Backup hard drive before or after upgrading?
I'm working on a Mac OSX 10.5.8 Leopard in Adobe CS4 Design Standard and I'm about to upgrade to Mountain Lion 10.8 and Adobe Creative Cloud. The question is when do I backup my hard drive - before, somewhere in the middle or end of upgrading all of the programs?
I would wait until after updgrading the OS to install the desktop applications that come with the Creative Cloud.
Not sure how many backups you want to make but you could back up at each stage.
Similar Messages
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External Hard Drives not mounting after upgrading to Lion
The disks orked without issue before then I upgarde and nothing. I see that others have had the same problem but I haven't seen and answer. Can anyone help? My iomega drive can be seen in DU but can't be highlighted and is running two red lights. My Lacie brick disk has completely vanished.
I'd happily go back to snow lepord if it's a simple fix.The disks orked without issue before then I upgarde and nothing. I see that others have had the same problem but I haven't seen and answer. Can anyone help? My iomega drive can be seen in DU but can't be highlighted and is running two red lights. My Lacie brick disk has completely vanished.
I'd happily go back to snow lepord if it's a simple fix. -
My iMac suddenly can't read the backup hard drive I've been using for Time Machine. I tried unplugging the cord that connects the HD to the iMac and plugging it back in, but I still get "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" below which are buttons for Initialize, Ignore and Eject. I was using a cord that went from larger square plug to larger square plug. So then I tried one that went from smaller square plug to what I think is USB (thin rectangular plug) of the sort that connects the keyboard and mouse. It's the type that my printers and scanners use to connect to the iMac. I did NOT just upgrade the OS or anything. The external HD is an OWC Mercury Elite All Pro. It's worked fine since I got the iMac 4 years ago. What else can I try before just trying to initialize and
Thanks, Michael! I do hear it at times spooling up and running. Just after I bumped the thread I looked for troubleshooting for this drive online and found the manual which suggested using Disk Utility which I've seen before accidentally (if I hit Command Shift U instead of Shift U to type "Unit" on a new folder for a student's homework ) but had never really noticed. Disk Utility does see it and also a sub-something (directory?) which might be the Time Machine archives on the disk, called disk1s2), sort of the way that my iMac's hard drive shows up as 640.14 GB Nitachi HDT7... and has a sub-something titled DB iMac, which is what I named my iMac's hard drive.
Anyway the owner's manual just shows the image under the formatting section, not the troubleshooting section, but as soon as I saw it in the manual I remembered seeing it accidentally a few times, went to it, and am now verifying the disk. Right now it's telling me that it will take 2 hours to complete the verification, so I guess I have a bigt of a wait. :-)
Does that fact that Disk Utilities can see it mean it's not failed, or just that it hasn't completely failed?
I can see the virtue in having multiple redundant backups, or at least two backups. What do you suggest? Two external hard drives? I had this one linked by ethernet, and but I also have a cord that could link it by USB (like a printer), so if this one is reparable I could get a second one and link it by USB. If this one is not reparable I could get two and do the same thing. I do have an Airport so I suppose it's possible to get some sort of Wi-Fi hard drive (my new printer/scanner uses only the network and not a cable, although it has a cable that I used for the initial installation), but I'd suspect a Wi-Fi hard drive might have a higher price.
What hard drives, if any, do you recommend? I seem to recall that when I was looking at external hard drives 4 years ago, Apple's were substantially more expensive, which is why I got the OWC Mercury Elite All Pro. -
I have seen so much response about the Mountain Lion update slowing down computers. I am updating from Mac OS x 10.6.8. What can I do to ensure the upgrade will go fine? Do I unplug my external hard drive before installing, or keep it plugged in?
Also, I have the 08 version of iWork. Will this cause problems for the update? Can I update this AFTER I update the processor?Welcome to Apple Support Communities
There's no reason to think that Mountain Lion will slow down your Mac. Just make a backup of your data before upgrading with Time Machine > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
Also, check that your apps are compatible > http://www.roaringapps.com Upgrade them to a compatible version or delete them before upgrading.
The external drive won't make the OS X Mountain Lion installer fail, but it's better to unplug it during the upgrade.
iWork '08 is compatible with Mountain Lion. iWork '09 includes OS X Mountain Lion features and can be purchased at the Mac App Store.
To upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion, I recommend at least 4 GB of RAM. You can check how much memory you have in Apple menu > About this Mac -
I need to backup my hard drive before sending it for repair, How?
My macbook will not turn on but my hard drive is still in good condition.
When I went to the genius bar the employee said something about a hard drive kit I could use to backup my files and such before sending it in.
I own an external hard drive, how can I transfer my files from my macbook's hard drive into my external hard drive before sending the computer in for repair?Hi...use Carbon Copy Cloner....
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7032/carbon-copy-cloner
...it will make an exact clone of your MacBook's current drive on the external and allow you to reload it on your new internal after it is installed....it is very easy to use... -
I have a Free Agent external backup hard drive connected to my iMac Intel desktop via USB, I never unplug it. Why do I get an error message, from time to time, upon startup stating, "Disk was disconnected improperly. Always eject disk before disconnecting."?
I never unplug the external harddrive, and the error message comes up only occassionaly upon startup. Maybe the USB connection gets disrupted enough to cause the computer to see it as disconnected and then reconnected while the iMac is powered.
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My backup hard drive does not have enough space for time machine to perform a back up even after erasing entire contents of bu hard drive. The hard drive has been in service for almost two years performing this function with no sign of failure. How do I adjust time machine perameters?
The only way to limit the size of the backup is to exclude data from the backup, which you can do in Time Machine preferences.
If you use multiple browsers, have you tried clearing your browser caches? However, that's just a stop gap if it works. You either need to limit what you backup or get another drive. -
So lately I decided I was tired of Tiger, and decided I would upgrade to Leopard. Well I made the mistake of erasing the hard drive before I made sure it would work. Well now like the installer was before it failed. And now when I boot I get the normal finder/question mark flashing folder. I also found a power Mac g4 that needs a new operating system. It's running 9.2. It's going to my grandma as a gift. I really need help.
I think you'll need to find a Retail 10.5 Disc.
Leopard requirements/10.5.x...
* Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
minimum system requirements
* 512MB of memory (I say 1.5GB for PPC at least, 2-3GB minimum for IntelMacs)
* DVD drive for installation
* 9GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)
Classic/OS9 Apps no longer supported.
Trouble is Apple no longer sells it, check eBay & such for the Retail version, not the Gray Discs...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mac+os+x+leopard+retail+10.5
There are workarounds if the 867MHz CPU is the only hangup...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/leopardassist/
http://lowendmac.com/osx/leopard/unsupported.html
List of Applications Not Compatible with Leopard...
http://guides.macrumors.com/List:Applications_Not_Compatible_with_Leopard -
Time machine fails backing up with a "backup disk not found" error after upgrade to Lion 10.7.2
Time machine fails backing up with a "backup disk not found" error after upgrade to Lion 10.7.2. I've erased and reformatted the drive; reconnected Time Machine(it saw it) and began a new backup. The backup starts again but fails before completing with backup drive not found error. I used the 10.7.2 combo update. Any help on how to fix this problem would be appreciated.
Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
After waiting since October for a fix, I have now upgraded the firmware on the Time Capsule and installed the new Airport Utility, released yesterday, and the situation is even worse.
Up until now, the Airport Utility had an option to disconnect all drives manually and the Time Capsule would then work until the next reboot – a temporary (?) work-around.
Now that option does not exist in the new-look Airport Utility. And the Airport Utility installation can’t be rolled back and the old utility won’t restore.
The sparesbundle is still not accessible. Anyone worked out a work-around in the new environment yet?
I have another Time Machine backup working fine to a trusty old Lacie Drive so erased the one on my Time Capsule to see if that works. I have renamed the Capsule and the Time Capsule Drive. But to build another full backup will take at least two days and I shall be away from tomorrow and am reluctant to leave the Capsule and computer up and running for a week. And I’ll bet the sparsbundle will still be nowhere to be found.
How can Apple screw up so badly when they are to become the richest company in the entire world and – soon – will have more cash in the bank than the entire United States? Can’t they afford someone who really can sort this out? Especially when a Firewire connected hard drive – my trusty and simple LaCie – works fine.
Words, almost, fail me. -
Time Machine before or after upgrade to Lion?
Hi there,
I have always backed up all of my important data on to external Hard Drives/CD's/DVD's etc manually however to make life easier, I have now decided to start using Time Machine (should have done so a long time ago I know). I am also about to upgrade my iMac from Snow Leopard to Lion. My question is, should I perform a Time Machine back up before the upgrade or would it make sense to upgrade to Lion first & then perform the Time Machine back up.
The only advantage I can see by running Time Machine before the upgrade is in case there is an error/corruption in the upgrade process but having never used TM, I would really appreciate any advice.
Many thanks in advance.
BenWould Also Recommend that you do a Bootable Clone Backup of your current Hard Drive Before attempting any Major Upgrade...
By far the easiest way to make a Backup, is to use something like
SuperDuper http://www.shirt-pocket.com/
or CCC http://www.bombich.com/
That way, should anything untoward happen during the Upgrade, you will NOT LOSE ANYTHING. -
My laptop got pinched and I bought a used Mac Book Pro, put a larger hard drive in it and performed a clean install of Snow Leopard on the new drive, after which I used the Migration Assistant to bring over my applications, settings, documents, etc., from my backup hard drive. This hard drivekis not a Ti e Machine drive, it's one I use to clone my computer to regularly with Carbon Copy Cloner. When the migration was complete all my documents, the desktop,and other folders are locked and won't allow me to access them. What to do? Thanks for the help.
Graham Giles wrote:
Have you seen this type of problem before? I think it could be a serious issue for anyone in a similar position.
No; but then, I've not had occasion to use TDM. I've been using firerwire drives for over 10 years, both FW400 and FW800, with no issues except a bit of instability using a B&W G3 machine.
TDM should be safe. Using cautious, manual copying of files from the Target machine to the Host machine should not result in unexpected loss of files or damage to the Target drive's directories. It should behave exactly the same as if it were an external (to the Host) firewire drive.
• I don't suppose there is anything I can do to 'put back' lost items from a separate Time Machine drive which has an up to date backup on it.
There is probably a way to do that - seems to me that's one of the reasons for a Time Machine volume.
On the other hand, if the Time Machine volume is rigidly linked to the now-absent OS on the original drive, there may be no way to effectively access the files in the TM archive.
I know that using a cloned drive would work well in this instance.
I have no experience with Time Machine, so perhaps someone who has will chime in with suggestions.
With the machine in TDM with the other machine, have you tried running Disk Utility to see if you can effect repairs to the drive? -
Remove Windows partition before or after upgrading to Leopord
Hi,
I have been using boot camp beta for some time. A short time ago, the Windows partition became unusable because the partition was too small. It appears the least risky approach would be to restore the disk to a OS X only system then re-install Windows on a larger partition. I have the Leopard upgrade disk. I have also read article 306805 which involves rolling back the computer clock.
My question is would it be safer to remove the Windows partition before or after upgrading to Leopard?Backup and reformat your drive with Leopard. Then install both. You can use Migration Assistant to restore your files and settings.
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How do I back up files to external hard drive in order to upgrade operating system?
How do I back up files to external hard drive in order to upgrade operating system?
Buy yourself a portable hard drive from WD or the like. It should have a capacity at least twice that of your machine hard drive. Then follow the instructions that come with it; it is quite straightforward.
I have a similar machine to you by the sound of it. After the initial back up, it is just a matter of topping up every couple of months or so, plus whenever you do to back up any major upgrade.
A portable one is good because you can store it with relatives when not in use which gives protection in the case of fire or theft.
I use two backups. One, an external HD permanently connected for my Time Machine and the second, a portable for the reasons I gave. -
I just had to reformat the external hard drive that houses my iPhoto library, then restore it from a backup. Now Time Machine is telling me my backup hard drive suddenly does not have the space to complete a backup. I also noticed when I go in to Time Machine, there are only about 5 backups recorded on the ext. hard drive. There were many more before. Any idea what happened and if I have to buy a new back up hard drive?
Hallo Kieth ,
I am not quite ready to restore the full iphoto library , as I have days of work re - imputting titles,descriptions and enhancement . I hope that your suggestion works , as I use my Macbook basically to work with digital photography. Through time , I will need to delete my library to recover more disc space and I would hate to have to spend more time re - imputting titles and descriptions all over again .
Thanks for your interest and advice.
regards - Alan -
Hard drive is corrupt after i repair it
My hard drive reads corrupt after I repair it. I restart it, hit C, and open it with a startup disk, then repair and restart it. After a while, when I verify my disk, it says that is corrupt, AGAIN!!
Please help
I'm running a mac pro dual core 2 2.66 intel xeon processor, with 16GB of memory My operating system is 10.6,8So you should have already made a couple backups, always have a spare bootable system drive, and in some cases zero it all - takes couple hours, and not use it except as spare extra backup.
Getting files off your drive now but don't use it,, install OS to a new drive (pull the old one in fact temporary) and you may want to use checksum on all file copies, and for any files not on backup sets try best you can and if you still need help, then turn to Data Rescue 3.
I would not use a DVD to do repairs, even if it is 10.6.0 or 10.6.3. I would use a clean small system drive with 10.6.8 (takes less than 30GB, even down to 16GB if careful) "emergency boot drive" used only for system maintenance and repairs.
And if you had Lion, you don't, but, I would use Recovery Mode AND have that also cloned to another drive, using Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC).
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