Upgrading w/o a backup

I know it's a no-no. I mistakenly posted this question over in the MacBook Pro forum when it really belonged here. I have been trying since Lion came out to buy an external hard drive to backup my internal 500gb on my laptop but I keep coming up short. Never enough to buy Lion AND another drive. I have worked in IT since the original Mac was released in 1984 (and got mine that June) and know the potential pitfalls of an OS upgrade with or without system backup.
However, with Mountain Lion soon on the horizon I would still like to put Lion on my mid2009 Macbook Pro. Does anyone here have experience with an in-place Snow Leopard to Lion upgrade? If so, what went wrong? Anything that good prep could avoid? I mostly use my laptop for Internet browsing and downloads plus Internet radio, so even if I have to reinstall some apps I could if necessary. I did buy an 8gb thumb drive to put the Lion installer on so re-installs might be a little easier.
Any thoughts? How great a risk am I taking with no backup of current internal booting hard drive?

Starbux48 Wrote:
Any thoughts? How great a risk am I taking with no backup of current internal booting hard drive?
Murph'y law will mean that if it can go wrong and you dont want it to go wrong, it WILL go wrong.
You must always have a backup incase things go pear shaped.

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I have been using a WD Passport with Time Machine on my iMac. Since I upgraded to Mavericks, the backup no longer works. What do I need to do?

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I assume that upgrading the WD SmartWare is irrelevant as it is not being used. Should I upgrade just as a precaution?
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Hello, alaute.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If you are experiencing issues activating your device, see the article below.
iPad: Troubleshooting activation issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3424
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tania_vf wrote:
Could you tell me please, is there a way to restore the data I had before upgrading without a backup made before the upgrade?
You must have made a previous backup.
1. If any post helps you please click the below the post(s) that helped you.
2. Please resolve your thread by marking the post "Solution?" which solved it for you!
3. Install free BlackBerry Protect today for backups of contacts and data.
4. Guide to Unlocking your BlackBerry & Unlock Codes
Join our BBM Channels (Beta)
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Upgrading main hard drive - backup questions

Hello,
I have been constantly running out of disk space on my main HD and need to upgrade my Mac Pro with a bigger one. (3.0 ghz quad xeon, snow leopard) I would like to know if I can utilize Time Machine to do the backup & restore. Up to this point I have only used Time Machine as a backup, but I heard it can be used for upgrading/restoring as well.
If anyone has any tips or links on the best way to do this, it will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Were I you I would just clone the drive:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
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Check the box labeled Erase destination.
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Hi
There are two kinds of DVDs that You can burn/create with the same sort of DVD that You bought.
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Yours Bengt W

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OT

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So im upgrading my Administrative Windows 2008 server, I backed it up before I have done anything, I want to upgrade to Server 2012 Standard, 2008 is standard as well. Im getting an error on my blade saying that I cant upgrade I have to wipe the slate
clean with a new image of the OS. Would I be able to back up my image of 2008, install the 2012 and use the backed up image to reissue settings that I had originally?

Hi how are you?
As you can see below the upgrade path that you mention is supported.I asume that you have the latest SP version on Windows Server 2008 Standard.
Upgrading to Windows Server 2012
For details, including important caveats and limitations on upgrade, and conversion of evaluation editions to retail, see
Evaluation Versions and Upgrade Options for Windows Server 2012.
Quick reference table of supported upgrade paths from older Windows Server retail editions to Windows Server 2012 retail editions:
If you are running:
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Windows Server 2008 Standard with SP2 or Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with SP2
Windows Server 2012 Standard, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter with SP2
Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Web Server 2008
Windows Server 2012 Standard
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1
Windows Server 2012 Standard, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter with SP1
Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Web Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012 Standard
As upgrade definition we consider "If you want to keep the same hardware and all the server roles you have set up without flattening the server,
upgrading is the way to go—and there are lots of ways to do it. In the classic upgrade, you go from an older operating system to a newer one, keeping your settings, server roles, and data intact. "
Do you think that it possible to share more information about the error?
Please let us know your comments,
Regards,
Oscar
Remigio Oscar Iglesias |MCP 2000|MAP 2009/2010/2011|MCTS SCCM 2007|BlackBerry Trainer|MCTS Exchange 2007|MCTS Active Directory 2008| |MCITP SA WINDOWS 2008|MCTS Windows Server 2008|MCT| E-mail: [email protected] twitter: @remigioiglesias

Time Machine First Backup After Upgrade Stuck @ Deleting Old Backups

This has been going on for the past 4 hours. Should I quit and start over. I think I may have messed it up when I clicked the "Encypt Disk" during the first update... Thanks...

InAfrica wrote:
I think I may have messed it up when I clicked the "Encypt Disk" during the first update...
Quite possibly.
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Upgrading w/o a backup

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