Time Machine & Windows

Hi all,

I'm currently running an iMac (OSX Lion 2011).

Does time machine back up data saved on a Windows Partition?

Also, will time machine back up data saved within software programmes (on OS and Windows) such as Outlook or accounting software (i.e calendar entries, contact details, financials) or does it just save the programme itself?

Appreciate the help.

A

I assume that when you say " Windows partition " you mean the bootcamp partition ...
Time Machine will not backup your bootcamp partition.

if you are running Windows as a virtual machine on OS X, then Time Machine will backup your virtual machine ( because this is just one large file on OS X ). Keep in mind that this file can be several GB's in size and that the file changes as soon as you launch your virtual machine, making that file a candidate for next backup run ( the COMPLETE file )

On OS X, Time Machine will back up any file that has changed since last backup, unless you specifically told it to exclude certain folders.

Hope that helps.

Cheers ... McBie

Also note if you decide to backup your Window 7 to a networking drive you will need
Professional or Ultimate to do this since Windows in their infinite wisdom decided to take away this feature in home that was available in Vista Home go figure. But you could attach a drive and back it up via USB.

Thank you to both 'McBie' & 'osxx'.

To take it a bit further, I'm running my own business and want to back up my data by alternating between two USB drives (that way I can always keep one off-site to mitigate the risk of fire/flood etc).

Based on what you have said, I think I will need to back-up my Mac partition using Time Machine and the USB drives and then switch to my bootcamp partition (running Windows Ultimate) and back it up separately using another set of USB drives. Would you agree?

osxx - I'm not yet completely familiar with Windows Ultimate - your comment suggests that Pro/Ultimate has a back-up programme - what is this? Does it work much like Time Machine?

Really appreciate all you help

A

Windows 7 Home Edition will make a complete backup image to an external drive (formatted to NTFS only) and will also do a file by file backup. You do not necessarily need the Ultimate or Pro versions if you do not intend to backup to a network drive.

Recovery is a bit more complex requiring booting with your Win 7 DVD. Just make sure when recovering that you recover to the correct partition.

Don't necessarily need separate drives for each OS, just need a separate partition on each drive.