D*mN SilverKeeper - Recommendations Needed 4 Backup Software

My hard drive crashed earlier last week...so everytime I did a full backup using SilverKeeper software...I assume it updated the files that were modified and saw the log of new files it added. Unfortunately, when I restored my system and started putting everything back on the new drive, MY EMAIL, ADDRESS BOOK, ICAL software was not updated as originally thought for ONE ENTIRE YEAR. Thank goodness I decided to copy over my business software data. Old hard drive is gone.
Or can I call Apple support and see if I can still retrieve the old drive?
Similar to Windows or Veritas Backup, is there a utility in Apple that does the backup and checking/updating files? What are some consumer recommendations for backup software?
PS....I love 10.4.6 though

I agree with Superduper. You have various backup options which I've mentioned on my FAQ here:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
As for recovering the data, if it isn't a complete hard drive crash, and just a directory issue, you can try Alsoft Disk Warrior. If it is a hard drive crash, you may be able to salvage information with Prosoft Data Rescue. If that doesn't work a professional data recovery firm may be necessary.
By the way, Silverkeeper works well, though you need to make sure you are using the most current version. If you were and it didn't work, I suggest writing http://www.lacie.com/ about your issue.

Similar Messages

  • In need of backup software

    Hello there. Does anyone have a recommendation for good backup software? I need something that can syncronize some of my folders to an external hard drive. Thank.

    My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
    1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
    2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
    3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
    4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
    5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
    6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
    The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
    1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
    2. Toast
    3. Impression
    4. arRSync
    Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
    Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
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  • Advice: Backup software?

    Hey people,
    Can anyone recommend me some backup software?
    Basically, I've a few HD's and want a program that will backup say, a folder, for example when I add new things to it - or tell it to do so.
    Any ideas?

    BDAqua wrote:
    I've been using Tri-Backup for years to do just that and plenty more...
    http://www.tri-edre.com/english/index.html
    For what the OP wants to do, what features does Tri-Backup have that are lacking in +Super Duper+ and +Carbon Copy Cloner+ ?
    Thanks.

  • Need backup software for Seagate external hard drive

    I need a little handholding here. I have an iBook G4 running 10.4.10. My husband bought me a Seagate external hard drive to use to back up the hard drive on my iBook. The only problem is that I don't think the external hard drive came with any software. I'm looking for something that I can set once that will automatically back up my hard drive periodically. Does such a thing exist?
    Thanks for any advice you can provide.

    Hi there-
    Most good backup software allows you to schedule backups. I've tried a number of programs and the two best I've found are SuperDuper and Synk.
    Both are very user-friendly--good for simple folks like me.
    http://www.decimus.net/
    http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
    SuperDuper is my favorite because it easily allows you to "clone" your hard drive, giving you a bootable backup in case the worst happens to your computer and you need to restore everything. It's MUCH faster than reinstalling everything. You need to make sure your external hard drive is capable of being booted from, however.
    Synk is also very user friendly and you can try it for 30 days for free. I would highly recommend either of these.
    Hope this helps.

  • Recommend Backup Software for OS 10.3?

    I need to get some backup software so I can backup only new files and files that have been changed. Can someone recommend a good utility for doing this on OS 10.3?
    Thank you!

    If you get the downloads through another computer online,
    be sure they are the correct stand-alone items; then you
    can choose to never go online with the 10.3.x computer.
    I have and use a USB thumb drive or flash drive to get
    extra files between computers so they don't need to go
    and do the same duty in duplicate online; this would also
    work to get the actual files you needed via another Mac.
    Be sure they are the correct ones, first, of course.
    There are no currently supported browsers, for the most
    part, for Panther 10.3.9; so secure online browsing is a
    thing that may be problematic or issue-prone; yet the
    internal server to Support updates, and the Software Update
    app can probably be used to get info or the files you'd want.
    And you need not install all of the found updates; yet by
    now, those in-between and questionable ones would be
    fewer than they were in the day they were new. I had a
    few issues in Panther (and avoided some, then) in the
    updates in-between. So, by now, there should be none.
    In one sense, the Software Update app may be helpful
    in finding the correct names of the files, then get the
    few you actually may need, more manually from Support.
    The 10.3.9 Combo, and the last security update, plus any
    Java update(s) are likely to include actual useful offline
    update materials. A few Panther/Tiger users had an odd
    issue with going/staying online after one of the small step
    updates to 10.3 at one point, and it was problematic. A
    last Combo plus security update may avoid the issue.
    This may be a mute issue at this late a date; but may be
    worth checking into further, as far as it goes. And most
    items made for Panther 10.3 generally were updated as
    far as the last full stop 10.3.9; a few required that level.
    Good luck & happy computing!
    { edited 2x }

  • (Non-Time Machine) backup software recommendations for Snow Leopard

    I have been a long time user of Retrospect Desktop backup software, up to and including version 6.1. It has saved my skin at least twice when I've had catastrophic hard drive failures. I've been using 6.1 successfully in Leopard, under Rosetta. However, as I prepare to upgrade to Snow Leopard, I discovered Retrospect 6.1 will incompatible. According to Roxio:
    +Snow Leopard stores some files, including some applications and all files in the /System/ directory, in a compressed format. Retrospect can only restore files in their uncompressed format. This means that a complete OS restore will require an additional 4-5 GB of available storage space on the destination. When /System/ files are restored uncompressed, the Mac OS X may complain about certain files, such as fonts and kernel extensions, not being installed properly.+
    Naturally I thought about upgrading to Retrospect 8, which is supposed to be compatible with Snow Leopard, until I read the disaster stories of bug-ridden unfinished Retrospect 8.0 software being released as golden master without a manual. These inexcusable problems persisted through 8.0 and 8.1. Version 8.2 is in beta and addresses restoring from previous version backups and PowerPC compatibility, but it remains to be seen if Roxio will salvage Retrospect and return it to a position of respectability. (Too bad EMC bought Dantz years ago.)
    In any case, I'm now looking for other backup software. I need software that does incremental backups, can restore the system to a previous state existing at the time of a given previous (not necessarily most recent) backup, and supports user-defined rules for file inclusion/exclusion, as well as automated scripts. Automatic verification of the backup by comparing original files to the backed-up version (like in Retrospect) is nice, though probably unnecessary most of the time. Time Machine is nice but in my experience doesn't support some of these features and I'm not entirely comfortable relying on Time Machine alone because I've encountered some problems in the past where my backups were lost.
    I'm considering Carbon Copy Cloner, but not sure it does true incremental backups and can restore the system to a state that existed at the time of a previous -- rather than most recent -- backup. Also considering Intego's Personal Backup and ProSoft's Data Backup 3.
    I would love to hear any recommendations you might offer regarding these or any other backup software solutions.
    Thanks.
    Message was edited by: Anthony M Kassir MD

    In any case, I'm now looking for other backup software. I need software that does incremental backups, can restore the system to a previous state existing at the time of a given previous (not necessarily most recent) backup, and supports user-defined rules for file inclusion/exclusion, as well as automated scripts.
    Time Machine can do all that except the scripts - I'm not sure what you're wanting to script - and it doesn't have rules for exclusion, but does let you exclude any items you specify. From the sounds of it, though, you're trying to make your backups more complex than they need to be. Keep it simple and there's less chance for something to go wrong.
    I'm not entirely comfortable relying on Time Machine alone because I've encountered some problems in the past where my backups were lost.
    You shouldn't be comfortable relying on any single backup program. Backup software is still software, and as such can have bugs and suffer failures. For optimum safety, you should use two different backup programs to maintain a minimum of two separate backups.
    I'm considering Carbon Copy Cloner, but not sure it does true incremental backups and can restore the system to a state that existed at the time of a previous
    CCC does do incremental backups, but restoring to a specific state might not be entirely possible. When a file is added, it is simply added to the clone when CCC runs its next backup. There's no way to know which files were added when, AFAIK. When a file is removed, it is moved from its old location in the clone to an identical path inside a dated folder in the same location as the clone.
    Personally, I rely on a combination of TM and CCC. I keep one backup with TM, which lets me go back to any time I want. I also keep several CCC clones of just my user folder (everything else is easy enough to recreate if necessary), with one of them in the safe deposit box at the bank at all times.

  • RELIABLE data backup software recommendation for MacBook Pro WANTED!

    I own Retrospect 6.x and I must say that on the intel platform it is less than stellar. On my 15" Powerbook I would get about 90MB/minute and on my new 17" MacBook Pro I am getting about 30MB/minute, which is taking FOREVER. Can someone PLEASE recommend some reliable data backup software in universal binary that will obtain backup speeds similar to what I use to get out of Retrospect on my powerbook? Thank you kindly!
    Scott

    Welcome to the forum,
    If you don’t have a .Mac account, you may want to consider it. It has a fairly respectable BackUp feature that’s quite good and very well integrated to your Mac. I strongly recommend it. Can’t say much compared to the speed of Retrospect although it does perform incremental backups as well as a host of other options. Hope that you may find this useful, etc.
    References:
    http://www.mac.com/1/solutions/backup.html
    http://www.mac.com/WebObjects/Welcome.woa?aff=consumer&cty=US&lang=en
    Regards,
    2.16 MBP (FW 1.0.1) Week-12 build   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   G4 Tower (OS 9/10), Dell 620 WorkStation (XP Pro), Gateway P4 (XP Home)

  • I need burning / ripping software recommendation

    Five years ago I completed the massive project of taking all my "family" video tapes, digitizing and inputing them into my Power Mac G5, then editing them in iMovie and then burning them onto 30 DVD-R discs.
    Now I want to take the 30 DVD-R discs (60 hours of video), input them into my iMac (the iMovie function) and re-edit them and consolidate this 30 DVD-R collection down to 4 DVD-R discs (8 hours of video)
    1. I understand I cannot download my existing DVD-Rs into iMove and re-edit the content for burning onto new DVD-R discs. *_Is this correct?_*
    2. Do I need some special software to do this? If so, I notice there are several types of software for burning / ripping DVD-Rs into iMac. I have found Handbrake and Mac The Ripper (both free) and two programs in the Apple Store, Toast ($99) and Popcorn ($49). Do you recommend any of these applications for bringing my apple edited and burned DVD-Rs (done on my Power Mac G5) into my iMac for editing (creating new projects) and burning new DVD-Rs? My skills on my iMac and within iMovie are about 4 or 5 on a scale of 10, so take "ease of use" into account when you make your recommendation.
    3. Besides my question in #2 above, can you refer me to any specific source on how to bring the DVD-Rs into iMovie for editing?
    Thank you,
    Buster

    Greetings,
    Now I want to take the 30 DVD-R discs (60 hours of video), input them into my iMac (the iMovie function) and re-edit them and consolidate this 30 DVD-R collection down to 4 DVD-R discs (8 hours of video)
    Ideally you would want to use the original converted files that you used to make the 30 DVDs out of. Each time you convert, burn, and then re-convert a file you lose quality. However if you no longer have those files, then read on.
    1. I understand I cannot download my existing DVD-Rs into iMove and re-edit the content for burning onto new DVD-R discs. *_Is this correct?_*
    Correct. The file format contained within a Video DVD is not readable by iMovie. It must be converted.
    2. Do I need some special software to do this?
    Yes you do. Apple does not make software that rips video data from DVDs.
    3. Besides my question in #2 above, can you refer me to any specific source on how to bring the DVD-Rs into iMovie for editing?
    Here is a nice walk through made by another forum member: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2255575. It includes his suggested software choices.
    Hope that helps.

  • FCPX 10.1 : how to backup the library file (with LaCie SilverKeeper or other backup software)

    Hello... I was using FCPX with an external hard drive (A) with all "events" end "projects" folders.
    Then, on a regular basis, I was copying hard drive (A) content to another hard drive (B) using LaCie SilverKeeper. All new or modified content in these folders was copied. With the new 10.1 version, no more folders but a "library" file which is not recognized by SilverKeeper.
    So how to backup library files without starting a new copy each time ?

    Thank you for your input, nevertheless, I may have miss something but I am used to work with all my media on an external HD.
    Then, on a regular basis, say each time I have an important editing step, I backup this external HD to another external HD.
    With FCPX, I have chosen to integrate new media in the new library file. Consequently, these media files are not in folders, but inside the FCPX file.
    The problem is that when I want to backup all this (including media files inside FCPX library) this library is not recognized by backup software.

  • Apple backup software

    Does apple have software that will backup my hard drive?
    If not, can you suggest a good backup software?
    PS: If I wanted to clone my boot drive to another drive, could I use Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper? After the boot drive is clones unto my second drive, could I then turn on my apple, replace the boot drive with the clone drive and I would be booting from my new cloned drive?

    Here are some backup applications recommendations as well as some thoughts on general Mac maintenance:
    Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
    For disk repairs the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior.  DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption.  TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation.  Currently only TechTool Pro 4.5.1 is compatible with Intel Macs.
    OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility called Macaroni that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
    OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
    I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
    For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack.  If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline.
    When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
    My personal recommendations for backups are (order is significant):
    1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
    2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
    3. Deja Vu (Shareware)
    4. SuperDuper (Commercial)
    5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - not universal binary.)
    6. LaCie SilverKeeper (Freeware - not universal binary)
    7. MimMac (Shareware)
    8. RsynchX 2.1 and PsyncX 2.2.1 (Freeware)
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore. 
    Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.

  • Hi, I am using my icloud on my iphone but am unable to find it on my mac book pro. It's not under my system preferences like it shows under the setup. Can I download it again? Or something. I just need to backup some files on my computer and am unable.

    Hi, I am using my icloud on my iphone but am unable to find it on my mac book pro. It's not under my system preferences like it shows under the setup. Can I download it again? Or something. I just need to backup some files on my computer and am unable.

    The minimum requirement for iCloud is Lion 10.7.5 (Mavericks preferred): the iCloud Preference Pane does not appear on earlier systems - the MobileMe pane appears on Lion and earlier but is now non-functional - you cannot now open or access a MobileMe account.
    To make use of iCloud you will have to upgrade your Mac to Lion or Mavericks, provided it meets the requirements.
    The requirements for Lion are:
    Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
    2GB of memory
    OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
    7GB of available space
    Lion is available in the Online Apple Store ($19.99). Mountain Lion (10.8.x) is also available there at the same price but there seems little point as the system requirements are the same for Mavericks (10.9.x) - which is free - unless you need to run specific software which will run on Mountain Lion only.
    The requirements for Mountain Lion and Mavericks are:
    OS X v10.6.8 or later
    2GB of memory
    8GB of available space
      and the supported models are:
    iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
    MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
    MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
    Xserve (Early 2009)
    MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
    Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
    Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
    It is available from the Mac App Store (in Applications).
      You should be aware that PPC programs (such as AppleWorks) will not run on Lion or above; and some other applications may not be compatible - there is a useful compatibility checklist at http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

  • Love TM but need to backup files onto fat32 disk...?

    Hi,
    I have loved using TM (so simple) but I need my backup disk to be readable on friends PC's = need fat32 disk. I guess TM just can't backup on fat32 disks.
    Do you know of any TM like option to backup mac files onto fat32 disks (without creating a backup file you can only browse through your backup application)?
    Thanks
    Lionel

    Most backup utilities will backup files to a FAT formatted drive although you cannot create a bootable backup on one. You might try one of the following:
    Backup Software Recommendations
    My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
    1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
    2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
    3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
    4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
    5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware)
    6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
    7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
    8. Data Backup (Commercial)
    If you have a .Mac account you can try Apple's Backup which comes free with the .Mac subscription. You download it from your iDisk.
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
    You may find it more convenient overall to use a separate drive specifically for use on both a PC and Mac, and use a different drive for your TM backup.

  • Recommend good photo printer software (don't like iPhoto's)?

    I don't like the way that the iPhoto 'print Photo/s' software works.
    I used to use Canon Image browser, with that I could select, for example, three photos. place them all on one A4 sheet of paper, and scale each one individually to the size I wanted. ie have one large, the other two smaller. It cut down on a lot of waste paper. IPhoto will only let me put all the images at the same size, as far as I can work out.
    Canon Image Browser is not Leopard compatible, boo-hoo. Does anyone have any recommendations for other (free) software I could use to achieve the same as my old? Or is it possible with iPhoto?
    CJHEERS!

    Canon has: Canon PowerShot ImageBrowser 6.1.1a which is Leopard compatible. I downloaded it just this morning.
    Do you have a 3rd party editor that you like? I use Photoshop to do most of my printing. Photoshop Elements for Mac is an amazing editor, can do advanced editing, and does color management to give you optimal prints.
    Others are Portraits and Prints, Acorn, Pixelmator. You can use them as the 3rd party editor in iPhoto safely but not ImageBrower as it's a browser and not strictly an editor. Go to iPhoto's General preferences and set the Edit Photo: to your editor of choice.
    TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
    I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
    Note: There now an Automator backup application for iPhoto 5 that will work with Tiger or Leopard.

  • Bootable backup software

    First of all, what's a bootable backup? I have a WD 320GB Mybook (fire wire/usb) backup drive. WD said that their included software doesn't create a bootable drive. I asked them because I told it to back up everything and it did except for 168 files. I guess I want a bootable drive because if I lost everything, I could restore everything? What do you recommend? Is WD backup software enough? If I need a bootable backup software, what free or low cost one would you recommend? Hope that all makes sense?

    Hello! AS has been mentioned a "bootable backup" is a "clone" or "exact copy" of your main drive and one that will be bootable in an emergency. It can be on an external firewire drive or it can be on a separate "volume" of your main drive or reside on a secondary physical drive. SD and CCC have been mentioned but you can also use the Apple Disk Utility to produce one following Kappy's advice. Tom
    Kappy's Steps to Produce a bootable clone
    Prep external FW drive:
    1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
    2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
    3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
    4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
    5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
    6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
    7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.
    For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.

  • The best backup software for mac os 10.4.8?

    Hi,
    I'm new on mac, I just got tired of PC and windows so I decided to make a change, a really good change.
    First of all to say that I've been looking for an answer of this question around the forums, but havn't got what I'm looking for. What I've found is that people prefere freeware, I just want good stuff.
    I'm not sure if this is the right forum to place my topic, but is not a bad one either.
    Anyway, here is my question.
    I need to clone and do incremental backups, but I have to be extremely sure that the software I use is completly trustfull and secure, so I do not care if I have to pay 100€ (not much more thouh), just want to be sure I get everything works right.
    I also prefere software that only does clone and backups than a multitask soft.
    Well, if u have any question just ask, u're the ones who really know about this things.
    Thanks, everything is wellcome here.

    You will find information on backup in this:
    Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
    For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.2 is Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.
    OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
    OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
    I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
    For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline.
    When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
    Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is significant):
    1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
    2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
    3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
    4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
    5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
    The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
    1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
    2. Toast
    3. Impression
    4. arRSync
    Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
    Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
    Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
    Referenced software can be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
    Why reward points?(Quoted from Discussions Terms of Use.)
    The reward system helps to increase community participation. When a community member gives you (or another member) a reward for providing helpful advice or a solution to their question, your accumulated points will increase your status level within the community.
    Members may reward you with 5 points if they deem that your reply is helpful and 10 points if you post a solution to their issue. Likewise, when you mark a reply as Helpful or Solved in your own created topic, you will be awarding the respondent with the same point values.

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