Periodic Back-Up With External Drive

Currently a PC user and on a small laptop, so all my files need to be on an external 500 GB HDD I have. My question is, when I move to Mac my external would be made into a backup drive, but is there a way to only transfer new files to the external?

So basically, instead of remembering which files are already there, is there a way to automatically transfer only the newer files, say, once a week?

Hope that was articulated all right lol.

Help me Mac-Forums, you're my only hope.

When you do move to a Mac (assuming you buy a new one) it will include a built in backup program called "Time Machine". The first time it runs it will backup everything unless you exclude certain files and folders. Subsequent runs will only backup changes. So in effect, the answer to your question is yes. You can do a Google search or search this forum for more information regarding Time Machine and how it works.

However, the external hard drive you currently have will not work with Time Machine until you reformat it to use the Mac file system. Time Machine only works with the Mac OS HFS extended (journaled) file system.

Regards.

I saw a few things about Time Machine but wasn't sure it was what I needed to read up on. Thanks for your help, and hopefully my switch to Mac happens this Christmas! Been waiting 2 years

Not to toot my own horn but perhaps this will give you an idea of Time Machines capabilities and limitations. It doesn't cover absolutely everything about Time Machine but it should be a good starting point. ATPM 15.03 - How To: Time Travel: Introduction to Time Machine

I use a program called data backup. What you can do is partition a portion of the hard drive for mac format and then create your backups in that area, this way you don't have to delete all your PC information and such.