Is it sufficient to just backup the users directory?

I am backing up my macbook to my Buffalo Linkstation Live. Is it ok if I just backup the users directory to save all the images,movies,files etc? It is a bout 40 gig.
I use garageband, iweb and all the ilife programs and assume all these items including my itunes music/backups is in this directory?
I am not concerned about the system files as I can restore them if need be.
Thanks

Welcome to the discussion area!
This is the Time Capsule forum.
Was there a question that you had about a Time Capsule or Time Machine?
If not, please re-post in the correct MacBook forum.

Similar Messages

Is it sufficient to just backup users directory in time machine?

I am backing up my macbook to my Buffalo Linkstation Live. Is it ok if I just backup the users directory to save all the images,movies,files etc? It is a bout 40 gig.
I use garageband, iweb and all the ilife programs and assume all these items including my itunes music/backups is in this directory?
I am not concerned about the system files as I can restore them if need be.
Thanks

doobias123 wrote:
I am backing up my macbook to my Buffalo Linkstation Live. Is it ok if I just backup the users directory to save all the images,movies,files etc? It is a bout 40 gig.
I use garageband, iweb and all the ilife programs and assume all these items including my itunes music/backups is in this directory?
The data for those apps is probably there (unless you've moved it), but the apps aren't.
I am not concerned about the system files as I can restore them if need be.
Please reconsider. Strongly consider letting Time Machine back up your entire system. You're only saving a few GBs (10 - 20) by omitting your System and Applications folders, and only on the first backup, because very little changes there, but here's what you'll have to do when (not if) your internal HD fails, or something else awful happens to your Mac:
Install OSX from your Leopard or Snow Leopard Install disc.
Go through the set-up procedure: setup your Internet connection(s), server names, etc.
Download and install the "combo" update, to get back to your current version of OSX.
If you upgraded iLife since purchasing your Mac, find and restore your iLife apps.
Find all the discs for 3rd-party apps and install them. Re-enter any purchase keys.
Find the websites for all downloaded 3rd-party apps, download and install them. Re-enter any purchase keys.
Restore whatever data you saved.
Wonder what you missed, and find out the hard way . . . for months or longer.
In most cases, this is a no-brainer.

Hi there,I was using MacPro with older snow leopard just now i install OS X LION,before install i backup all deta to time machines about 70GB,now when i connect i dont know how can backup the old deta to OS X LION,but it just backup the recent deta to tim

Hi there,
I was using MacPro with older snow leopard just now i install OS X LION,before install i backup all deta to time machines about 70GB,now when i connect i dont know how can backup the old deta to OS X LION,but it just backup the recent deta to time machine,pls guide me how i can backup my old deta to my computer??
Will be much appreciated !!
Thanks.

>Step 1. Backup existing data using time machine.
Time Machine is nice, but you have very little in terms of ability to verify that your data is all backed up. I find Time Machine is better for the occasional recovery of previously written data at specific times. A good backup solution that survives an erase and install (there is no clean install in Mac OS X), is a clone, and preferably TWO clones. See my FAQ*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
Time Machine can work as good as a clone, and in fact I once had to rely on it because my hard drive died. Thankfully it did recover everything. But I had my clone just in case it didn't work. Now I feel more comfortable since clones allow you to boot themselves, and thus prove all the important system information got saved, and not just the user data.
Clones are also easier to import with the migration assistant.

Brand new MBP and the user directory is corrupt?

hi, i just installd my new MBP and did a sync of my G5 settings (all except bookmarks) added a few things to my desktop and when i rebooted the desktop was cleared and the home directory was missing "Movies" "Music" "Pictures" in the left most column. all that is left is "Applications" and my user home symbol.
i tried to create a new user and when i did so was given a message that the "home" folder could not be located. weird.
anyway. i also installed a canon IP4300 driver. can anyone tell me what may be going on? do i need to erase the drive and do a fresh install?
UPDATE: i see what happened! the User directory somehow got into the Applications folder! no idea how. but i can't seem to get it out. can anyone help me out?
thx
Message was edited by: Frank Jacob

Open the Applications folder and drag the Users folder inside to the top level of the hard disk; you may need to press the Command key when dragging the item and/or provide an administrator username and password. When done, log out and back in. If only the home folder is present in the Applications folder, move it to the Users folder. Rename existing items as needed.
(25013)

Moving the Users directory

Here are two tutorials explaining how to move your Users folder to a different drive in Windows 8 (very straightforward) and Windows 7 (a bit more difficult). You need two drives or one partitioned drive.
Windows 8 (I did it yesterday, it took 15 minutes, I don't see any difference in terms of performance, and I have now a system drive and a data drive) :
http://www.itnota.com/move-users-directory-to-a-different-drive-in-windows-8/
Windows 7 (not tested) :
http://lifehacker.com/5467758/move-the-users-directory-in-windows-7/
Make sure you have a backup of your current installation before proceeding !
X220t | i7 | 320GB HDD | 8GB RAM | WIN7 PRO
IdeaCenter A520 | i5 | 1 TB HDD | 6GB RAM | WIN8.1
Solved!
Go to Solution.

IMPORTANT UPDATE
Moving the Users directory might stop you from upgrading Windows 8 to 8.1 (the process will fail). If this happens to you, here is what to do.
Please refer to this page (same as above) and repeat steps 2 to 6 to access the command prompt. Then type
C:\Windows\System32>C:
C:\>rmdir Users (this will delete the junction, that is, the link to the Users directory location)
Now, you need to find out which is your Data drive (that you moved your Users directory to).The best way is to type
C:\>dir D:
C:\>dir E:
and so on, until you see your Users directory. Let's say this drive has the letter X.
C:\>robocopy /copyall /mir /xj X:\Users C:\Users
Then reboot, and voilà, the Users directory is back on C: and you are now able to upgrade Windows 8 to WIndows 8.1.
X220t | i7 | 320GB HDD | 8GB RAM | WIN7 PRO
IdeaCenter A520 | i5 | 1 TB HDD | 6GB RAM | WIN8.1

Partitioning the HD with the second partition as the Users directory

Please help. Does anybody know how to do this, Boot drive is the first partition and the second partition is the Users directory. Please provide step by step instructions if possible. Thanks

yes you can, but I would advise against doing so.
The purpose is usually to use another disk drive to improve performance. Using a partition on the same drive just adds longer seeks from head movement instead.
you can use FW but if the drive is not available, does not power on or mount, you can run into problem of creating a default account and messing up the /Volumes directory.
In "Missing Manual" and elsewhere the easy way is to just open NetInfo Manager, click on Users tab, then your short-name. Authenticate and change the value for "home" from /Users/account-name to
/Volumes/vol-name/Users/account-name
Save, update, restart the netinfo database, logout and log back in.
You are better off usually with two drives on separate buses, not on the same bus but different channels to improve I/O and to keep the boot drive free of media files etc to help performance and maintenance.
You can also change /Users to another volume and use a symbolic link in its place. Changing Home Directory
G4 MDD WD 320 OEM 9600 1.75GB SoftAID 3 Mac OS X (10.4.7) Mac Pro "rev 2" (hopefully)

How do I delete a Pages file from the Users directory?

Browsing my new MacBook I've spotted that a version of one of my earliest Pages docs is stored directly in the Users directory. There is no option in Finder to delete it. I can drag a copy elsewhere, but I want to get rid of it completely. How do I achieve this?
Thanks.

Hi Andrew,
You need to go to your Users Library...
users/yourname/library/application support/iwork/pages/templates/my templates
If using Lion... in Finder, hold down the Option key while clicking on the Go menu and your users Library will appear...

How to disable the User directory in Shared Services?

Hello,
We need to disable (Not Delete) the User Directory in Hyperion Shared Services. We are using the Hyperion version 9.3.1. Is there a way we can do this?
Thanks
S

From the 9.3.1 docs:
"If you do not want to use a configured user directory that was used for provisioning, remove it from the search order so that the user directory is not searched for users and groups. This action maintains the integrity of provisioning information. It also enables you to use the user directory at a later time, if needed."
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E10530_01/doc/epm.931/html_cas_help/frameset.htm?removesearchord.htm
Cheers
John
http://john-goodwin.blogspot.com/

File open dialog to just get the user selected file name

Hi,
I am working on asynchronous file storage to KPRO through my ABAP WD application. For this asynchronous upload
operation, I just need the file name and file path(not the content). The KPRO servers could be made to use SAPFTP, SAPHTTP in the background to upload documents (triggered via tRFC's).
Is it possible to have a file open dialog (similar to java file open) which just returns the file path and file name instead of the
content? Current fileUpload UI element also loads the content which is not desired behaviour for me (because could be a performance problem with large documents uploading).
Is it possible to select multiple filenames? Thomas Jung's Flash island multiple upload works, but not in my
asynchronous scenario. Because flex fileReferenceList + upload operation works synchronously.

You must remember the START-OF-SELECTION event here, after you select the file name and click F8, the START-OF-SELECTION event is triggered, but if it is not there, nothing will happen.
if sy-subrc <> 0 or l_rc < 0.
    message id sy-msgid type sy-msgty number sy-msgno       "mo271101
    with sy-msgv1 sy-msgv2 sy-msgv3 sy-msgv4.
else.                                                     "mo271101
    read table l_files index 1 into h_files.
    auszfile = h_files-filename.
endif.
start-of-selection.            "<-- Add this
write:/ auszfile.
Regards,
RIch Heilman

Time Machine does not backup home/user directory (on separate drive)

I recently installed a SSD into my Mini. Due to size restrictions, my home/user directory has to be kept on another drive. I retained the stock 1TB drive that came with the Mini for this.
Ok, installed the SSD, restored a Time Machine backups (sans user data). Used a different admin user and configured my user to use the 1TB drive for it's home directory (/Volumes/1TB/home/<user>). Restart, log in as my user, all is good. All data, settings, etc is there. Everything looks normal.
Time Machine REFUSES to backup this directory. It will backup the 1TB drive and anyting else I create in it, but not the home directory. I tried every permission trick I could think of or found online. I even tested it further by formatting the 1TB drive fresh, adding a new user, configuring the user to use the 1TB for their home directory and it still won't back it up (this was a test of permissions the OS set, to make sure I didn't change my data perms somewhere along the way). Time Machine would not backup the new user's home directory on the 1TB drive.
Any thoughts? I can't be the first person to have their home directory on a non-OS drive.
If I were to create a folder/file in /Volumes/1TB/<test file> ... Time Machine gets it perfect. It just will NOT touch /Volumes/1TB/home/<anything here>
Thanks!

Open the Time Machine preference pane and unlock the settings, if necessary. Click the Options button. If there is one particular folder with items that are not being backed up reliably, add it to the list of excluded items. If there are many such folders, add your home folder to the list, or add a whole volume (i.e., what Apple calls a "disk.") Save the changes.
Start a backup, or wait for one to happen automatically. When it's done, open the preference pane again and remove the exclusion(s) you made earlier. Back up again and see whether there's a change.

How do I relocate the user directory?

I have a new iMac with SSD and HHD. I want to just leave the OS and apps on SSD and relocate user directories to the HHD, but Migration Assistant doesn't recognize trhe HDD. How do I do this properly?

Do not perform the following steps while the account you are working with is active. Create a new administrator account with a different account name to perform all these steps.
1- Boot using the HD (i.e. the platter drive, what you're alternately calling the HHD and HDD). Create a user account with the exact same name and password as the one you're using on the SSD. Then reboot into the SSD.
2- Go to System Preferences->Accounts. Look for the account you want to work with. Right-click on the account name in the left sidebar and choose ADVANCED OPTIONS.
3- Look for the line that is labeled HOME DIRECTORY. Click on the CHOOSE button to the right of the entry field of this line. Navigate to the UserAccountName folder you created on the HD and select it. Then click the OK button at the lower-right of the ADVANCED OPTIONS window and close the System Preferences application.
4- Now copy the UserAccountName folder from the SSD to the HD, overwriting the one currently on the HD.
5- Restart the computer, booting into the SSD. You can now log into the copied/moved user account.
6- Perform some tests to be sure this "took" properly. You might want to perform a Permissions Repair using the Disk Utility application.
edit: You can see an earlier discussion about this here:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/9932616#9932616
Message was edited by: John Hammer1

I have a 2nd gen Mac book air with Lion. The hard disk has filled up even though i keep my data , music etc on hard drive . I used disk inspector to find where problem was and it is 20GB in the hidden files under the user directory can i resolve this ?

I have a 2nd Gen MAc book Air with Lion . The 60GB hard disc has quickly filled up despite me keeping most of my data on a portable hard drive . I used disk inspector to locate the problem but found that it was was in 20 GB of hidden files in my user directory . Is this correct and is there anything i can do about it ? Using disk inspector you can not see individual hudden diretories or files. I did unhide them but there is a mass of diretories etc and so no way i could see if this is one or multiple files using the space. Library System and Applications are at 4 3 and 3 GB respectvely. The data I actually keep on there is 9GB Thanks for any help

I think the problem is Quick Time Player. I am using OS 10.6.8 by the way.
I tried it out again.
I had about 26 GB of space before I played an .avi video.
After the movie started to play (it was slow to load), I got a warning message that my startup disk was full. I opened Disk Utility and it told me I had no space left (about 20 MB or something like that was left).
I watched to the end of the movie.
Then I quit Quicktime Player.
And I shut down the computer.
I turned on the computer and checked Disk Utility. I have about 26 GB of space.
I think for some reason Quicktime Player uses up a lot of the disk space when it runs movies that are problematic. This movie I was watching did not open with vlc.
I normally use vlc to watch movies.
Probably it doesn't use up this much space when the movie is OK.
I think there's a problem with this particular movie. It is about 50 MB so it's not that big a file. I watch .smi subtitles with it. The Quicktime Player automatically loads the subtitle file in this case because the subtitle file has the same name as the movie file.
I watched about 10 movie files from the same series that I downloaded together and did not have any problem watching them. I watched them on vlc. But this latest movie had problems I think (as I repeat). It did not load on vlc even though I waited for a minute, and normally movies load instantly on vlc.
So I think that movie file caused problems. It made QT player use up a lot of hard disk space.
I had better avoid watching that movie in the future. I don't want it to wreck my hard drive.
So to sum up, everything is back to normal. I have the hard disk space that I should have. However, I am scared of damaging my hard drive due to shonky movie files that eat up all the space when they are played using QT player, and so I will not watch those files in the future, as I do not know why the files do that.

The user Directory publishing service reported an error

Some but not all of my users get this error when trying to
connect to my CPS managed server:
Directory publishing service reported an error.
Error Details: End of file or no input:'Operation interupted
or timed out'
I've deleted, and recreated the users, but they get the same
error. The users connect via file share, and are located at one
site where this occours?
Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,
The corresponding entry MAC is available in the following
file:
<User>/Library/Preferences/Contribute 4.1 preferences.
Please open this file and search for the following entry,
"cps notification repsonse timeout" This is under the
[SETTINGS] in the file.
Please note that this entry gets created only when some
actions (for example Publish) are performed after connecting to CPS
Thanks,
Radhika

How to determine which cell the user has just left?

I want to check the contents of a JTable cell just after the user has left that cell.
What is the most reliable way to determine which cell the user has just left?

Hi,
I use the cellRenderer for that... if the value is not correct, I call an editCellAt() method...
JRG

File upload....How to find the user entered any file or not

Hi Team,
I am working on with file upload UI.
Some times without clicking on browse button, I mean without entering any file they are cliking on upload button, which is giving the exception.
I know there is no action for UI element, Then how to resolve this?
I just control the user, not to press the upload button without entering any file name there?
How to resolve this?
regards,
Bala

Hi,
This code will solve ur problem.
public void onActionUploadFile(com.sap.tc.webdynpro.progmodel.api.IWDCustomEvent wdEvent )
    //@@begin onActionUploadFile(ServerEvent)
    IWDAttributeInfo attributeInfo = wdContext.getNodeInfo().getAttribute(IPrivateFileUploadDownloadView.IContextElement.FILE_RESOURCE);
    IWDModifiableBinaryType binaryType = (IWDModifiableBinaryType)attributeInfo.getModifiableSimpleType();
    IPrivateFileUploadDownloadView.IContextElement element = wdContext.currentContextElement();
    if(element.getFileResource() !=null)
         try
              String mimeType = binaryType.getMimeType().toString();
              byte[] file = element.getFileResource();
              //element.s
              wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportMessage(IMessageFileUploadDownloadComp.SF__UPLOAD,new Object[] {binaryType.getFileName()},false);
         catch(Exception e)
              throw new WDRuntimeException(e);
    else
          wdComponentAPI.getMessageManager().reportMessage(IMessageFileUploadDownloadComp.NO__FILE,new Object[] {" "},true);
    //@@end
Here "fileresource" is context attribute name
Regards,
Sunaina Reddy T

Is it sufficient to just backup the users directory?

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