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- Feb 22, 2010
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- Your Mac's Specs
- MacBook Pro Running Snow Leopard out of the box
Hi, I'm sorry if these are dumb questions, but I've looked all over the internet and I cannot find answers. Any help would be really appreciated.
First, I'll start off with some info.
What I have
I'm currently using a 320GB Mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard
What I want
• A full backup of my hard drive that I can update every week - So if my MacBook Pro instantaneously combusts I will still have all of my data which I can then put on a new computer
• Daily and/or weekly backups - So if I accidentally delete an important file I can go to the most recent backup and bring it back -or- If I moved a file from one location to another 5 days ago and now I want to move it back, but I've forgotten its previous location I can go back to last week's backup and search for the item to see where it was.
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Okay, so that sound pretty simple - I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation. Now onto the questions. They're highlighted in bold
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Software
So, the first place I went to was Apple's Time Machine web page. It seemed perfect. It's known for its incremental backups that would solve my second "want" so I could recover lost files. And it seems that it also makes a full backup so in the unfortunate event that my computer is destroyed I'll still have all my data. Now, it looks like I have a perfect solution, but I still keep hearing about all these 3rd party software such as SuperDuper. In fact, I've heard on blogs/forums that some people use SuperDuper and Time Machine hand in hand. This leads to my first question - What can 3rd party software such as SuperDuper do that Time Machine can't? And even if I just go ahead and use Time Machine, the one problem would be that I'm using a laptop and I can't be constantly plugged into an external hard drive - nor do I have the money to purchase a wireless hard drive. So my question is How is Time Machine able to work around me not being plugged in to my external hard drive all the time?
Hardware
So my first question is Will all external hard drives work with my Mac and Time Machine/Other Macintosh Backup Software? Or do I have to look out for a a certain specification that tells me whether or not it will work with my computer and software? I read some info on the Apple website saying some might not work with Time Machine and now I'm sorta confused, because I don't see why it would make a difference. My next question is If my computer has a 320GB hard drive, how big does the external hard drive need to be for Time Machine's backups?
Thanks for reading or in advance for any help you offer. Plus, if you know any external hard drives that look like they fit my needs, I'd love a recommendation.
First, I'll start off with some info.
What I have
I'm currently using a 320GB Mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard
What I want
• A full backup of my hard drive that I can update every week - So if my MacBook Pro instantaneously combusts I will still have all of my data which I can then put on a new computer
• Daily and/or weekly backups - So if I accidentally delete an important file I can go to the most recent backup and bring it back -or- If I moved a file from one location to another 5 days ago and now I want to move it back, but I've forgotten its previous location I can go back to last week's backup and search for the item to see where it was.
----------------------
Okay, so that sound pretty simple - I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation. Now onto the questions. They're highlighted in bold
----------------------
Software
So, the first place I went to was Apple's Time Machine web page. It seemed perfect. It's known for its incremental backups that would solve my second "want" so I could recover lost files. And it seems that it also makes a full backup so in the unfortunate event that my computer is destroyed I'll still have all my data. Now, it looks like I have a perfect solution, but I still keep hearing about all these 3rd party software such as SuperDuper. In fact, I've heard on blogs/forums that some people use SuperDuper and Time Machine hand in hand. This leads to my first question - What can 3rd party software such as SuperDuper do that Time Machine can't? And even if I just go ahead and use Time Machine, the one problem would be that I'm using a laptop and I can't be constantly plugged into an external hard drive - nor do I have the money to purchase a wireless hard drive. So my question is How is Time Machine able to work around me not being plugged in to my external hard drive all the time?
Hardware
So my first question is Will all external hard drives work with my Mac and Time Machine/Other Macintosh Backup Software? Or do I have to look out for a a certain specification that tells me whether or not it will work with my computer and software? I read some info on the Apple website saying some might not work with Time Machine and now I'm sorta confused, because I don't see why it would make a difference. My next question is If my computer has a 320GB hard drive, how big does the external hard drive need to be for Time Machine's backups?
Thanks for reading or in advance for any help you offer. Plus, if you know any external hard drives that look like they fit my needs, I'd love a recommendation.