Working while Time Machine backs up

This may seems like a silly question but I, too, am just learning this whole Time Machine back-up functionality. Can I use the internet and other applications while Time Machine is backing up? I know I can use other applications and functions together on Macs but even with Time Machine, especially when it's doing a large backup? Also, do I need to plug in my external drive every time I am on my computer? If I don't plug in (Iomega) in whenever I use my MacBook Pro, does Time Machine keep the backups to dump on the external drive later? Will there be a large backup if I haven't plugged in the external hard drive for a few days? How often should I plug it in?

mcrosby wrote:
This may seems like a silly question but I, too, am just learning this whole Time Machine back-up functionality. Can I use the internet and other applications while Time Machine is backing up?
Yes.
I know I can use other applications and functions together on Macs but even with Time Machine, especially when it's doing a large backup? Also, do I need to plug in my external drive every time I am on my computer? If I don't plug in (Iomega) in whenever I use my MacBook Pro, does Time Machine keep the backups to dump on the external drive later?
Not exactly. It just won't do a backup while it's disconnected.
Will there be a large backup if I haven't plugged in the external hard drive for a few days?
Yes. If you let it go for several days (something more than 10 or so), the next one may be a new full backup -- every file and folder on your system. So avoid that if at all possible.
How often should I plug it in?
For best results, keep it mounted as much as possible, and let it do it's hourly backups (which should be very quick). The longer TM can't back up, the less likely you'll be able to recover a previous version of a file you changed or deleted in error (or somehow got corrupted), and the more you'll lose when your internal HD fails.

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