04-26-2012, 06:41 PM

I primarily use my computer (macbook pro) for general web browsing and although I have Microsoft Word I don't use it very often. I don't really save a lot of documents on my computer, mostly just music, pictures and contacts from my wife's iPhone. Is Time Machine something that I should consider? I already have a good Lynksis WiFi in my home. Would a back up hard drive be better if I use anything at all?

04-26-2012, 07:56 PM

Yes, you should consider using Time Machine to backup your MBP. You'll need an external hard drive at least the same size or preferably larger than the drive in your MBP. Since Time Machine is free (installed with OS X) why not use it? The question is not "if" your MBP drive fails, it's "when".

04-26-2012, 08:04 PM

Thank you chscag.

When it backs up does it include the OS, Word, pics, music and apps? Would there be anything that it doesn't back up? I'm OK with spending a few $100 over a new $1600 MacBook Pro. Just want to make sure it's needed for my purposes.

04-26-2012, 08:27 PM

Unless you tell it not to Time Machine will back up everything. You can tell it to exclude certain things if you like. I don't include System files for example because the backup is not bootable. Here's an intro that I wrote a while ago. It covers an older version but the basics are the same. ATPM 15.03 - How To: Time Travel: Introduction to Time Machine

Just in case there's any confusion Time Machine i(the program) is free and included with the OS. Time Capsule (the device) is not free.

04-26-2012, 09:58 PM

Yes, Time Machine is the software that will back up your hard drive automatically to an external hard drive.

A Time Capsule is a combination wireless router and external hard drive, which is nifty but not required.

04-27-2012, 03:47 AM

I understand a little better now.
Thanks slydude and chas_m.

04-27-2012, 05:35 AM

Hi guys, can I insert my question here regarding Time Machine? I'm a recent switcher.

If I will disconnect my external HD for Time Machine, is it still backing-up this time in my internal HD? If yes, can I restore from it (internal HD)?

04-27-2012, 10:13 AM

Let me see if I understand your question correctly. You are using an external drive for Time Machine backups. You want to know whether Time Machine will keep backing up to the internal drive if the external id disconnected?

Yes the backups continue on the internal drive until you are able to connect with your external drive again. This only applies to 10.7 (Lion). Other versions of Time Machine did not do this.

OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs

04-27-2012, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by Slydude

Let me see if I understand your question correctly. You are using an external drive for Time Machine backups. You want to know whether Time Machine will keep backing up to the internal drive if the external id disconnected?

Yes the backups continue on the internal drive until you are able to connect with your external drive again. This only applies to 10.7 (Lion). Other versions of Time Machine did not do this.

OS X Lion: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs

exactly @Slydude. So if that's the case I can still enter into time machine (with that outer space environment...) even though I disconnected my external HD and choose a restore point? Of course the restore points available are only those backed up by internal. Am I correct?

This is a great help for me... Thanx

04-27-2012, 10:37 AM

That's my understanding of how it works. If you happen to be connected to your external drive when you do that you see both sets of backups and can access information from either one.

Once you connect to the external drive the backups stored on your internal drive get consolidated into the backup on your external drive. There seems to be some confusion over how long it takes for this process to begin.

04-27-2012, 11:09 AM

I just disconnected my external HD hooked up with time machine. But to confuse me more, I can still open time machine and restore my old files weeks ago (up to the time where I started time machine). So, the time machine is also eating my internal drive since the start?

04-27-2012, 12:06 PM

CebuCity,

It looks like the snapshots do take up some space on your hard drive. However, you should know that you can't restore the entire system from the internal hard drive it the system crashes. The reason for this is that if you do have a hard drive failure, it's often mechanical in nature. If you can't access your regular files on the hard drive because it doesn't work anymore, how do you expect to access the "backup" files on it? The answer is, you can't, because the hard drive is broken. The whole point of a backup is to have a completely separate hard drive with all the data on it in case the one in you computer fails.

04-27-2012, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by J.Fo

CebuCity,

It looks like the snapshots do take up some space on your hard drive. However, you should know that you can't restore the entire system from the internal hard drive it the system crashes. The reason for this is that if you do have a hard drive failure, it's often mechanical in nature. If you can't access your regular files on the hard drive because it doesn't work anymore, how do you expect to access the "backup" files on it? The answer is, you can't, because the hard drive is broken. The whole point of a backup is to have a completely separate hard drive with all the data on it in case the one in you computer fails.

Thank you J.Fo. You are correct that the sole purpose of external is to still have the back-up should the internal will fail... But I only noticed that seems it's saving both ways (internal & external) because restoration is still possible at any point with or without the external.
I'm afraid this might eat up my internal HD a lot, but I don't think so (hopefully), I'm still not sure.

04-27-2012, 10:45 PM

The article that I linked to above suggests that the local snapshots will be deleted if space is needed.

You may notice a difference in available space statistics between Disk Utility, Finder, and Get Info inspectors. This is expected and can be safely ignored. The Finder displays the available space on the disk without accounting for the local snapshots, because local snapshots will surrender their disk space if needed.

I finally found some description of when these local snapshots are deleted

In addition, regardless of space, Local Snapshots are periodically reduced to one per day after 24 hours, then deleted after a week.

You can find more details at Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions 30. What are Local Snapshots?

04-28-2012, 12:34 AM

Many thanks @Slydude. It just made me realized how useful TimeMachine is..