for Apple Remote Desktop, Apple's utility for managing networked Macs, so it really wouldn't seem to be the most appropriate place for your question.
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    Regards.

  • Is the Mini-Dvi adapter suppose to click into the back on the Mac mini?

    Is the Mini-Dvi adapter suppose to click into the back on the Mac mini? It does on my mac book but not on the Mac mini. I sort of have to just jam it in there, no nice clicking sound, and it does not feel very secure.

    If after 'jamming it in there' it actually works, then at least you know it's the correct type of adapter. However, if it doesn't work, you are definitely not inserting it correctly or into the correct location. In either case, you may have a damaged port - all the connections on the rear when applied correctly with anything like a decent quality standard type connector should work smoothly. You should never have to 'jam' anything into the back of your mini.

  • Back to My Mac - Not working on a remote network

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    Hi Dan97103!
    I have an article here for you that can help you troubleshoot this issue with your Back to My Mac functionality:
    OS X: Using and troubleshooting Back to My Mac with your iCloud account
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4907
    Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
    -Braden

  • Double computer name on network and NAT issue with Back to My Mac

    These are the problems I am having:
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    Wireless Security: WPA/WPA2 Personal
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    MobileMe:
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    I am also having this issue... any updates on this??

  • Is it possible to set up Time Capsule on one network and then access its stored data (movies) using Back to My Mac from another network that also has Apple TV to play them?

    I recently purchased a Time Capsule to store data at my office.  I have an Apple TV at my home that I would like to start using to play my movies.  With the storage of the new Time Capsule, I am curious if I can somehow store my iTunes movies on the Time Capsule at my office and then use Back to My Mac to access the TC from my home and then play them via Apple TV.  Does this sound possible?  We have an iMac at the office that remains on 24/7 connected to the TC.

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