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Mac backup PRIOR to Logic board replacement???

M

Mili-Mac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 4, 2011
21
0
Aust ;)
Hello,

Due to sound cutting in and out the 'Genius' decided that my whole logic board needs replacing which is fine as it comes out of their pocket.... But my issue is what is the best way to back up my mac book seeing as I am reading horror stories from Time Machine? I have taken my laptop home to back it up so I can drop it off after it has been backed up sufficiently. I don't have an external hard drive with me at present - will i need to get one?

What needs to be backed up? (folders? whole drives? apps?)
What is wiped from computer?
What is the most effective/safest way to do this?
What will happen after the new logic board is installed?

As much information in the simplest form would be greatly appreciated.
 
You'll need an external hard drive. Time Machine should be sufficient, actually. It's what I use personally and I've had no issues.

That said, I don't think backing up is necessary. A logic board replacement is extremely low risk to your data. I wouldn't even worry about it. And that's from someone paranoid about his data.
 
goMac said:
You'll need an external hard drive. Time Machine should be sufficient, actually. It's what I use personally and I've had no issues.

That said, I don't think backing up is necessary. A logic board replacement is extremely low risk to your data. I wouldn't even worry about it. And that's from someone paranoid about his data.
Click to expand...

Real?

Ok so just take back in to them... I have just been reading how all these people lost everything due to their time machine not registering any of their previous restore points due to the new mac address of the laptop being changed from the replacement of the logic board....

So its not as scary as everyone is making out?:confused:
 
Mili-Mac said:
Ok so that sounds easy enough... So I dont have to copy the whole Mac HD to an external hard drive?
Click to expand...

Well, just copy your important data off. That way, the fear posted above will not apply at all. It's what I have done to transfer between old and new computers, it will work (if you remember to copy off everything you want).
 
blueroom said:
If your data is important to you, you should backup regardless.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. Getting a logic board replaced isn't a huge risk. But if your data is important to you, you should always have a backup, regardless of whether your computer is going in for repair or not.

Hard disks can die at any time. Repair or not.


Mili-Mac said:
Real?

Ok so just take back in to them... I have just been reading how all these people lost everything due to their time machine not registering any of their previous restore points due to the new mac address of the laptop being changed from the replacement of the logic board....

So its not as scary as everyone is making out?:confused:
Click to expand...


In that scenario, you'd just loose your time machine historical backup, not the data on your drive. All you'd have to do is start a new backup.

There isn't any way that situation could lead to you losing whats on your drive.
 
Yeah, when I had a logic board replaced I had to start over with a new Time Machine backup (TM doesn't recognize it as the same computer anymore) but it didn't effect my primary drive.

But of course you'd still want to back it up.
 
goMac said:
This is good advice. Getting a logic board replaced isn't a huge risk. But if your data is important to you, you should always have a backup, regardless of whether your computer is going in for repair or not.

Hard disks can die at any time. Repair or not.





In that scenario, you'd just loose your time machine historical backup, not the data on your drive. All you'd have to do is start a new backup.

There isn't any way that situation could lead to you losing whats on your drive.
Click to expand...



Ya, I called Apple and asked them exactly what is what and they said to time machine back up onto a external hard drive that after logic board replacement can be installed back on to time machine.... so now to buy a hard drive :cool:
 
You could remove the hard drive before you take it in.
I don't know why they'd need the drive to replace the logic board.

Personally, I'd buy an external drive of the same size or larger than the one in my mac.

Then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the drive.
 
I always have media / work on a separate drive. For system / programs, i like to clone my drive and keep it in a drawer somewhere. I do this once in a while, like after a big project. Have not tried time machine, xenophobia
 
minifridge1138 said:
You could remove the hard drive before you take it in.
I don't know why they'd need the drive to replace the logic board.

Personally, I'd buy an external drive of the same size or larger than the one in my mac.

Then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the drive.
Click to expand...

Yeah... thought of that but then they may get all cranky and void my warrantee as i have seen them do this fore merely a sticker on an iPhone... and im not really into paying $700 for a logic board...

Good thinking though!
 
Some software will require you re-register it once the logic board is replaced.

A story re: Media Composer and a replaced logic board: I should have de-activated the software before I got the logic board replaced. I had to call Avid support in Europe because even though the hard drive was the same, the program thought this was a new, unauthorized machine.
 
fartheststar said:
Some software will require you re-register it once the logic board is replaced.

A story re: Media Composer and a replaced logic board: I should have de-activated the software before I got the logic board replaced. I had to call Avid support in Europe because even though the hard drive was the same, the program thought this was a new, unauthorized machine.
Click to expand...

wow, weird...
I use the disk utility to clone drives. a couple of times now, something weird happened, and i just slapped the backup in - up and running in notime
 
Mili-Mac said:
Ya, I called Apple and asked them exactly what is what and they said to time machine back up onto a external hard drive that after logic board replacement can be installed back on to time machine.... so now to buy a hard drive :cool:
Click to expand...

I think you're confused here. What you're talking about doesn't at all affect the data on your drive.

A logic board replacement might break your backup, not the data on your drive.

There are still ways to work around, but it sounds like a few things are backwards here.
 
goMac said:
I think you're confused here. What you're talking about doesn't at all affect the data on your drive.

A logic board replacement might break your backup, not the data on your drive.

There are still ways to work around, but it sounds like a few things are backwards here.
Click to expand...

Backwards indeed.... Lol

Ok can you kindly spell it out to me in really 'Dah!' format because I seem to not be getting it. I'm getting my hard drive tomorrow morning and was going to copy my user account folder (all my Uni, music and pics Bla Bla Bla) onto my hard drive (77.72gb)
Should I be making some time machine doo/dad also? I know the likelyhood that it will wipe is low but I'm just being safe. This morning before I saw genious I convincingly said "doesn't seem to be the logic board" and look where that got me!
 
I'll second (or third) Carbon Copy Cloner of the complete drive.

If they're working on anything other than your boot drive you could as a better alternative install another hard drive then install OS X from your grey disc and create a user account. The reason I say that is the last thing I want sitting around a repair station, Apple or not, is one of my HDs with my data on it.
 
Ok, here's the simple explanation.

You current machine has a hard drive with data on it.
1) Use Carbon Copy Cloner (or superduper or whatever) to clone the drive to your extra drive.
2) Re-install OSX onto the drive in your machine (they don't need to see your personal data).
3) Ship to Apple.
4) Wait a while until you get your computer back.
5) Use Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the data from the extra drive back into your machine OR swap the hard drives and put the new one in the machine.

You can skip (2) if you don't care about their techs seeing your stuff.
 
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