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How to Back-up
What you need to back-up may depend on the reason why you are backing up.
In preparation for a restore:
MacOS X:
1. /Users/yourname
This will grab all of your files and preferences, including iTunes and iPhoto libraries, as well as bookmarks, and mail folder. This assumes that you only save files in your Home folder, and do not have files scattered elsewhere. If you commonly save files elsewhere, perhaps on another volume, include those locations in your backup.
2. /Library/Fonts
If you added fonts to the main Fonts folder, you will need to copy any additions before reformatting the system drive.
3. /Applications - only back up applications you either purchased online, or those you no longer have the installer media for. iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto are not included on the Tiger installation DVD.
Windows XP:
1. C:\Documents and Settings - grab the folder with your name on it. This holds your "My Documents" folder, along with all of your application settings, your pictures, and your music. This assumes that you only save files in your Home folder, and do not have files scattered elsewhere. If you commonly save files elsewhere, perhaps on another volume, include those locations in your backup.
Normal Back-ups: (The specific location information is for MacOS X, but equivalent folders are located in C:\Documents and Settings\username in Windows)
1. /Users/yourname/Documents/Course Folders - all class folders that may have changed since you last backed up. You may want to grab all of them anyway, in case older backups are lost or damaged. All of your course files are critical to your class grade. It is better to backup too much data than miss a critical file.
2. /Users/yourname/Photos/iPhoto - this is your iPhoto Library location. Back this up to maintain a copy of your digital photos imported using iPhoto. If you are using another application to import pictures from your digital camera, such as software that came with your camera, you will need to figure out where it is storing the files and include that location in your back up.
3. Purchased music from iTunes - /Users/yourname/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music - you will have to look through the files and folders to find the individual files.
4. Mail Folder - If you are using Apple’s Mail application, the folder to back up is located at /Users/yourname/Library/Mail. If you are using Eudora, the file is at /Users/yourname/Documents/Eudora Folder.
5. All other files you do not wish to lose or have to recreate.
Each semester, you should back up all course folders to CD or DVD, and put the complete backup in a safe place for future reference (portfolio!!! Thesis!!!!) I recommend making a back up at least every week, and more frequently the closer you get to a deadline. Murphy’s Law of Computing states that you are more likely to experience a painful hard drive failure the closer you are to a deadline.
How to Backup
Media Choices
CD or DVD
CD-R (CD-RW, etc.) - cheaper than DVD, but much lower capacity.
• 650 MB - 700 MB
• fairly inexpensive - do not buy cheap! Choose well-known brands for reliability, stability, and longevity. You save much money if the burn keeps failing.
DVD-RW - Even though DVD media is more expensive per disc, each disc can hold about seven times the amount of data (4.7 GB). Again, choose name brands for reliability, stability, and longevity.
Store properly - handle properly!
Scratches and other marks in either side can cause the disc to become unreadable.
• Keep the disc in a sleeve or jewel case
• Keep out of direct sunlight and away from heat
• Do not touch the dye side (the reflective side). Handle all discs by the edges. The oils on your fingers can cause the disc to become unreadable in those areas. This is why places that rent DVDs clean them frequently.
• Do not write on the disc with pencil or ball point pen. Permanent, felt-tip only. Sharpies are your friend! Non-reflective side only!
Portable Hard Drive
Portable hard drives work great for transferring data, making backups, etc. They are easy to use, and backing up is a matter of drag and drop copying. There is one small detail that needs to be pointed out - inside that case is just a regular hard drive, prone to all of the same types of failures that the drive inside your case is. Actually, there is one very big difference between your portable hard drive, and the one in your desktop computer. It’s very portability makes it prone to accidents, loss, or theft. Granted, most of you are pretty careful with your portable drives, but accidents happen. Having the only copy of something in just one place is never a good idea.
If you are going to back up to a portable drive, make more permanent backups on CD or DVD periodically, just to ensure that your data is secure.
How to Burn a CD or DVD
1. You will need a cd or dvd burner to do this.
How to find out what kind of drive your computer or laptop has when you are using MacOS X:
1. Go to the Apple menu, and select “About this Mac...”.
2. Click the “More Info...” button.
3. Click the “Disc Burning” line. First. look at the item marked “Burn Support”. If it says “Yes,” you can, at minimum, burn CDs. Now, to further see what types of media are supported, look at the items marked “CD-Write” and “DVD-Write”. -R, -RW, next to either of those lines means that you can write (-R) or rewrite (-RW) those types of media.
2. Insert a blank disc, either CD-R or DVD-R.
3. When the disc icon shows up on your desktop, open it.
4. Drag the files you would like to burn to the disc icon or window.
5. Once the files are copied, click the “Burn” button to burn the disc.
6. When the burn is finished, label it with the date and the number of the backup (If you are going to need three CDs or DVDs for example, you may label them “Backup01 10-31-05”, through “Backup03 10-31-05”).
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