Initial Backup?

Yes, it's me again...I want to back up my new iMac before I start to add anything to it...I have a 3 TB internal HDD...What size external drive would you recommend for backups, and what will the approximate size in GB of the initial, virgin backup? Thanks again, and If I become too much of a nuisance, just let me know...

Steve

Not a problem.... Ask away, that's what we're here for.

We recommend using an external hard drive for Time Machine backups of at least the same size as your internal hard drive. Your first or initial backup will of course be a full backup and will be comprised of all that's on your hard drive right now. So, do the math from there.

In addition to using Time Machine, we recommend obtaining and using a cloning program that will make a bootable clone of your hard drive. The one I personally use and recommend is Carbon Copy Cloner which you can read up on here and also purchase it. That will of course mean that you will need another external hard drive. You can never have too many backups!

In my personal view, two copies (the boot drive plus a Time Machine backup to an external drive) is sufficient coverage for most consumers, ie people who not on their machine all day every day. I usually suggest people get an external drive that is up to 2x larger than the capacity of the drive they are backing up, but over the years I've realized that the average user never fills their drive to even half capacity, so I've gone back to suggesting a same-capacity external drive for "light duty" users.

For those who rely on their computer very heavily, I suggest a second external drive with a "bootable clone" that is made by using ChronoSync, SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner (your choice, they all cost about the same and clone equally well). This would be entirely separate from the Time Machine backup, and done less frequently (weekly is a good habit). All these systems can be set up to happen automatically so that you have very little to do after the initial setup.

For the most precious or hard-to-replace things (tax returns, family photos, stuff like that), I'd further suggest an off-site backup of some kind (data that falls into this category is usually a tiny fraction of the total hard drive). Cloud backups work fine for this sort of thing, or you can make a DVD or CD of the data and put it somewhere safe away from your home, or with a relative or friend, etc. Whatever works best for you, but it should be done.

Thanks!

Thanks for the great advice...Going to my favorite big box retailer today to purchase a couple of 1TB HDDs for cloning and Time Machine...Really looking forward to the convenience of the backup process on the iMac...Thanks again,

Steve