backup question

[derajfast]

i have backup scheduled to run once a week and it backs up to an external lacie drive

i have a few questiosn about this

i open up the backup folder on the drive, and it shows all the backups from each week....so say my internal HD fails......what do i do to restore it with this backup folder? just double click the icon? each one? how come the first backups icon is of a soild orange umbrella while the others are alternating orange and white striped umbrellas

also, eahc backup is like 2-5gb except for the first one which was 60....can i delete say the 2nd backup and s till have all those files which would be on the most recent backup? i find it rather confusing

 

[iMeowbot]

Backups are good, but yeah, they're even better if you know how to restore

What backup software are you using? Is it the .Mac Backup? Have you set up your external drive so that you can boot from it, just in case?

 

[derajfast]

yeah i use the one from .mac

and yes i set up the external HD so i can boot off of it as well in case of emergency, although i rarely do

 

[varmit]

yeah i use the one from .mac

and yes i set up the external HD so i can boot off of it as well in case of emergency, although i rarely do

Suggest, do a backup, then do a restore right from that backup. So you know its working properly, and then you will know how to restore. With the .Mac Backup, its quite easy.

 

[CanadaRAM]

also, eahc backup is like 2-5gb except for the first one which was 60....can i delete say the 2nd backup and s till have all those files which would be on the most recent backup? i find it rather confusing

In general, no, you cannot delete an intermediate portion of an incremental backup file safely. Incremental backups save only what is newly created or changed.

Illustration: the first full backup has files ABC

The 2nd backup (first incremental) You create D and modify B, so #2 has only BD

The 3rd backup, you change A and create E, the rest is unchanged. So #3 contains only AE

If you were to delete #2, you'd lose D altogether, and you'd lose the changes on B, 'cause it would only exist in the original #1 version.