Retrospect vs. time machine?

In connection to a recent question about a failed HD on our server in the office, I was talking with a friend who strongly urged me to dump Retrospect in favor of just using time machine. (note we don't actually run leopard right now, we would need to upgrade) I wanted to pose the question to the forum hear with our setup to see if anyone had any expert opinions before we move forward here.
Currently our office has 6 macs all running tiger and being backed up nightly to a dedicated 500gb drive on a Powermac G5 we use as a file server. Now, keep in mind, i didn't setup this server/backup configuration, i just happen to be in the office and am knowledgeable about how to fix it when it goes wrong. So problem one with this scenario is that the backups have no back up, and of course what went wrong recently is that this 500gb drive that Retrospect is writing to died. But more to the point of how to run a backup, my friend believes that when running backups in an office environment that is relatively low traffic/file size where everything is a mac, retrospect is overkill.
the problem with upgrading machines to leopard and running time machine seems that we would have to buy individual FW drives for each machine in the office as backing up across a network seems dodgy unless you use a time capsule. without a lot of in depth knowledge, Time machine seems mostly useful for needing to pull up a two week old version of a file which is something we don't really need.
All we need is a reliable and simple solution that is making regular backups of the machines in the office in case one of them dies a horrible death. i guess the heart of this question is, is using retrospect in an office where no one really knows what it is doing or how to ever retrieve files from it if a drive dies really helpful? would a more user friendly approach here be better? is it worth dumping and using time machine? if dumping it and using time machine what would be the drawbacks?
thanks.

Here's the deal with TM. All users can maintain there own individual machine backups to the shared drive, but that drive needs to have at least twice the capacity of the sum of all the drive capacities that will be backed up. If each computer has a 100 GB hard drive, then 6 computers require 1.2 TBs of storage space for the TM backup drive (6 x 100GBs x2) at a minimum.
Non-TM solutions would require half the space required for TM provided backups are non-archival - old files are simply replaced by new ones at each backup. Furthermore, TM backs up every hour. It is not suited to a "once per day" backup schedule. Retrospect is better suited for that. Note that there are other backup utilities you could use instead of Retrospect:
Backup Software Recommendations
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
9. SilverKeeper 2.0 (Freeware)
10. Tri-Backup (Commercial)
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
All of the above including Retrospect are capable making bootable clones and doing scheduled backups (full and incremental) at the schedule of your choice (once daily or less or more frequently.) All (excluding Retrospect) have relatively easy to use and understand user interfaces. However, except for Retrospect they would require partitioning the backup drive so that each user would backup to their own respective backup partition. They are not suited to creating multiple and independent machine backups on a single large backup volume.
I do not know what your maximum storage requirements might be and if you should replace the backup drive you are now using with a larger drive. However, you can provide some redundancy to your hardware by pairing two backup drives (in a single enclosure) into a mirrored RAID. A mirrored RAID uses two drives each of which is a replica of the other. All data written to one drive is automatically mirrored on the other drive. This protects your backup in the event of a drive failure. Although one drive is a backup of the other, a mirrored RAID does not eliminate the need for a way to backup the backup. That may be done with either one large drive to which you backup the backup drive (or mirrored RAID) or a second mirrored RAID. This provides both backup protection and redundancy to help prevent data loss. I use a scheme like this. My main startup volume is backed up daily to a mirrored RAID. Once per week I make a backup of the mirrored RAID to another single backup drive. A good friend of mine does something similar to me but once per month he backs up to a third backup drive. That drive is then stored off-site until the next monthly backup. He does this to avoid loss of data due to theft, vandalism, fire, etc.
RAID Basics
For basic definitions and discussion of what a RAID is and the different types of RAIDs see RAIDs. Additional discussions plus advantages and disadvantages of RAIDs and different RAID arrays see:
RAID Tutorial;
RAID Array and Server: Hardware and Service Comparison>.
Hardware or Software RAID?
RAID Hardware Vs RAID Software - What is your best option?
RAID is a method of combining multiple disk drives into a single entity in order to improve the overall performance and reliability of your system. The different options for combining the disks are referred to as RAID levels. There are several different levels of RAID available depending on the needs of your system. One of the options available to you is whether you should use a Hardware RAID solution or a Software RAID solution.
RAID Hardware is always a disk controller to which you can cable up the disk drives. RAID Software is a set of kernel modules coupled together with management utilities that implement RAID in Software and require no additional hardware.
Pros and cons
Software RAID is more flexible than Hardware RAID. Software RAID is also considerably less expensive. On the other hand, a Software RAID system requires more CPU cycles and power to run well than a comparable Hardware RAID System. Also, because Software RAID operates on a partition by partition basis where a number of individual disk partitions are grouped together as opposed to Hardware RAID systems which generally group together entire disk drives, Software RAID tends be slightly more complicated to run. This is because it has more available configurations and options. An added benefit to the slightly more expensive Hardware RAID solution is that many Hardware RAID systems incorporate features that are specialized for optimizing the performance of your system.
For more detailed information on the differences between Software RAID and Hardware RAID you may want to read: Hardware RAID vs. Software RAID: Which Implementation is Best for my Application?

Similar Messages

Time Machine vs. Retrospect

My brother is migrating from an old, PowerPC Mac Mini to a new (Intel) one and he has been using Retrospect for his backups. Now that he's moving to 10.8, he's thinking of moving to Time Machine (TM) for backup and discarding Retrospect.
I'm looking for recommendations for/against using Time Machine instead of Retrospect. Here's my evaluation.
Time machine has several advantages:
a. Runs automatically each hour so he is always backed up; no need to remember to do a backup.
b. As an Apple product, he can get support on it at the Apple Store.
c. Much easier to restore files. And again, someone at the Apple Store can help him do this if I'm not available.
d. Retrospect support is recommending that he update from 8 to 10 so using TM would save him the upgrade fee.
Disadvantages of TM (relative to Retrospect):
a. Requires a hard drive to be powered on all the time which uses a bit of electricity and may be a little noisy.
b. Time Machine is bundled with MacOS so it may not be possible to maintain it without upgrading to each new version of MacOS.
c. He could set up Retrospect to automatically back up other computers in his home.
d. He could use his old PowerPC Mac Mini as a backup server.
I would appreciate other people's ideas on the merits of using Time Machine as a backup solution.
Thank you.
- nello

Chamar:
Yes, SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner are good for creating bootable backups.
But, I don't think that they will create a versioned backup, one with copies of many differnt versions of the same file.
I know that a lot of people use both TM and of of these two so that they a bootable backup in addition to an archival backup.
Joe Kissell covers this in a recent MacWorld article:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2013249/bullet-proof-backups-when-you-absolutely -cant-lose-any-data.html
I'm really trying to decide whether to continue with Retrospect or not.
Thank you for your input.
- nello

Time Machine vs. Retrospect Express

I just bought a Mac Mini and an external hard drive to utilize Time Machine. The external hard drive comes with Retrospect Express, and I'm wondering if there's any point in installing it.
Is there a consensus on which is better?

Personally I don't use TM because of its reliability problems. Retrospect is a better choice in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't believe Retrospect Express can create a bootable backup. Other alternatives include:
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 (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
If using TM is your choice then you do not need to install Retrospect Express.

Retrospect Express to Time Machine

Hello. I will be upgrading shortly to a new iMac. I presently am using Retrospect Express (RE) on my eMac for backup. I assume it will be better to use the Apple Time Machine backup with the iMac. Can someone comment on this and also advise me how to do it, ie: would I just delete all RE from my eMac prior to transferring all my files to the iMac? Hope someone can help. Thanks.

Ahh, I can see how my comment may have been confusing then.
What I was recommending was:
1) make a time machine backup on an external drive on the eMac (if you have enough space)
2) when the new Mac arrives and you boot it up, there will be the welcome screen for the installation
3) this screen has a menu at the top, with an Utilities pulldown, and in that is an option to restore from time machine backup
4) the next step (first time machine restore screen) has a little 'gotcha' in that you have to actually click the HD for your new computer in order to be able to continue
It will then just simply put the whole eMac backup onto the new computer, including apps and everything.
This may work or may not work, depending on how the old installation can deal with the new hardware ... but since it is so simple, it may be worth a try, because if it works, you'll be at home on the new machine within an hour so.
If it does not work you can boot from the install CDs that come with the new Mac, do a clean fresh Snow Leopard install and then migrate just your user data to the new computer (as rkaufmann recommended). This can be done via ad-hoc firewire network (as far as I know you can just hook two Macs together via firewire cable and use the Migration Assistant from the Applications,Utilities folder) or also from a time machine backup.
Makes sense? If not, please simply ignore my posts. What rkaufmann says above makes perfect sense too, I was merely offering that a complete restore was quite simple and thus may be worth trying to just move the whole machine forward that way.
And I second him that time machine is a good thing to have, not matter what kind of import (full with app or data only) you do. Apple really makes it easy with TM.
Message was edited by: Shimodax

Time Machine for clients + Network Home folders?

I currently use Retrospect to back up my client machines, but frankly I don't like it that much. I'd really like to have Time Machine working for all of the client machines so that the users can easily grab copies of their own backups, rather than having to request them from me. I plan to continue to use Retrospect to back up the data on the server and to back up non-Leopard and non-OS X clients.
However, I'm also hoping to move some or all of my OS X clients to network home directories. I saw some mention in a forum that Time Machine doesn't work with network home directories, but I can't find anything about this in the server documentation. Is this true? Can't I have my network home directory clients back up their home directories to another share point using Time Machine?
Thanks in advance for any information on this or alternative ideas.
Greg

found the answer ;-)
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3247301

Time Machine & Hard Drive Spinup Question

For years I've used a manual, whole-disk backup--usually once a week. I backup all personal files daily. I've used Dantz Retrospect, Synchronize X Pro and now I use MimMac. All have functioned well.
I'm considering switching to Time Machine for my backups; however, I was wondering if the following would occur should I use Time Machine with a physically or wirelessly connected USB or Firewire drive:
After a few minutes, an external drive that is mounted on the desktop will spin down--like it should. But...each time a "Save" or "Save As..." dialog box is opened in any application, things will grind to halt for a few seconds while the external drive spins up--even though I will not be saving files to that drive. I've always hated that, which is one reason I've always done manual backups.
Does that happen with Time Machine (either with a drive physically or wirelessly connected via Export Extreme) and is there any way to avoid that? I know that the external drive will spinup each hour when Time Machine does its backups, but it's all the other spinups that I want avoid.
Is it possible to manually turn on and turn off Time Machine (and the external drive) so as to only do manual backups like I'm doing now? I don't really care about looking up a prior version of file that I've changed. I just want a reasonably current whole-disk backup.

Scott Newman wrote:
After a few minutes, an external drive that is mounted on the desktop will spin down--like it should. But...each time a "Save" or "Save As..." dialog box is opened in any application, things will grind to halt for a few seconds while the external drive spins up--even though I will not be saving files to that drive. I've always hated that, which is one reason I've always done manual backups.
Does that happen with Time Machine (either with a drive physically or wirelessly connected via Export Extreme) and is there any way to avoid that?
It happens with TM. I am not sure of any convenient work-arounds. You can of course eject the drive and reattach it when you want to make a backup, but that's a bit inconvenient, IMO.
Is it possible to manually turn on and turn off Time Machine (and the external drive) so as to only do manual backups like I'm doing now? I don't really care about looking up a prior version of file that I've changed. I just want a reasonably current whole-disk backup.
Yes, TM has an on/off switch. Just turn it off until you want a backup. It will simply continue where it left off. It will not create a completely new backup.

Reliability of Time Machine on Snow Leopard Server

I ran across a message that even though Time Machine is included in OSX 10.6 Server, Apple does not support its use in this system.
Now I can't find it again. Is that true?
Not trying to clone an entire computer, just the Library (for WebServer and QuickTime Streaming), would it be reliable enough for this?
I am using the second internal drive for the backup disk, and already have the entire computer backed up to an external image.
Not asking about strategy, but does Time Machine work reliably for what I am doing?
Second question, is TimeMachineEditor a good way to change the backup time in OSX Server 10.6?
Want to now make it in the middle of the night.
Thanking anyone for answers.
Frank
(I have to say this new forum structure is poor compared to the last one! Much harder to find topics and subtopics, who cares about the fancy toolbar)

It's actually quite usual for backup programs to suck at databases. I believe that even the high end backup systems like Retrospect etc have to take the database off line before it'll successfully perform the backup.
Databases just don't like to be backed up! In fact, if you tail the log in OS X server, when you perform an archive on it, it checks to make sure that the parts of the database that it's backing up that moment are not in use. For a program like time machine, that would just not be reasonable considering the way that it's designed to work.
They include it with OS X server so that tech guys like us can tell it NOT to back up things like the .mach folder and the /System Folder. ...and the netboot images etc. Most importantly, we tell it NOT to back up the Database files.
What it SHOULD back up is those files that your users can delete accidentally. That way you get to look like the hero when you get it back for them!
All that said... Here's what I do with time machine:
I don't back up any files that are duplicated everywhere else. (netboot images, restore images, CD/DVD images) I don't back up Mail, MySQL, and OD. Lastly, I don't back up my Roaming Profile shared folder.
Since my Open Directory only has user information in it, and I don't often delete or add users, I only perform an archive every other month or so.
MySQL gets a back up once a month. - though I only use the MySQL databases for a Forum that I've set up for the students at my school. If they lose a months of social networking posts, I'm not too concerned about it.
Mail... Well, I don't actually use mail on OS X. Being an education institution, we get google apps for free. So I got that route. One less thing to manage.

Can I use Time Machine on two different Hard Drives?

Hi, I have a Time Capsule on which I make my Time Machine back up every time, but I also want to back up all my data on another external HD using Time Machine as well... how can I do that? Thx

Alfonso, let me give you a warning. What you want to do should work, but does not work well for me. Here's my story:
I have Time Machine (TM) backing up a MacBook Pro to a Time Capsule (TC) on my home wired network. First backup (BU) took 24 hours. Subsequent incremental backups were very fast and convenient. All was working well.
About 6 weeks setting up TM/TC, I had to take my MacBook in for repairs. Being paranoid, I wanted a second backup, so I connected the computer to an external LaCie drive via FW800. Second BU also took 24 hours, even over the MUCH faster firewire connection. That really hacked me off, so I got CarbonCloner and made a bootable image on another external LaCie drive over FW800. That took only 2 hours.
I got the computer back from Apple after repairs and directed TM to start backing up to the original TC drive (no changes to the drive during repair). The TM software decided it had to do another initial backup! As I write this, it's been running 36 hours and has completed only 19 of 76 GB. This is MUCH MUCH worse than the first initial backup.
I want to like this TM software because of the convenience, but it is really crap and unusable in my opinion. With my setup, I simply cannot switch to a second backup drive without triggering another lousy initial LONG BU process. Frankly, I really regret buying TC and trying TM.
I used to use Retrospect with great success with the two external LaCie drives, but they went into the toilet when EMC bought them and spun them out. The quality of the software has really suffered and it is very buggy now.
So, unfortunately, it looks like my best strategy is to use CarbonCloner and the two LaCie drives.

Time Machine and Time Capsule don't seem to work well together?

Reposted.
I get the feeling there are some serious problems with the combination of Time Machine and Time Capsule.
This is extremely disappointing, as the idea of a centralized backup device on the network (instead of disks attached to each and every computer we have running Leopard) seemed like such a good idea and a good way to supplement our tape-based backup that takes place with Retrospect.
In reality, it's a disaster on both Intel and PowerPC systems. All systems and the Time Capsule are fully up to date with software updates from Apple. I have two 1TB Time Capsule units. It goes something like this:
1. I have a few systems (mainly Intel) that work perfectly with the Time Capsule. There are no complaints and no issues at all. These systems just quietly run their backups as they should. They are the definite minority--maybe one or two have worked properly.
2. I have some systems that complain from time to time (mainly PowerPC) but will back up with a little encouragement. These too are the minority.
3. And finally, I have systems that are nothing but pain. These are both Intel and PowerPC systems. They are also the majority of the systems I have. The most common problem is sudden loss of the credentials needed to access the Time Capsule hardware--a user will be going along about their business when the Mac OS asks for the Time Capsule user name and password--after it's already been supplied and backups have been running. This should simply never ever happen.
Another charming behavior I've seen is corruption of the sparse disk image file that each computer creates on the Time Capsule. Time Machine will complain that it can't perform the backup, and examining the disk image file with Disk Utility shows it to be severely damaged. Turning off Time Machine, deleting the corrupted sparse image file, and starting over fixes it. For a while.
Finally, there are the machines (again, both Intel and PowerPC) that just can't seem to actually get through the first backup run. They either go so far and can't continue, or never actually manage to get started. I've checked the disks in these computers and found no problem with the hardware or file system. The installations are fresh and fully up to date.
Meanwhile, I have computers running Leopard with directly attached disks configured for use with Time Machine. One is a QuickSilver that isn't even officially supported by Leopard, with a Firewire attached disk. It doesn't skip a beat. The other is an Intel Mac mini being used with Mac OS X Server 10.5.4 and a USB external hard drive. These machines just do their thing, and I never have to babysit them.
These problems with the Time Capsule have been so severe that I've just given up on most of the computers and shut off Time Machine entirely. We have tape backups that run over the week, so it's not a huge loss. But that's not what really made me throw up my hands and say "enough"...no, that was the speed. Even with just one computer backing up to it, the Time Capsule seemed terribly slow. Watching the progress indicator was just painful.
I put in a word about all of this to my independent Apple dealer, and they say I'm definitely not the first to complain about some or all of these problems. In fact, they told me they were going to set up a test lab in their shop to see if they could duplicate these findings. I have no doubt that they can.
There are a total of seven computers backing up to one Time Capsule. They all store maybe ~40GB worth of data including the OS. There are about six computers on the other. Because of the way the network is laid out, the Time Capsule is connected to a Gigabit switch (and that is the only thing it's connected to). It cannot be used as the router, although I know Apple suggests this. The Airport section is disabled--I have no need or desire to use it. Some computers link up at 100 megabits, others at 1 gigabit. There are no network problems--we have no problems moving large amounts of data across the same network to our tape backup machine.
Is anyone else seeing these kinds of problems? Am I doing something wrong or expecting too much from Time Capsule?

I may be on to something. The Time Capsules I have live in a telephone equipment room that is indoors but not directly air conditioned or heated. It doesn't ever get too hot to be comfortable in there--the highest I've ever seen the temperature was 80 degrees (F). Most of the time the temperature is between 60-78 degrees.
I happened to touch one of them the other day while it was in use, and I noticed that the casing was hot to the touch...not dangerously so I suppose, but much hotter than I would have expected.
So I turned a small fan on both Time Capsules and have left it running. And I've noticed that not only do backups seem to complete more quickly, the reliability is also better. I am going to try some of my most troublesome computers once again just to see what happens.
I know there is a fan pointed at the hard drive in the Time Capsule, but I can't see how it does much in the way of cooling things down. In my opinion, it's just surrounded by too many heat producing devices to do much good...after all, not only is there a 7200 RPM hard disk in there, but also a 500MHz Marvell processor and radio set.

Time Machine "cleaning up" in the middle of my initial backup

I am trying to backup using time machine to a brand new external firewire drive that I've just formatted. The initial backup is about 150GB and about 20GB of the way into the backup time machine stops copying and the status window says "cleaning up" and then things seem to hang indefinitely. I've already tried deleting time machine preferences, what's going on here and how can I fix?
Message was edited by: Jensen Gelfond

Well deleting stuff won't help in the middle of a backup. Cancel the backup and re-prep the backup drive as follows:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Reconfigure TM preferences to select the backup drive and configure your backup preferences, then let TM do its work.
Note that before performing a backup you should be sure that the system you are backing up is clean. So I would consider some basic things:
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
B. 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.x is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.5.1 or higher are Intel Mac compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. Versions 1.5.1 or later are 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. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts had been significantly reduced in Tiger and Leopard. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard and should not be installed.
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. Other utilities are also available such as Onyx, Leopard Cache Cleaner, CockTail, and Xupport, for example.
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. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard.
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 not significant):
Backuplist
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
iBackup
JaBack
Silver Keeper
MimMac
Retrospect
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
ynchronizer
SuperDuper!
Synchronize Pro! X
SyncTwoFolders
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
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 CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
Message was edited by: Kappy

Time Machine Freezing in 10.6.1

Hi:
I've installed 10.6 and upgraded to 10.6.1. I found that Time Machine would no longer backup, instead freezing after backing up a few MB of my 92.42 GB material. I went through a series of trouble shooting steps, including trying to repair the sparse bundle. Disk Utility reported that this was unrepairable, so I deleted it and started again. This time the Time Machine backup got to 2.63 GB of 92.42 GB before freezing the Finder and requiring hard reboot. I am using Time Machine Buddy, so here's the log of the latest session:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Marty%[email protected]/Data
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Marty%[email protected]/Data
Creating disk image /Volumes/Data-1/Aquinas2.sparsebundle
Disk image /Volumes/Data-1/Aquinas2.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Backup content size: 118.8 GB excluded items size: 32.7 GB for volume Aquinas2
No pre-backup thinning needed: 103.28 GB requested (including padding), 647.36 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Any ideas of what might be wrong?
Marty Hewlett

Thanks, James:
The latest backup attempt did ultimately freeze. I'm posting this very long system log for you, from the time I changed the TM exclusion for the System folder through the forced restart. Anything you see that would be helpful in cleaning this up would be appreciated:
Oct 26 06:20:01 Macintosh-5 com.apple.backupd[11372]: System files exclusion changed.
Oct 26 06:20:52 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.netauth.sysagent[11430]): Exited with exit code: 255
Oct 26 06:25:51 Macintosh-5 com.apple.backupd[11372]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 8.81 GB requested (including padding), 810.44 GB available
Oct 26 06:33:35 Macintosh-5 ntpd[31]: time reset -0.202794 s
Oct 26 06:46:21 Macintosh-5 osascript[11598]: Error loading /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Unit Types: dlopen(/Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Unit Types, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:\n /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Unit Types: no matching architecture in universal wrapper
Oct 26 06:46:25 Macintosh-5 osascript[11701]: Error loading /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Unit Types: dlopen(/Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Unit Types, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:\n /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Unit Types: no matching architecture in universal wrapper
Oct 26 07:06:46 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[175] (com.apple.AddressBook.abd): The following job tried to hijack the service "com.apple.AddressBook.abd" from this job: [0x0-0x143143].com.apple.AddressBook.abd
Oct 26 07:18:53 Macintosh-5 SubmitDiagInfo[12664]: Submitted crash report: /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/RetroRun2009-10-25-200611localhost.crash
Oct 26 07:18:55 Macintosh-5 SubmitDiagInfo[12664]: SubmitDiagInfo successfully uploaded 1 diagnostic messages.
Oct 26 07:20:03 Macintosh-5 com.apple.backupd[11372]: Copied 2.6 GB of 6.9 GB, 41298 of 110014 items
Oct 26 07:43:03 Macintosh-5 [0x0-0x14a14a].org.mozilla.firefox[12749]: Debugger() was called!
Oct 26 08:06:46 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[175] (com.apple.AddressBook.abd): The following job tried to hijack the service "com.apple.AddressBook.abd" from this job: [0x0-0x154154].com.apple.AddressBook.abd
Oct 26 08:20:03 Macintosh-5 com.apple.backupd[11372]: Copied 4.1 GB of 6.9 GB, 112381 of 112381 items
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 0
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 4
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 9
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 13
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 18
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 22
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 27
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 31
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 36
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 40
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 45
Oct 26 08:22:50: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Oct 26 08:22:50 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[211]: Notification: 50
Oct 26 08:30:06 Macintosh-5 Mail[13024]: Mail: SafetyNet not needed - wrongState:0
Oct 26 08:30:06 Macintosh-5 Mail[13024]: Mail: SafetyNet issued SELECT before IDLE - wrongState:0
Oct 26 08:30:08 Macintosh-5 Mail[13024]: Mail: SafetyNet not needed - wrongState:0
Oct 26 10:14:17 localhost com.apple.launchd[1]: * launchd[1] has started up. *
Oct 26 10:14:24 localhost com.apple.launchd[1] (com.symantec.Sched501-2.plist): Unknown key: SchedName
Oct 26 10:14:24 localhost com.apple.launchd[1] (com.symantec.Sched501-4.plist): Unknown key: SchedName
Oct 26 10:14:24 localhost com.apple.launchd[1] (com.symantec.Sched501-6.plist): Unknown key: SchedName
Oct 26 10:14:25 localhost DirectoryService[16]: Improper shutdown detected
Oct 26 10:14:38 localhost mDNSResponder[22]: mDNSResponder mDNSResponder-212.1 (Jul 24 2009 22:34:12) starting
Oct 26 10:14:39 localhost com.apple.kextd[15]: Can't load /System/Library/Extensions/AmbrosiaAudioSupport.kext - no code for running kernel's architecture.
Oct 26 10:14:39 localhost com.apple.kextd[15]: Failed to load /System/Library/Extensions/AmbrosiaAudioSupport.kext - (libkern/kext) requested architecture/executable not found.
Oct 26 10:14:39 localhost configd[19]: network configuration changed.
Oct 26 10:14:39 Macintosh-5 configd[19]: setting hostname to "Macintosh-5.local"
Oct 26 10:14:39 Macintosh-5 com.apple.kextd[15]: Load com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport failed; removing personalities.
Oct 26 10:14:41 Macintosh-5 configd[19]: network configuration changed.
Oct 26 10:14:48: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Oct 26 10:14:43 Macintosh-5 fseventsd[47]: event logs in /.fseventsd out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (44899 30 50198)
Oct 26 10:14:43 Macintosh-5 fseventsd[47]: log dir: /.fseventsd getting new uuid: EDBBC560-8FD9-4B9F-8D9E-880ACC23BE2E
Oct 26 10:14:44 Macintosh-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/MacOS/loginwindow[43]: Login Window Application Started
Oct 26 10:14:44 Macintosh-5 com.apple.SystemStarter[37]: Starting Sophos Anti-Virus
Oct 26 10:14:44 Macintosh-5 com.apple.SystemStarter[37]: Starting Sophos AutoUpdate
Oct 26 10:14:46 Macintosh-5 bootlog[53]: BOOT_TIME: 1256573652 0
Oct 26 10:14:46 Macintosh-5 Parallels[86]: Loading kernel extension prl_hypervisor.kext
Oct 26 10:14:47 Macintosh-5 com.apple.usbmuxd[36]: usbmuxd-176 built for iTunesNine on Jul 20 2009 at 13:06:53, running 32 bit
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Parallels[104]: Loading kernel extension prlhidhook.kext
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Parallels[110]: Loading kernel extension prlusbconnect.kext
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Parallels[115]: Trying to load kernel extensions, exit status: 0
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Parallels[118]: Starting Parallels networking...
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Parallels[121]: Loading kernel extension prl_netbridge.kext
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Parallels[126]: Loading kernel extension prl_vnic.kext
Oct 26 10:14:48 Macintosh-5 Extractor[63]: Starting Extractor Daemon Mode.
Oct 26 10:14:50 Macintosh-5 blued[54]: Apple Bluetooth daemon started
Oct 26 10:14:51 Macintosh-5 SystemStarter[37]: Retrospect Startup Helper (79) did not complete successfully
Oct 26 10:14:51 Macintosh-5 SystemStarter[37]: The following StartupItems failed to start properly:
Oct 26 10:14:51 Macintosh-5 SystemStarter[37]: /Library/StartupItems/RetroRun
Oct 26 10:14:51 Macintosh-5 SystemStarter[37]: - execution of Startup script failed
Oct 26 10:14:53 Macintosh-5 com.apple.ReportCrash.Root[131]: 2009-10-26 10:14:53.165 ReportCrash[131:2903] Saved crash report for RetroRun[79] version ??? (???) to /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/RetroRun2009-10-26-101453localhost.crash
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 SymSharedSettingsd[132]: Settings server starting up.
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: objc[71]: Class QMacSoundDelegate is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: objc[71]: Class QNSMenu is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: objc[71]: Class QNSStatusItem is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: objc[71]: Class QNSImageView is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.navapdaemonsl[60]: (kernel) Kext com.symantec.kext.SymAPComm not found for unload request.
Oct 26 10:15:01 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.navapdaemonsl[60]: Failed to unload com.symantec.kext.SymAPComm - (libkern/kext) not found.
Oct 26 10:15:03 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: No suitable device found for PVS1.
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd[1] (com.parallels.vm.prl_naptd): Unknown key for boolean: SuccessfulExit
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 loginwindow[43]: Login Window Started Security Agent
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 prl_naptd[166]: Starting Parallels Network Daemon
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 prl_naptd[166]: en4: DHCP/NAT for 10.211.55.1-10.211.55.254 netmask 255.255.255.0
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 prl_naptd[166]: en5: DHCP for 10.37.129.1-10.37.129.254 netmask 255.255.255.0
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 configd[19]: network configuration changed.
Oct 26 10:15:06: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 loginwindow[43]: Login Window - Returned from Security Agent
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 loginwindow[43]: USER_PROCESS: 43 console
Oct 26 10:15:06 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[171] (com.apple.ReportCrash): Falling back to default Mach exception handler. Could not find: com.apple.ReportCrash.Self
Oct 26 10:15:07 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: Configuring en4...
Oct 26 10:15:07 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: No System Preferences changes required.
Oct 26 10:15:07 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: Configuring en5...
Oct 26 10:15:07 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon[64]: No System Preferences changes required.
Oct 26 10:15:07 Macintosh-5 Parallels[179]: Parallels networking sucessfully started
Oct 26 10:15:08 Macintosh-5 Parallels[188]: Restarting CiscoVPN
Oct 26 10:15:08 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[171] (com.apple.AddressBook.abd): The following job tried to hijack the service "com.apple.AddressBook.abd" from this job: [0x0-0x6006].com.apple.AddressBook.abd
Oct 26 10:15:08 Macintosh-5 SystemStarter[191]: Unknown service: CiscoVPN
Oct 26 10:15:08 Macintosh-5 Parallels[194]: Starting Parallels Dispatcher Service
Oct 26 10:15:09 Macintosh-5 WDButtonManager[182]: self-sent 'ascr'/'gdut' event accepted in process that isn't scriptable
Oct 26 10:15:09 Macintosh-5 WDButtonManager[182]: Initializer-based scripting additions have been deprecated. Please update this addition: "/Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax"
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 configd[19]: network configuration changed.
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[171] (com.apple.Kerberos.renew.plist[207]): Exited with exit code: 1
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[171] ([0x0-0xc00c].com.apple.AirPortBaseStationAgent[221]): Exited with exit code: 1
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.client.launch[211]: objc[211]: Class QMacSoundDelegate is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.client.launch[211]: objc[211]: Class QNSMenu is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.client.launch[211]: objc[211]: Class QNSStatusItem is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:12 Macintosh-5 com.parallels.desktop.client.launch[211]: objc[211]: Class QNSImageView is implemented in both /Library/Parallels/Parallels Service.app/Contents/MacOS/libQtGui.4.dylib and /usr/local/lib/libprl_sdk.dylib. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Oct 26 10:15:14 Macintosh-5 WindowServer[77]: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
Oct 26 10:15:14 Macintosh-5 com.apple.WindowServer[77]: Mon Oct 26 10:15:14 Macintosh-5.local WindowServer[77] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
Oct 26 10:15:17 Macintosh-5 com.symantec.uiagent.application[210]: objc[210]: Class XVariableHeightTextField is implemented in both /Library/Application Support/Symantec/SymUIAgent/PlugIns/ConfidentialDataAlert.bundle/Contents/MacOS /ConfidentialDataAlert and /Library/Application Support/Symantec/SymUIAgent/PlugIns/FileSecurityAlert.bundle/Contents/MacOS/Fil eSecurityAlert. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

Time Machine + Aperture = 1 Fried External Drive

Hi, I'm really hoping someone can help me. Last week, I set up my first TM update on a partitioned LaCie Mini 250GB. One partition was called "Laptop Backup." I had planned to use SuperDuper for it, but decided to use Time Machine instead. The other partition contained videos and images.
I set up the partition called "Laptop Backup" as the Time Machine drive. Time Machine successfully renamed the partition and changed its icon.
I started running Time Machine. It was working fine. So I thought I would also put my Aperture library on the other partition on the same hard drive (it was previously on my internal drive).
I imported all of my photos (thousands of them) from my internal drive and another external drive into the Aperture library. That seemed to work too. So I deleted the copies of the photos elsewhere and quit Aperture.
When I quit, Aperture said it was still compiling thumbnails and asked if I wanted to let it do its thing. I clicked "OK." Time Machine was still working merrily along at this point, but both Aperture and Time Machine looked they were going to take time to finish the processes they'd started. It was late, so I let them run while I slept.
In the morning, I woke up to find that Time Machine had gotten hung-up at around 10GB (of roughly 66 GB). I tried canceling the update, and then turning off Time Machine, but nothing happened. Aperture was also hanging. I tried force-quitting the applications, but no luck. So I shut off the drive.
Since then, the drive has been really sick. It mounts (though sometimes the partition with Aperture on it doesn't mount completely), but Finder, Disk Utility, and even Activity Monitor, causes it to freeze up completely. The partition set up for Time Machine has no reverted back to its original name, "Laptop Backup." From the sounds the drive makes, it seems like it is performing one task again and again. This will continue for about 15 minutes and then it just spins.
I have repaired the permissions on my internal HD several times. But attempts to repair or verify the external HD cause the system to crash. Likewise, I tried erasing the contents of the partition with the incomplete Time Machine backup, but Disk Utility cannot unmount the disk, and gets hung up.
I tried opening the Aperture library on the other partition, through Finder, but that caused Finder to crash. It was unable even to relaunch until I turned off the external drive.
I tried deleting the Aperture preferences file (~/library/preferences/com.apple.Aperture.plist, or whatever it is), but there isn't one.
I can't give up on the drive because all my photographs are there, and I need them for work. I'm really hoping there is something I can do to get at the drive, but I'm not familiar with command-line prompts and such.
Can anyone help me solve this problem? Many thanks,
ez

Ah, thanks. Sorry, I misunderstood.
Well, that didn't do it either, so I guess the answer to my question is that I'm pretty well f-d. I will try data recovery software. If that doesn't work, I'll find out how much a commercial data recovery service will cost and figure out if 190 GB of irreplaceable data is worth it.
Thank you both again for your helpful suggestions. I really appreciate your taking the time to help. I'll leave the thread open in case someone reading has a brainstorm, but in the meantime, thank you!
Apple, if you're reading, this is not OK. I lost huge chunks of my record collection with an iTunes update a few years back. Now I've lost all my photographs and dozens of Final Cut Pro projects, the product of years of travel and work, and I need to tell my boss that the dog ate my homework.
Too late for me, but could you please take a look at Time Machine and/or Aperture to try to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else? Seems like great, useful software, and for many people, I'm sure it is, but in this case it behaved like malware. In retrospect, my own actions were pretty stupid (loading processes like that, not keeping copies of the data elsewhere), but with a few painful exceptions, my Mac has withstood whatever I've thrown at it, and I got used to that. A temporary fix could be to limit the number of items you can add to an Aperture library at a time, or simply to prompt users to close Aperture before beginning Time Machine.
Nerowolfe, now that I've pretty much given up hope, maybe you could tell me whatever it was you didn't want to tell me I might have done? And you said that any use of the drive will probably overwrite existing data. I assume this doesn't include using data recovery software on the drive?
Thanks again, both,
ez

Restore from time machine to SSD/HDD iMac

Hi,
I had to erase HDD/SDD on my 2011 iMac with both SSD and HDD drives. The system was installed on the 256 GB SSD ("Macintosh HD) and the user accounts on the much larger 2 TB HDD ("Macintosh HD 2"). I was able to restore the SSD with the system, software etc. Also one smaller account that was previously on the SSD also made the cut. However, I didn't figure out how to restore also the contents to the HDD and whenever I've tried to use the Migration Assistant I was told that there is no need to restore the user accounts that were sitting on the HDD (in fact, Migration Assistant said that there is only "1 kb" to transfer). I've then tried to manually copy the user accounts from time machine (on a Time Capsule) to the HDD but I've waited for hours (my account is roughly 1 TB big) - only to get error messages about permissions. Same story happened when I tried to log into my empty user account and tried to use time machine to restore my folders.
How is this system supposed to work in the first place? Shouldn't the user accounts on the HDD be restored 'automatically' during a restore or when using migration assistant?
Look forward to hear from you.

samaki wrote:
"This user's data doesn't need to be transferred")
That seems to mean, their home folders aren't on the OSX drive, so Migration Assistant doesn't need to (or can't) transfer them.
We've asked Apple to address this, but it doesn't seem real common, and would make the Assistants rather complicated, especially for newbies.
I've tried out many things I had come to get used to from 12+ years on the Mac
Yeah, it ends up being a bit of a conundrum. That's why it's often best to leave the home folders on the Startup drive, but put the data on the HD.
I've made a note to try to find a better workaround for your situation (the Disk Utility thing is fine, space permitting). I tried a bunch of finagles when I wrote that page, but maybe something will turn up with a fresh start.
Retrospectively, perhaps, it was a mistake to have the time machine backup sitting on a user account specific folder on the time capsule (named after my first name) instead of the standard "Data". Both the setup assistant after flatting the drives and reinstalling 10.8 and the Migration Assistant seem to have had trouble to recognise the password protected location.
It does complicate things.
For the future I'd loved to know what one could do to streamline this should the need arise again?
What I'm thinking of is, if you still have access to the old Mac, to create default home folders on the SSD, point the accounts to them, so they can sign on. Then either transfer directly from the old Mac, or do a backup and transfer from it. Log on to each user account, copy the home folder, then redirect the account to that one. Sounds promising, but there are a couple of "gotchas" there, I think.
I'll let you know, and revise that page accordingly, if I figure something out.
Thanks for the feedback - - it gets me thinking.

Audio back-up software... Is Time machine an option?

Here's what's up...
I'm currently installing and re-authorizing everything under the sun, on my new 8 core mac.
One bit of software that I really made a lot of use of was LaCie's Silver keeper. It allowed me to keep a "list" of the 20 songs I was currently working on. You first designated a back-up location, and then proceeded to back up the song folder.
Then, from that point on, you simply selected the song title from the list, and hit "Go", and any changes made since that initial back-up were backed up as well. It went REALLy fast, because only the changes made from the last back-up were updated, so no redundant data was copied again.
I much prefer this method than backing up an entire drive, even if only recent changes are reflected. It still takes more time than I may have between songs, with clients in the studio.
All that to say, Silver Keeper is not Leopard compatible, and I certainly can't wait for it to be.
Does Time Machine allow you to designate specific folders within a hard drive? And can it access multiple hard drives, say, one for a complete system back-up, and another for daily or hourly audio back-ups?
Or is something like Retrospect a better choice for how I prefer to back-up my song files?
Just looking at new options...

I have SilverKeeper v1.1.4 and it works fine on 10.5.4.
I have a 160MB internal HD in my laptop.
I have a 500MB Lacie external FW drive which I have partitioned into music and internal HD backup.
On the Lacie Music partition I keep my Logic Projects
On the internal HD I keep all my programs/Loops/SW instruments
I have a 60MB external FW drive which I use to backup my Lacie external Music partition using SilverKeeper
I use Time Machine to backup my HD internal drive to the Lacie
Time Machine seems pretty "brute force" from what I can tell. Unlike SilverKeeper I can't find the sort of flexible options that SilverKeeper provides. But you should have no problem continuing to use SilverKeeper.
Good Luck

Any way to back up FAT formatted external hard drive to Time Machine?

I'm a photographer, and right now my library of photos is a complete mess. I have about 20 GB of photos on one external hard drive and about 30 GB on my Mac's built in hard drive. I recently purchased a new external hard drive to use with Time Machine. I was under the impression that I could back up everything on my first external hard drive to my new external hard drive. Little did I know, because my first external hard drive is FAT formatted, I cannot back it up to the Time Machine hard drive.
So my main question is this: is there any way to back up this FAT hard drive to my Time Machine hard drive? If I can't use Time Machine, do you have any other recommendations for backing up my entire photo library?
Thank you for your help!

A TM backup drive should be used just for TM backups. Buy another drive to use for your photo library. You can then use other backup utilities to keep it current such as:
Backup Software Recommendations
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
9. SilverKeeper 2.0 (Freeware)
10. MimMac (Commercial)
11. Tri-Backup (Commercial)
12. SyncTwoFolders (Freeware)
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
Message was edited by: Kappy

Retrospect vs. time machine?

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