Time machine - backing up for newbies

[Marty_Macfly]

Hi All,

Get my 1st mac, 16th Dec, kicking heels and getting the prep in.

Sorted so far:
1. Monitor connection
2. Sound system
3. Power - surge protectors etc.


Now I have to return to this confusing item of backups. Head spinning from this from previous weekends!


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201250


The key phrase I picked up is:

“....To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu

in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.....”



I’m going to keep it simple to start, probably with:

1. Buy a fast external SDD.
2. Manual backup once a week - just plug in the SDD and let it run for a morning on a work day.
3. Will back iphone and ipad onto mac, then backup the mac onto the SDD.



Regards
Martin

 

[Phil77354]

If you use Time Machine, then I believe that it will take care of this for you, whenever you connect your external drive. it will recognize that it is mounted, and resume backups. You shouldn't have to manually do anything.

Why not use iCloud to keep your phone and iPad backed up? It's far more convenient than doing manual backups to your mac, which are going to eat up a bunch of your storage.

 

[Blowback]

Hi All,

Get my 1st mac, 16th Dec, kicking heels and getting the prep in.

Sorted so far:
1. Monitor connection
2. Sound system
3. Power - surge protectors etc.


Now I have to return to this confusing item of backups. Head spinning from this from previous weekends!


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201250


The key phrase I picked up is:

“....To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu

in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.....”



I’m going to keep it simple to start, probably with:

1. Buy a fast external SDD.
2. Manual backup once a week - just plug in the SDD and let it run for a morning on a work day.
3. Will back iphone and ipad onto mac, then backup the mac onto the SDD.



Regards
Martin

Been using TM for over a decade . You can't really go wrong but I also use CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) .....which I first used over 20 yrs ago...SUPER simple and excellent support (started by former Apple Employ.). Suggest you search MacRumors for CCC and SuperDuper. Plenty of threads and you'll probably learn a lot about Mac Backups. Also, search the Apple site and start exploring the Apple Support Communities .....another very good source of information.

 

[Blowback]

Hi All,

Get my 1st mac, 16th Dec, kicking heels and getting the prep in.

Sorted so far:
1. Monitor connection
2. Sound system
3. Power - surge protectors etc.


Now I have to return to this confusing item of backups. Head spinning from this from previous weekends!


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201250


The key phrase I picked up is:

“....To start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu

in the menu bar. Use the same menu to check the status of a backup or skip a backup in progress.....”



I’m going to keep it simple to start, probably with:

1. Buy a fast external SDD.
2. Manual backup once a week - just plug in the SDD and let it run for a morning on a work day.
3. Will back iphone and ipad onto mac, then backup the mac onto the SDD.



Regards
Martin

I've always used TM set up for scheduled backups. Set and forget.

 

[Marty_Macfly]

If you use Time Machine, then I believe that it will take care of this for you, whenever you connect your external drive. it will recognize that it is mounted, and resume backups. You shouldn't have to manually do anything.

Why not use iCloud to keep your phone and iPad backed up? It's far more convenient than doing manual backups to your mac, which are going to eat up a bunch of your storage.

Hi Phil,

i’m a bit old school OCD. Imagine next year, being able to travel on holiday again et cetera. If I lose my iPhone while on holiday, can walking to a Apple Store, get a replacement, and then through iTunes do a full restore on the new phone, from my macbook. Same with the iPad.

I don’t actually do that memory intensive stuff, so for my use case it would actually be a good use of the memory on the laptop!

 

[Marty_Macfly]

Been using TM for over a decade . You can't really go wrong but I also use CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner) .....which I first used over 20 yrs ago...SUPER simple and excellent support (started by former Apple Employ.). Suggest you search MacRumors for CCC and SuperDuper. Plenty of threads and you'll probably learn a lot about Mac Backups. Also, search the Apple site and start exploring the Apple Support Communities .....another very good source of information.

Hi B,

Yes, I reckon CCC it’s going to be the way to go, once it works properly with these new M1 MacBooks, For a bootable restore

 

[Phil77354]

Hi Phil,

i’m a bit old school OCD. Imagine next year, being able to travel on holiday again et cetera. If I lose my iPhone while on holiday, can walking to a Apple Store, get a replacement, and then through iTunes do a full restore on the new phone, from my macbook. Same with the iPad.

I don’t actually do that memory intensive stuff, so for my use case it would actually be a good use of the memory on the laptop!

Fair enough. If it works for you, that is what matters!