Why does directory damage occur? Can I prevent it?
We recommend an external hard drive at least twice the size as your internal drive for incremental backups, such as Time Machine. Select your hard drive and press Command-I to see your hard drive’s capacity. If you don’t see the hard disk icon, choose Finder > Preferences, click General and then select Hard Disks. If your Mac has a FireWire port, we recommend purchasing a drive with that type of interface, as it can be more reliable than USB.
After you’ve got that setup you have lots of options. We used to recommend DVDs but we have to admit that they will probably go the way of the floppy drive in the next 5 years. USB flash drives are ultra-portable and are a great way to keep your documents with you. If you have a fast upload speed on your Internet connection (or are very patient) you can use an online storage service like Dropbox or CrashPlan. iCloud will backup limited iPad/iPhone application data and some iTunes files but isn’t a complete solution. A free alternative (if you can remember to do it frequently) is to email files to yourself on a service like Gmail. If you travel often or just don’t have a lot of space, take a look at a portable external hard drive.
Published March 24, 2009 12:00 PM
Last modified on November 25, 2011 12:18 PM
Related Links
Online Backup Options for MacsTime Machine: How do I restore my user account?
How to create a bootable clone backup
How do I choose a backup strategy?
What is a backup?
Time Machine: I can’t see any of my backups.
Why should I back up?
Time Machine: When I try to backup, it fails immediately or after copying some of the data.
What makes hard drives prone to failure?
Time Machine: I use FileVault and Time Machine doesn’t seem to work.
Time Machine: I use Aperture and I’m having backup issues.
What should I back up my data onto?
Time Machine: I use Anti-virus software and I’m having issues.
Not only computers need backing up...
How often should I back up?
Why should I make multiple backups?
How to reformat and partition a new external hard drive for backup.
Start a bootable clone backup with SuperDuper!
How to startup your Mac from an external hard drive.
Time Machine: How do I start using it?
Time Machine: How do I restore individual files?
Time Machine: How do I restore my entire system?
Time Machine: What should I do when my backup drive fills up?
Time Machine: Fills up my backup drive too fast.
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