Time Machine and backing up

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HI Everyone,

I am a newbie on the forum and almost a complete novice with my iMac, so forgive the stupid question.

Originally I found my old WD 'My Passport' and wondered if I could use it to back up my iMac. However, having read the 'help' page I realise that I can't, so fine I will dispose of it.

However, despite reading a very long and interesting thread about backups, I am afraid I still don't understand and nor can I understand the information in the 'help' page about Time Machine.

I realise now that Time Machine hasn't been turned on and therefore I haven't been backing up :'(. I do have a iCloud account and having had a look at that I think that most things are probably stored in that? although I could be wrong with that one:Oops:

BUT as a budding photographer and I don't store my images in Photo Stream (should I?) I don't think they are backed up, which now worries me.

So a couple of questions if I may please:

1. Can I use Time Machine to back up to another 'virtual' storage system?
2. Or do I have to buy a Time Capsule (which I am a bit worried about as I found an article in 2009 which said a lot of them stopped working less than 2 years old and I can't afford to spend that sort of money for it just to break and worse I wouldn't know what to do:'().

I would be really grateful if any suggestions/answers were outlined as simply as possible, as I am really new to all of this but am trying:D)

Many thanks in advance.
 

cwa107


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You can use the WD Passport drive as a Time Machine backup, or any other external hard drive. It does not have to be a 'Time Capsule' nor anything special or proprietary to Apple.

The lone caveat is that the drive should be equal to or greater than the capacity of your internal hard drive. So, if you have an internal hard drive that is 1TB in size, then your external drive should be at least that size.

Once you've turned it on and plugged it in, you'll want to format the drive in Disk Utility (Applications >> Utilities >> Disk Utility). Select the external drive in the left window pane, click the Erase tab in the right window pane.

When that's done, go to System Preferences >> Time Machine. Turn Time Machine on here and select the newly formatted disk. And that's it.... you're done. As long as the drive is connected, your machine will make automated backups.

Now, if you want wireless backups (i.e. you don't need to connect the drive physically) - then the Time Capsule is a good option.
 
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Hi cwa107,

Many thanks indeed, that is lovely and straight ward and doable (I hope O:))!!

I am pleased to be able to initially start with the WD and I will check the relevant sizes, before I give it a go.

However, for the future, I do want to try and get a bit more 'techno savvy' so I will read more about of all this and save for a Time Capsule in the future, particularly as I start to do commissions for friends and such like.

Many thanks again, off to print your guidance out and get going! :D
 
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I am a newbie like you. Did my first post today. I have an ipad and have ordered my first mac to arrive end of next week. I too have been researching backup possibilities since I see that's important. I used a Toshiba laptop for five years, never even thought about backing it up. Well, it quit, seems as if the hard drive is fried. There is nothing of major importance but nevertheless, there are some things on it I wish I still had. So glad you already have a device that will work.
 
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chas_m

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Time Capsule is a piece of hardware kit from Apple -- a combination wireless router and wireless backup hard drive. Very nice, but not mandatory.

Time Machine is the software on your Mac that handles backing up to external (wired) hard drives or the Time Capsule. Amazing, automatic software.

We (the collective folks who hang out on this forum) strongly recommend backups, particularly as we (society) put more and more of our most valuable data (photos, financial/medical records, diaries, work files, etc) on our devices. In addition to local backups, the most critical data should also be backed up offsite in case of local disaster. You can use cloud backup systems (not iCloud, it doesn't offer the needed capacity) for this, or other remote backup systems. You also have backup options beyond Time Machine if you wish.
 
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Hi MacWannabeNTX, thanks for posting, nice to know I am in good company! How frustrating to lose everything like that, as you say perhaps they weren't particularly important files, but nevertheless extremely frustrating.

Touching lots of wood ;) I haven't lost anything like that, but I know that is probably more luck than judgement! So I am determined to get a grip of all this and to be honest, just become more informed about IT things in generally (just started to learn Photoshop and that IS really confusing me at the moment :Oops:).

I bought my ipad 2 about 18 months ago, originally because of the photography so I could show people the images I had made, but have ended up hardly putting any on there yet, but use it for almost everything else and wouldn't be without it now. that is why I made the transition to a Mac from a PC and although it has been challenging learning a new way to do things, again I love my iMac, now I just have to learn how to use it properly!

Good luck with your new Mac, I really hope you enjoy it and get it backed up regularly ;)

Hi chas_m, many thanks for the information and advice. I checked my hard drive capacity and that of the WD passport I already have and it is a lot smaller (320gb) so I thought I would start by following cwa107's steps for clearing it and then just see if I can put my images on it for now. As soon as I can afford to buy a Time Capsule I will and will probably the bigger size, so not to have to buy another one after a year or so, as I shoot in RAW and the files are pretty big.

Can I ask, you mentioned possibly using 'cloud' or other remote back up systems, are there that you might be able to recommend, so I read about them please? Not to worry if not, just thought I would ask!!

Many thanks again everyone for your assistance, another new thing learnt!
 
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Barders - you really do not need Time Capsule. TC is good but expensive, standard external hard disks are plentiful and cheap. I paid less than £100 for an Iomega unit that does the job perfectly. Why exactly do you think you need a Time Capsule?
 
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SO much to learn, but looking forward to it

Hi Sawday, thanks for your message (love your avatar!).

In answer to your question, probably just because of the knowledge that I 'don't know, what I don't know'! if you see what I mean? I just read about TC on the Time Machine information page and thought because Apple is different to a PC I should have Apple products, but I realise now that this isn't necessarily the case.

I have managed to set up the WD and Time Machine this morning (I hope!) so now feel slightly more relaxed about looking at replacing WD with something larger or perhaps more suitable, without rushing to do something incase my iMac crashes.

I recently bought a 'pre loved' iphone 4 and it has just arrived, so once the seller sends the password code, I will know doubt be scratching my head trying to work out how to use that now, I hope they have a forum like this ;)!!

Take care and keep warm up there in lovely York.
 
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There is an iPhone forum right here!
 
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Many thanks both. I received the password and can get into the phone, but my sim cards doesn't fit :Blushing:

I did Google this last night and it seems I am not alone, so don't feel too stupid! I haven't had a chance to go to Vodafone yet and ask for a mirco sim but after reading a few forums about this, I am not holding out much hope they will give me one.

The other option, according to the comments/videos I found is cutting it down to size? Boy that sounds risky, but at least not too technical for me ;D so will see how I get on with trying to get a micro sim, if not then the scissors it is!

I will look at the other forums, as I have an ipad as well and am probably not making the most of that either!

Take care and thanks again.
 

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