old backup to new backup?

[DianeVan]

Hope I am in the correct forum. If not, please move me.

After updating to iOS8 on my iPhone today I figured I might as well get up to date on my MacBook Pro from 10.7.5 to Yosemite to take advantage of all the link up benefits. And so now I am just trying to back up my MacBook Pro first.

I've been Time Machine backing up my MacBook Pro (from time to time) but it seems today my Seagate 1 TB device is failing somehow. It takes a very long time "preparing backup" before actually backing up. Just this last time it "failed backing up" just when it was nearly finished and I got the message "eject properly next time, etc". It's only about 1/2 full. (update - I tried again and it updated OK - but still thinking of getting a new backup disk).

So I thought I would by a new back up disc. Now should I copy/migrate or something the old backups (provided I can get the old back up disk to work?) or just forget about them?

Why might I need the older backups?

I have my music and photos also backed up/copied to another external as well so I am not afraid of losing much of value if my MacBook goes crazy during update.

And since I'll probably be getting a new backup disk soon, any suggestions? I just need a simple thing and not that big. Really.

Thanks for your suggestions and help,

Diane

 

[chscag]

Hi Diane:

We moved your post here to "OS X Apps and Games" as that is a more appropriate forum than "Switchers".

As for your question... since you already have your most important items backed up, I would forgo trying to merge the older backup with a new one on the new hard drive when you purchase it. I have had hit and miss luck with doing that and finally just gave up and started a new backup. You can always leave the old backup drive intact until you feel you no longer need it.

Also, when Yosemite is finally released to the public for download (it's still in beta) you can always make a clone of your current hard drive before installing. We recommend using either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to make the clone.

 

[DianeVan]

Thanks for your help. I didn't realize Yosemite was still in beta since my iPhone update told me I couldn't set up (?? something- have forgotten what already, but it sounded cool) because I didn't have the right OS on my Macbook - they were connected at the time. Who knows - it's hard for an old lady to keep up.

Thanks again. I've got a real Mac friend coming to visit soon and he'll get me all straightened out - I hope.

Diane

 

[Slydude]

The message that you got was probably a message about iCloud Drive. I got that message when I updated. Unless you store some of your documents in iCloud it's nothing to be concerned about at the moment just choose No. You can choose to add it later if need be.

 

[DianeVan]

Thanks. I'll forget about it for now. It was a good reminder, though, for me to back up. Since I have a laptop, I don't have it connected to Time Machine all the time.

Thanks for your reply.


Diane