Time Machine Tips on backup
To ensure your backup system is working properly, consider the following points:
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Every so often, open the Time Machine pane of the System Preferences application and check the status of your backups. This includes the name of the current backup drive, the amount of disk space available, the oldest backup stored on the drive, the latest backup, and the time at which the next backup will be performed. The latest backup date and time tell you how fresh your current backup is; it shouldn’t be more than one hour old unless there is a problem, you’ve disabled Time Machine, or you haven’t connected the backup drive to your Mac in a while. If it is more than an hour old, you need to check your system because something isn’t working correctly.
As the backup drive gets full, you see warnings when old backups are deleted. You need to make sure that there aren’t files in the old backups that you might need at some point. This can happen if you delete a document or folder from your Mac but don’t restore it for a long time. Eventually, the only copy left might be in the oldest backup that gets deleted when the hard drive gets full.
When your backup system has worked for a while, check the status of the hard drive you are using. If it is filling up rapidly, consider removing some of the system and application files that might be part of it to reduce the space required. The most important files to protect over a long period of time are those you’ve created, changed, or purchased. Files that are already on a disc are relatively easy to recover so there’s no need to include them in a backup unless the disc is the only place they exist.
If you want to keep certain files but you don’t use them anymore, consider moving them onto a DVD or CD for archival purposes. Then delete them from your Mac’s hard drive; over time they’ll be removed from the backups, or you can exclude them from Time Machine to reduce the amount of drive space required. If the files are important, you should archive them in a couple of ways in case the disc you placed them on is lost or damaged.
Test your backups periodically to ensure things are working properly by attempting to restore some files (explained in the next section). If you don’t discover a problem until you need to restore important files, it is too late, so make sure your backup system is working properly. Create a couple of test files for this
purpose and let them exist long enough to get into your backups (at least one hour assuming you are connected to your backup drive). Delete some of the files and empty the Trash. Make and save changes to some of the test files. Then try to restore both the deleted files and the original versions of the files you changed. If you are able to restore the files, your data is protected. If not, you have a problem and need to get it solved so that your data isn’t at risk.
. Use the Time Machine menu on the Finder menu bar to quickly access commands and information. At the top of the menu is the date and time of the most recent backup. You can use the Back Up Now command to start a backup at any time. Select Enter Time Machine to restore files. Select Open Time Machine preferences to move to the Time Machine pane of the System Preferences application.
TIP: Online Backups
You shouldn’t rely on one type of backup because each type has a potential for failure (for example, the hard drive you use for Time Machine could stop working and you might be unable to recover). Consider also backing up to DVD or to an online backup system such as www.carbonite.com.
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