Virgin Mac Mini - First Power Up Suggestions

[nylonsteel]

Any suggetions on the first thing to do when powering up a new Mac Mini
I was thinking of doing something along the lines of creating a disk backup?
Cloning the disk to external hard drive?
Using a backup program?
Or other suggestions?
I am new to Mac migrating from PC

 

[kilowattradio]

Any suggetions on the first thing to do when powering up a new Mac Mini
I was thinking of doing something along the lines of creating a disk backup?
Cloning the disk to external hard drive?
Using a backup program?
Or other suggestions?
I am new to Mac migrating from PC

Mac OS X has an automatic backup system called time machine. You just need an external HD to make the backups when you set up time machine. The first thing you need to adjust to is the Dock.

 

[nylonsteel]

Thanks - sounds easy and straight forward

 

[billib]

Clone and TimeMachine

Any suggetions on the first thing to do when powering up a new Mac Mini
I was thinking of doing something along the lines of creating a disk backup?
Cloning the disk to external hard drive?
Using a backup program?
Or other suggestions?
I am new to Mac migrating from PC

Their are several Cloning Applications.
I Clone and use TimeMachine. If you have a problem, its easier to Clone back
your most recent and stable Clone. Time Machine is good for
going back in time to recover something you deleted and now want.
Also, a clone is bootable and TimeMachine is not. Carbon Copy Cloner
and SuperDuper are the most popular cloning Applications. I've used both
extensively and CCC is my favorite.

If your external HD is large enough, you can easily partition it using Mac's
Disk Utility in order to make several clones as well as a TimeMachine partition.
Every morning while I fix breakfast I "Repair Permissions" then make a fresh clone.
EVERY MORNING!!! Its saved my bacon, so to speak. I would STRONGLY
urge you to get a Firewire 800 external HD that is 7200 RPM's. You can boot
your clone from the external and it will run faster than your internal HD
that is a 5400RPM Disc. Using USB 2.0 to run a clone will be like watching
paint dry.

So, Carbon Copy Cloner and a very large FW800 HD that is 7200 RPM's should do it.
If you run into trouble, let us know.

 

[Alrescha]

Any suggetions on the first thing to do when powering up a new Mac Mini
I was thinking of doing something along the lines of creating a disk backup?

There's no particular need to back up a brand new Mac. You have the disks and a restore takes about half an hour -- at which point you're right back where you started.

Backing up your own stuff is another matter. Time Machine is a good idea.

A.