Time Machine in addition to Super Duper

My previous backup external drive died and I just got a replacement. I have always used Super Duper (which is great) to back up my computers so that I have a bootable backup. The question is---does it make any sense to partition the drive so that there is one partition for Super Duper and a second for Time Machine? What benefit would Time Machine add?
Thanks

Keep in mind that TimeMachine backs up changes every hour, keeps daily backups for a month and weekly backups thereafter. At work my backup set is about 125GB and I began backing up to the current TM drive in August. The TM backup is now 244GB. Prior to upgrading to 10.6 my home computer's TM backup was nearly 3 times the size of the backup set. To me, the value of TM is the redundancy and its value is diminished when older backups have to be erased to make room for a new backup set. For this reason I recommend that a TM drive be no less than twice the size of the backup set and closer to three times the size. This is in addition to the SD! clone I keep.
If your external drive is large enough then yes, it is fine to partition it. If it isn't, use one method or the other and/or purchase a second backup drive. Also, keep in mind that SD! can be set to perform scheduled backups and it can also keep archives (copies of files that were changed since the last backup).

Similar Messages

Time Machine or External Using Super Duper

Apple is going to change the HD on my computer. I know little about Time Machine but I have been backing up my HD using Super Duper and a LaCie external HD. I think it's working out so far. That's what I have done before replacing the HD. So, when the new HD is installed, I can start up using the external and transfer files, i.e., mail, iTunes, Safari, Firefox etc. from the Application file on the external to the Application file on the computer with the new HD without any change in content. Any advantage using Time Machine over the way I intend to do it which should work. Any preferences or none?
I have already posted in a different Topic but on this sight regarding another aspect of this operation.

I generally can get Time Machine to work for a while. It takes way more effort to get it working and to keep it working than you'd expect for a Mac.
The most recent event was when I mounted my new 500 GB Hitachi drive in a new Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini, connected with Firewire 800 to my Mac Mini Server. I formatted the drive, using the 7-pass erase in Disk Utility, with no errors. I used disk utility to verify the file system on the drive before I started using it with Time Machine.
I configure Time Machine to use that new drive, and it starts up, but pukes fairly quickly. I Googled the error messages, and found lots of other people running into the same error.
First off, the disk would not unmount. Had to force unmount it.
Used Disk Utility to Repair the file system. It encountered no errors. So, then I used Disk Warrior to rebuild the directory structure on the disk. It found some things that it corrected. Since then, Time Machine has been working on that disk without further errors (overnight).
How many Apple customers are going to want to deal with force unmounts, running disk utility and disk warrior to tickle Time Machine back into working?
These are my log entries from the most recent Time Machine errors:
Dec 30 09:42:13 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Starting standard backup
Dec 30 09:42:13 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdbDec 30 09:42:13 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Detected system migration from:
/Volumes/Christopher-J-Shakers-Mac.localDec 30 09:42:17 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Backup content size: 406.7 GB excluded items size: 34.0 GB for volume MacMini
Dec 30 09:42:17 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 447.22 GB requested (including padding), 465.02 GB availableDec 30 09:42:17 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Waiting for index to be ready (
101)Dec 30 09:42:17 MacMini mds[42]: (Normal) DiskStore: Creating index for /Volumes
/Backups/Backups.backupdbDec 30 09:42:30 MacMini ntpd[33]: time reset -0.559108 sDec 30 09:42:54 MacMini JollysFastVNC[898]: (00599870.0592)-[NetworkConnection disconnect] could not shut down writehandleDec 30 09:43:01 MacMini login[1339]: DEAD_PROCESS: 1339 ttys001
Dec 30 09:58:09 MacMini ntpd[33]: time reset -0.483469 s
Dec 30 10:00:34 MacMini kernel[0]: Dec 30 10:00:45: --- last message repeated 3 times ---Dec 30 10:00:45 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:NO Copying /Developer/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DTMessageQueueing.framework/Versions/A/DTM essageQueueing to /Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb/SNOWSERVER/2010-12-30-094033.
inProgress/02385079-1749-4E5A-BC4F-93367E30B581/MacMini/Developer/Library/Privat
eFrameworks/DTMessageQueueing.framework/Versions/ADec 30 10:00:45 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Stopping backup.Dec 30 10:00:45 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Developer/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DTMessageQueueing.framework/Versions/A/DTM essageQueueing to /Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb/SNOWSERVER/2010-12-30-09403
3.inProgress/02385079-1749-4E5A-BC4F-93367E30B581/MacMini/Developer/Library/Priv ateFrameworks/DTMessageQueueing.framework/Versions/A
Dec 30 10:00:45 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Copied 13388 files (10.5 GB) fr
om volume MacMini.Dec 30 10:00:45 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Copy stage failed with error:11Dec 30 10:00:46 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Error: (22) setxattr for key:co
m.apple.backupd.ModelID path:/Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb/SNOWSERVER size:1
0Dec 30 10:00:51 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Backup failed with error: 11Dec 30 10:06:19 MacMini mds[42]: (/Volumes/Backups/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/A3D115A8-4546-4A3B-B36E-59440 4EEA098)(Error) IndexCI in ci_ftruncate:ftruncat
e(34 /Volumes/Backups/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/A3D115A8-4546-4A3B-B36E-594404 EEA098/live.0.indexDirectory, 16448) error:22Dec 30 10:06:19 MacMini mds[42]: (/Volumes/Backups/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stor
es/A3D115A8-4546-4A3B-B36E-594404EEA098)(Error) IndexCI in expandMap:ftruncate err: 22
Here is another one:
Dec 30 10:06:20 MacMini mds[42]: (Normal) DiskStore: Creating index for /Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb
Dec 30 10:14:12 MacMini ntpd[33]: time reset -0.496024 s
Dec 30 10:29:48 MacMini ntpd[33]: time reset -0.481983 s
Dec 30 10:42:31 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Starting standard backup
Dec 30 10:42:31 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb
Dec 30 10:42:35 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.ModelID path:/Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb/SNOWSERVER size:10
Dec 30 10:42:35 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Christopher-J-Shakers-Mac.local
Dec 30 10:42:37 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Failed to create progress log file at path:/Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb/SNOWSERVER/2010-12-30-094033.inProgress/ .Backup.315427357.871281.log.
Dec 30 10:42:37 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Error: (-50) Creating directory 61478D74-6407-4DBA-A98D-8A20EC6F2140
Dec 30 10:42:37 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Failed to make snapshot.
Dec 30 10:42:37 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.ModelID path:/Volumes/Backups/Backups.backupdb/SNOWSERVER size:1
0Dec 30 10:42:42 MacMini com.apple.backupd[2388]: Backup failed with error: 2
So far, it has been running ok on that disk since I force unmounted it and used disk warrior to rebuild its directory structure.
While I was visiting my sister-in-law over Christmas, I had to resurrect Time Machine on my old PowerMac dual G5 I gave her. It's backing up to an internal SATA drive that I previously tested quite extensively. I had to use Disk Warrior to rebuild the directory structure on that disk as well to get Time Machine working again.
It seems to me that time machine, or the device drivers it relies on, needs some work.
Chris Shaker

Time machine as additional network

hi there
i already have a wireless network at home and would like to use the time machine for the back-ups, but also as additional internet connection.
can i connect the time machine via wireless to my existing network or does the time machine need the cable ethernet connection to the internet?
thanks a lot
best regards

But I'd like to do wireless backups. Is there a way to be on the internet through wifi, and have TC automatically backup our macs?
Is it possible for a TC to join the wifi network and re-broadcast it out somehow?
You can configure your TC to "join" the wireless network and backups will occur over wireless. The TC cannot re-broadcast a signal, it only receives a signal when it is configured to "join" a wireless network.
Here's the downside. When a computer backs up, the wireless signal has to go back to the main wireless router and then travel back again to the Time Capsule...two hops, so things are going to be on the slow side for backups. But, it can be done.
Another option would be to have the TC "create" a wireless network and backups would occur over your "private" wireless network. This would give you faster backups, but the downside is that you would have to log off your "normal" wireless connection and log on to your "private" wireless whenever you wanted to do a backup.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

Will time machine affect additional files on external Hd?

I'm wanting to set up time machine for the first time, using an external HD. However there are some files on the external from some other file moving I was doing, that still aren't on the main computer.
Will TM copy over those files when it updates, or just leave them as is?
Thanks.

that depends on how your external is formatted. if it's formatted mac os extended journaled with appropriate partition scheme (APM for PPC mac and GUID for intel), TM will give you an option to leave the existing data on the external alone. if it's not formatted correctly, TM will force you to reformat the drive before you can use it for TM. in any case, it's a bad idea to have other stuff on the TM partition besides TM backups. There are too many situations when you need to erase a TM partition and having other data on it makes it more complicated. It's best to have a dedicated partition just for TM.

How Can I Erase Files From Time Machine ?!

After or while installing 10.6 I had a problem with MAIL which caused my old mail to duplicate itself ... many times. So those files ended up being many Gigs. I didn't realize this so Time Machine backed up those super swelled folders! It filled up my 1T back up HD.
I know have a 2T HD that I want to use as my new Time Machine HD, but I would first like to get rid of those giant old Mail folders.
How can I accomplish that? Since they are back up files I can't seem to just delete them ...

See #12 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Using Time Capsule with Time Machine AND as iTunes Library

I want to use Time Capsule as Back up solution for Time Machine and additional as storage for my iTunes Library. We have as a family 3 three Macs and want to use TC as back up solution for each Mac. That is no problem. But is it possible to use TC as external iTunes library as well. Meaning as TM back up solution AND iTunes library?
Any ideas how it works?

HarryWessling wrote:
I want to use Time Capsule as Back up solution for Time Machine and additional as storage for my iTunes Library. We have as a family 3 three Macs and want to use TC as back up solution for each Mac. That is no problem. But is it possible to use TC as external iTunes library as well. Meaning as TM back up solution AND iTunes library?
Time Machine will eventually consume all the space on its partition. This will cause problems if you're using that same partition for your iTunes library. I see two options around this problem:
1) Partition the Time Capsule volume into two volumes, one for Time Machine, the other for iTunes. I understand that this can be done, but can't give you any advice on the method.
2) Attach a USB external drive to your Time Capsule and put your iTunes library on that drive.

Basic time machine question from a new mac owner

Hello. I have an icon on my computer that says time machine and when i select the open time machine preferences, it takes me to my set up for my airport extreme.. is this correct or is time machine something additional that i would purchase to set up?

Thanks for the star and no problem, I would recommend that you get yourself an external drive though for backup. With any computer not having a backup system is gamble and sooner or later you will lose. If you do decide on a TM backup drive it would be wise to get one that has Firewire or Firewire 800 connections (for speed) and it should be about 2x the size of your interal drive if possible. Once you connect one TM will automatically back up your system and continue to back up every hour only backing up changes and addtions. So for example if you keep music and pictures and are continually adding material to your computer those are memories that you don't want lost if your machine has a failure, TM will help prevent that from occuring. It is one of the coolest features of Leopard. Two pieces of good news, TM is simple and external hard drives are fairly inexpensive these days.

Can you setup 2 time Machines on a network?

I have purchased a new Time Machine and still have the older one I was using. I am interested in learning if I can still use the old time machine for additional file storage, and can I use it use it as a network router instead of the primary hub in my home network?

Yes - you can set up the new time capule

Time Machine won't recognize backups

I have two external RAID 5 units. One for content, one for backup of said content. Both are 10TB. Content to be backed up is 5.27TB.
Time machine completes the first backup, but fails to do any subsequent backups, saying there isn't enough space. It says it needs 5.27TB to backup, but it's already completed one backup and should only be adding changes, correct? When I go into Time Machine, it doesn't give me an option to recover from any backups. It looks like there are multiple snapshots, but I cannot scroll through them and the RESTORE option is greyed out.
Checking the drives contents shows it has 5.27TB. If I navigate the backup folder, all my content seems to be there. So is it simply not seeing my previous backup?
The Backup drive (and content drive) do go into sleep mode, does that possibly break Time Machine's link?
Super frustrating.
I've read a few posts here but they are all trying to backup with drives that are too small. I'm using identical drives.
This is my console window from the failed backup event:
2015-01-14 9:21:05.232 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Backing up to /dev/disk1s2: /Volumes/BACKUP/Backups.backupdb
2015-01-14 9:21:06.123 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:06.123 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:15.609 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:15.609 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:24.580 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:24.579 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:33.579 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:33.579 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:40.497 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Will copy (Zero KB) from PromisePegasus
2015-01-14 9:21:40.497 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Found 351422 files (5.27 TB) needing backup
2015-01-14 9:21:40.499 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: 5.29 TB required (including padding), 4.72 TB available
2015-01-14 9:21:40.500 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Deleted backup /Volumes/BACKUP/Backups.backupdb/SeanMacPro/2015-01-14-092119.inProgress/A909D1 F1-2818-40E7-A24C-9E9A1A8C9B12 containing 16 KB; 4.72 TB now available, 5.29 TB required
2015-01-14 9:21:40.500 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
2015-01-14 9:21:40.501 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Deleted 1 backups containing 16 KB total; 4.72 TB now available, 5.29 TB required
2015-01-14 9:21:40.501 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jan 14, 2015
2015-01-14 9:21:40.505 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Backup failed with error 7: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.

Start with C4 in the 1st linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

Restoring second internal hard drive from time machine

I have a second internal hard drive for media files that I have backed up with time machine, in addition to my main first drive. I switched out this drive for a larger one and want to restore the files on the second drive only, without effecting those on my main drive. I tried going into time machine and pulling in the past copy of the smaller drive into the larger drive but this said it would take 54 hours last night, and 50 when I woke up this morning. Is there a way to do this faster or automatically I am unaware of?
Thanks.

MG1234 wrote:
I have a second internal hard drive for media files that I have backed up with time machine, in addition to my main first drive. I switched out this drive for a larger one and want to restore the files on the second drive only, without effecting those on my main drive. I tried going into time machine and pulling in the past copy of the smaller drive into the larger drive but this said it would take 54 hours last night, and 50 when I woke up this morning. Is there a way to do this faster or automatically I am unaware of?
no, there isn't. you are doing it properly if I understood you correctly. you should name the new drive the same as the old one. then start TM and scroll back in time when the old drive was backed up. select that whole drive in the TM window and hot 'restore". I don't know why it's taking so long. try repairing the TM drive. another option would be to forget TM and clone the old drive to the new one. you need and extra internal bay for that or an external enclosure for the old drive.
Thanks.

Backup external HD USB-connected to TC via Time Machine

Hi
I am wondering whether it is possible to backup the content of an external hard drive that is directly connected to Time Capsule via Time Machine in addition to backing up the MBP HD.
My (relevant) setup:
MacBook Pro Late 2013 OS-X Mavericks
TimeCapsule 3TB gigabit ethernet connected to speedport W921V router
WD MyPassport 2TB external HD USB-connected to Time Capsule
TimeMachine is happily backing up my MBP drive to the TC, so this is all clear
Is it possible to configure TimeMachine to also backup the data on the external WD HD to the Time Capsule? If so, where and how do I need to configure this?
Thx
Joe

I would never use TM the way I have suggested you use it.. which is very naughty of me.. so I do not know exactly how TM will react.. it should not be a problem.. It does not care if a source is missing.. just the destination.
I was trying to give you a solution to your problem.. without you incurring extra expenses. It is the wrong way to do it.. and is why I would never do it.. IMHO TM is great for what it does.. incremental updates of your main drive.. it is LOUSY.. as a way of backing up an external drive.. because it will have huge issues recovering it.
second question: CCC would then replace time machine as backup SW, correct?
No, the idea is to run both. TM provides a huge benefit to setting up a new computer for instance.. if the old computer is stolen or lost or damaged.. you can migrate from TM to the new computer (at least you can on a good day. it is not unknown for TM to fail completely). You do this easily as if the old computer was sitting there and you were running files between the two. It is also as stated above a good incremental backup software.
What it is LOUSY at, is complete disk recovery.. it is even more lousy .. lousier at recovering the disk that is not the main OS.
Just glance through this forum area or do a search for TM recovery issues.. it is a most difficult software. And of late in Mavericks has become worse than ever. You do not want to have a situation where you believe you have a backup and actually don't. Or your photo library or itunes you expect is backed up and is actually not.. or happens to be corrupted without telling you.
Step in CCC.. it is able to create backups in situations where TM cannot.. ie from network drives. It can produce a bootable image.. so if your computer disk failed you would be up and running again in 2min flat by plugging in a USB drive with the image. You can even use it to incrementally backup.. but I don't use it that way. Two completely different backup softwares offers you more than double the protection.. because IMHO TM is so complicated half the time you cannot get what you want out of it. CCC is simple.. it makes images and adds files in a completely standard backup way. ie a file can be simply copied out of the disk image and back to the computer without any software backup recovery running. The files are in plain sight.. easy to reach and use. In TM it is hugely complicated.. read how TM works. It is helpful to understand the difference.
http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html
Also read pondini's take on using disk images.
http://pondini.org/TM/Clones.html
His recommendation is what i also think is the best.. use both.. each has good and bad points.. using two completely different methods gives you a huge improvement in the value of the backups.. and CCC is easy to produce a clone to store offsite adding hugely to your benefit..
For $40 license makes a lot of sense to me.

Time Machine or Super Duper??

I have been using Super Duper successfully under Tiger with an external Seagate USB Drive. Now that I have Snow Leopard... I was wondering about Time Machine. I only want to use it if it does something substantially better than Super Duper- outperforms in some way shape or form- why mess with a good thing?
Message was edited by: Micah Eavenson

Ditto what Mr. Boyd says, adding "every hour."
Time Machine gives you a *much, much* better chance of recovering something you changed or deleted in error (Save instead of Save As, for example), or somehow got corrupted.
Plus the ability to put your entire system back the way it was at the time of any prior backup.
It's no doubt more than you want, but here's a comparison:
There are three basic types of backup applications: Bootable Clone, Archive, and Time Machine.
This is a general explanation and comparison. Many variations exist, of course, and some combine features of others.
|
_*BOOTABLE "CLONE"*_
These make a complete, "bootable" copy of your entire system on an external disk/partition, a second internal disk/partition, or a partition of your internal disk.
Advantages
When your internal HD fails, you can boot and run from the clone immediately. Your Mac may run a bit slower, but it will run, and contain everything that was on your internal HD at the time the clone was made or last updated.
You can test whether it will run, just by booting-up from it (but of course you can't be positive that everything is ok without actually running everything).
If it's on an external drive, you can easily take it off-site.
Disadvantages
Making an entire clone takes quite a while. Most of the cloning apps have an update feature, but even that takes quite a while, as they must examine everything on your system to see what's changed and needs to be backed-up. Since this takes lots of time and CPU, it's usually not practical to do this more than once or twice a day.
Normally, it only contains a copy of what was on your internal HD when the clone was made or last updated.
Some do have a feature that allows it to retain the previous copy of items that have been changed or deleted, in the fashion of an archive, but of course that has the same disadvantages as an archive.
|
_*TRADITIONAL "ARCHIVE" BACKUPS*_
These copy specific files and folders, or your entire system. With many, the first backup is a full copy of everything; subsequently, they're "incremental," copying only what's changed.
Most of these will copy to an external disk or network locations; some to CDs/DVDs, or even tape.
Advantages
They're usually fairly simple and reliable. If the increments are on separate media, they can be taken off-site easily.
Disadvantages
Most have to examine everything to determine what's changed and needs to be backed-up. This takes considerable time and lots of CPU. If an entire system is being backed-up, it's usually not practical to do this more than once, or perhaps twice, a day.
Restoring an individual item means you have to find the media and/or file it's on. You may have to dig through many incremental backups to find what you're looking for.
Restoring an entire system (or large folder) usually means you have to restore the most recent Full backup, then each of the increments, in the proper order. This can get very tedious and error-prone.
You have to manage the backups yourself. If they're on an external disk, sooner or later it will get full, and you have to do something, like figure out what to delete. If they're on removable media, you have to store them somewhere appropriate and keep track of them.
|
_*TIME MACHINE*_
Advantages
Similar to an archive, TM keeps copies of everything currently on your system, plus changed/deleted items, on an external disk or Time Capsule.
Like many Archive apps, it first copies everything on your system, then does incremental backups of additions and changes. But TM's magic is, each backup appears to be a full one: a complete copy of everything on your system at the time of the backup.
It uses an internal OSX log of what's changed to quickly determine what to copy, so most users can let it do it's hourly incremental backups without much effect on system performance. This means you have a much better chance to recover an item that was changed or deleted in error, or corrupted.
Recovery of individual items is quite easy, via the TM interface. You don't have to find and mount media, or dig through many files to find what you're looking for.
You can also recover your entire system to the exact state it was in at the time of any backup, even it that's a previous version of OSX.
TM manages it's space for you, automatically. When your backup disk gets near full, TM will delete your oldest backup(s) to make room for new ones. But it will never delete it's copy of anything that's still on your internal HD, or was there at the time of any remaining backup. So all that's actually deleted are copies of items that were changed or deleted long ago.
Disadvantages
It's not bootable. If your internal HD fails, you can't boot directly from your TM backups. You must restore them, either to your repaired/replaced internal HD or an external disk. This is a fairly simple, but of course lengthy, procedure.
TM doesn't keep it's copies of changed/deleted items forever, and you're usually not notified when it deletes them.
It is fairly complex, and somewhat new, so may be a bit less reliable than some others.
|
RECOMMENDATION
For most non-professional users, TM is simple, workable, and maintenance-free. But it does have it's disadvantages.
That's why many folks use both Time Machine and a bootable clone, to have two, independent backups, with the advantages of both. If one fails, the other remains. If there's room, these can be in separate partitions of the same external drive, but it's a bit safer to have them on separate drives.
|
_*OFF-SITE BACKUPS*_
As great as external drives are, they may not protect you from fire, flood, theft, or direct lightning strike on your power lines. So it's an excellent idea to get something off-site, to your safe deposit box, workplace, relative's house, etc.
There are many ways to do that, depending on how much data you have, how often it changes, how valuable it is, and your level of paranoia.
One of the the best strategies is to follow the above recommendation, but with a pair of portable externals, each 4 or more times the size of your data. Each has one partition the same size as your internal HD for a "bootable clone" and another with the remainder for TM.
Use one drive for a week or so, then take it off-site and swap with the other. You do have to tell TM when you swap drives, via TM Preferences > Change Disk; and you shouldn't go more than about 10 days between swaps.
There are other options, instead of the dual drives, or in addition to them. Your off-site backups don't necessarily have to be full backups, but can be just copies of critical information.
If you have a MobileMe account, you can use Apple's Backup app to get relatively-small amounts of data (such as Address book, preferences, settings, etc.) off to iDisk daily. If not, you can use a 3rd-party service such as Mozy.
You can also copy data to CDs or DVDs and take them off-site. Re-copy them every year or two, as their longevity is questionable.
Backup strategies are not a "One Size Fits All" sort of thing. What's best varies by situation and preference.
Just as an example, I use TM plus a CarbonCopyCloner clone (updated daily, while I'm snoozing) locally, plus small daily Backups to iDisk, plus some other things to DVD/RWs in my safe deposit box. Probably overkill, but as many of us have learned over the years, backups are one area where +Paranoia is Prudent!+

Time Machine and Super Duper

I purchased Super Duper and did a full backup on my Mac Pro (I have 3 hard drives, the main one and 2 backup drives that are mounted on the desktop). Everything worked fine, I did the Super-Duper start-up/complete backup to one of the extra hard drives. The problem is when I run Time Machine it backs up everything including the extra copy of my computer that Super-Duper just created. This just filled up the extra hard drive that I use for Time Machine.
My question...
1) Is there a way to have the Super-Duper back-up copy of my computer but then not have it re-backed up by Time Machine? Do I need to remove the hard drive (the hard drive with the Super-Duper copy) from the desktop, and how do I do this... they are internal hard drives and not external hard drives.
2) What is the best way to undo what I have done and get the space back on my extra hard drive that I am using for time machine?
Thanks for the help
Chris

As Neville says, you can exclude the SD drive from future Time Machine backups via TM Preferences > Options.
And you can delete the prior backups of that drive, too. See #12 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

Can i reconnect a "super duper" clone to "time machine" as original?

hi there.
i've recently upgraded the hard drive on my mbp 17, using super duper for cloning my stuff onto the new hd.
only later i've discovered that using the same hd name doesn't mean time machine recognizes it as the same, root hd.
i already slap myself endlessly for this naive mistake, as now i can only back my hd as another hd, multiplying the space and duration the backup requires.. still didn't let it go through.
i have no real experience using the terminal, and since i didn't find any result online relating exactly to my situation, i can't readily try to perform any suggestion i've already found, for the risk of damaging something permanently.
more info - leopard; time machine hd is accessible, as is the backed up info on it when reached through time machine.
i only need a solution for making the new hard drive be accepted by time machine as the old one.
thanx in advance,
yaneev

thx for the answer, i've actually read that article before.
no, i didn't start a new BU sequence, as i'm totally insecure even opening terminal.
by reformatting the HD i would lose months of mail backups etc.
i did take care of periodically manual BUs of important stuff,
so now i guess i just dont get the eventual purpose of TM..
sometimes it feels sad to be lost somewhere between being a very advanced mac user and being just a newbie without a clue of how to mess things up...
Message was edited by: yaneev

Using Migration Assistant with Time Machine or Super Duper data

Can I use Migration Assistant with a Time Machine or Super Duper backup on an external drive instead of the original computer? I'm thinking of upgrading my Mini to a new one but only have one monitor. Not in the mood to hunt down an old monitor & buy adapters, etc. If I can, are there any tradeoffs using a backup instead of the original Mini? And is TM or SD preferable for this purpose? The current Mini runs 10.6 SL.

KevinD wrote:
Can I use Migration Assistant with a Time Machine or Super Duper backup on an external drive instead of the original computer?
yes to both.
I'm thinking of upgrading my Mini to a new one but only have one monitor. Not in the mood to hunt down an old monitor & buy adapters, etc. If I can, are there any tradeoffs using a backup instead of the original Mini?
none.
And is TM or SD preferable for this purpose?
makes no difference.
The current Mini runs 10.6 SL.

Time Machine in addition to Super Duper

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