how to select what to backup on external hard drive

[Hazoss]

Apologies if this question has been answered already but I can't seem to find it.

I have two backup external hard drives.
I use one for a full back up and the other for less.

How do I select or deselect what to back up ?
My intention is to leave out iPhotos and iTunes on the second drive so that it goes quicker.
My main priority to backup would be mac mail and documents.

Thanks ahead,
Hazoss

 

[Sawday]

Why not just use Time Machine on both drives. It will alternate between them automatically when they are attached. After initial backup, subsequent backup will be fairly swift whatever is selected. That way you could do what I do and store one of the drives safely in another location (a fireproof safe in my case) and just attach it once a week to renew the backup. Time Machine is not phased by this and At any time I have a backup no older than one hour always connected and one, no more that 7 days old, 'offsite'.

 

[MacInWin]

And you could use something like TimeMachineScheduler or Time Machine Editor to schedule the backups on a longer interval than TM does (1 hr). I have my TM backups set for Noon and Midnight. I don't need an hourly backup, I don't do that much work that I can't afford to lose.

Or you could use a cloner like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper! to make bootable backups and still have an "archive" of the things CCC or SD! have replaced with each clone.

 

[Hazoss]

Thanks Sawday and MacInWin.
I don't have a habit of leaving my BU drives always connected, I get a reminder saying 'no back up in X number of days'
Thats when I connect to update.
I was just wondering if I could keep just one External BU for the mail and docs and the other exclusively for full backup.
Also...in the event of a total loss of my mac, would I be able to use full back up to get back on track again?

 

[Slydude]

You could do that using Carbon Copy Cloner and I believe Super Duper as well. You can set up Carbon Copy Cloner to include or exclude any files on the drive. Basically give it one rule to handle full backups and a different rule for the partial backup.

The downside when compared to Time Machine is that you need to remember to trigger the backup.

 

[McBie]

Simple question !
What data can you not afford to loose ?
That is what needs to be backed up !

Backing up is a proces, a methodology .... it is not a tool



Cheers ... McBie

 

[Hazoss]

Thank you so much for your views and advice, my searches outside mac-forums have been most challenging.

I hope to crack this nut soon

 

[chscag]

Thank you so much for your views and advice, my searches outside mac-forums have been most challenging.

I hope to crack this nut soon

My unsolicited opinion: You're making things harder for yourself than need be. Make full backups either using Time Machine or has been suggested - Carbon Copy Cloner/SuperDuper - and restore on an as required basis when needed. The convenience of using CCC or SD is that their cloned backups are bootable. Time Machine backups are not.

 

[Hazoss]

Thank you chscag,

Hope I am understanding this correctly,

A back up on external hd using Time machine cannot be simply connected (boot) to a new mac and function.
A backup using CCC on external hd can boot up on a new mac

Off topic but related - how would I 'boot up' a new mac using my Time machine external hard drive back up?

Just found a free CCC download here:

https://carbon-copy-cloner-ccc.en.softonic.com/mac

I have OSX 10.9.5 Lion (no indication on CCC site if this OSX is covered).

Thanks again.

 

[Hazoss]

Error - I seem to have repeated this post

 

[IWT]

Thank you chscag,

Hope I am understanding this correctly,

A back up on external hd using Time machine cannot be simply connected (boot) to a new mac and function.
A backup using CCC on external hd can boot up on a new mac

Off topic but related - how would I 'boot up' a new mac using my Time machine external hard drive back up?

Just found a free CCC download here:

https://carbon-copy-cloner-ccc.en.softonic.com/mac

I have OSX 10.9.5 Lion (no indication on CCC site if this OSX is covered).

Thanks again.

Hazoss

Don't go anywhere near softonic. This is a well known site for bundling malware, adware and worse.

Always go directly to the developer's website (Bombich in the case of CCC).

Check with the developer to see if Lion is catered for. This applies to all apps.

Ian

 

[Hazoss]

Wow...thanks for the heads up IWT, I had no idea and had delayed the download.
Will look at Bombich now.

 

[ferrarr]

I have OSX 10.9.5 Lion (no indication on CCC site if this OSX is covered).

Thanks again.

Just an FYI, Mac OS X Lion is 10.7, 10.9 is OS X Mavericks.

I also would say avoid Softonic to download apps from, as most sites like that also have the developers site listed as well.

 

[Hazoss]

Thanks for this gem ferrarr, I have just been searching for the very answer - my icon on start up screen is a Lion so I assumed I have Lion - so confusing.

Will stay away from Softonic, am just so worried that I may have to face a boot up from an external hd without CCC and the challenge I may face.

Am still searching so many posts on MF....

 

[ferrarr]

What icon are you referring to when you say, "my icon on start up screen is a Lion"?

In order to boot from an external source, you either need to have a clone (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper) on a drive with an OS (Mac) installed on it, no way around that. Both SD and CCC offer free 30 day trials, and can be used with basic clone abilities for free indefinitely.

 

[MacInWin]

The login icon (your lion) has nothing to do with the version of the software. You find the version by clicking on the  upper left corner of the screen, then About This Mac and it will show the Mac and OS version.

No, you cannot boot from a TM backup. You have to boot from something else, then run TM to restore the files. That is why I have both TM and CCC backups. If I have an internal boot drive failure and have to replace it, I will boot from the CCC clone and then restore from either it or the TM backup, depending on which is more current. I also have, as further backup, bootable USB sticks with the installer for Sierra on it. That way if for any reason I cannot boot from CCC, I can boot from the USB Stick and reinstall the OS and then recover from the TM backup. Yes, I'm paranoid, but then again, I once had both the main drive and my one backup drive fail simultaneously, so I now spread the risk all around.

 

[Hazoss]

When I switch on mac, after grey screen with apple logo, I have three small circular pics the first is a lion (?) to 'login' - 'guest user' and another guest user.
(just restarted to be sure - on closer look- more like a leopard)

I have been backing up on external hard drive via time machine - a full back up - does that not include the OS from the macintosh hd ?
Now I am anxious that my back ups are un usable.

Sorry I am a bit of a green horn here.

 

[MacInWin]

You can change that icon to anything you want. Go to System Preferences, Users and Groups, click on the little lock and provide a password. Now click on the lion/leopard image and a window should open up to allow you to pick any image you want for that login. It has nothing to do with the version of the OS.

TM backups DO have the entire system, but it's just not bootable. You need something from which to boot to restore from TM. But given that Apple now supports online installation, that's ok because if the hard drive fails, you replace it with a new on, reinstall over the internet and then restore from TM and you are back in business. Some of us prefer not have that big download, so we have bootable clones or bootable USB sticks. But you don't need them if you have Internet access.

 

[ferrarr]

OK, just as an FYI, Mac OS X Lion and OS X Mountain Lion, 10.7 and 10.8 respectively were the last of there bog cat named Mac OS X names. Apple went to OS X Mavericks (10.9), OS X Yosemite (10.10), OS X El Capitan (10.11), and now macOS Sierra (10.12).

As far as backups go, having any backup is great, don't sweat it. When, not if, you have a hard drive failure, you will need to get a replacement drive. You can get an external drive if you want, and make a clone backup, but most external drives can not be put into your MBP. You will still need to get another drive to replace the internal drive when it dies.

 

[Hazoss]

Thank you MacInWin and ferrar you are so knowledgable on these things.

Pleased to know that my existing backups are of use.

In appreciation,
Hazoss