Mac backup. How to back up your Mac as a disk image. How to restore specific files from a backup
In order not to lose a configuration dear to your heart Mac settings OS X and a set of installed and correctly configured programs, you need to make backup copies of your operating system from time to time.
Despite the reliability and stability, MAC OS X may still “fall” due to incorrect user actions. And at the most inopportune moment. But no one wants to lose their personal, so dear to their hearts configuration of settings and a set of installed and correctly configured programs...
To avoid ending up in this situation, it is imperative to make backup copies of your operating system from time to time.
In contrast to the numerous difficulties and prohibitions associated with cloning living beings, no one bothers to create exact copy your Mac OS X on another hardware.
Cloning animals is difficult, time-consuming and illegal, but OS- simple, fast and, in a sense, even mandatory
So, let's create our “apple” sheep Dolly.
Time Machine
There are many ways. The first option for backing up your system is built into MAC OS X itself, starting with version 10.5 and later. This is Time Machine.
Time Machine in automatic mode creates backup copies of the system and all important files on an external hard drive and must “go back in time” to restore system files V original form for the moment when you need it. If you enable Time Machine in System Preferences, it will offer to create “backups” (spare copies) and ask for a directory to save them.
But Time Machine has a couple of drawbacks. The first of them is that she “eats” very quickly. disk space. Although not completely. After the first backup is created, Time Machine continues to save only the changed files.
Second problem - automatic copy prevents it from working normally by starting on its own.
To at least somehow level this out, let’s turn to additional application, which allows you to configure Time Machine itself.
This is TimeMachineEditor. You can download it. TimeMachineEditor will allow you to more flexibly customize the schedule of your procedures. For example, hourly on Mondays, daily after work, and so on.
Using this utility, we increase the intervals of “time jumps”, “curbing the appetite” of Time Machine itself, and adjust its backup sessions to a schedule convenient for us.
Thus, Time Machine has the ability to backup your system during various failures and “roll back” back, but it is cumbersome and not very convenient for this purpose. Including the “backup” disk is not bootable and for recovery it requires starting from the installation disk Mac drive Os X.
Disk Utility
Another way to “grow” your “clone sheep” is to use a standard disk utility. By default, it is located in the Applications/Utilites folder.
We launch this application and select the name of your system drive in the menu on the left, for example, X. Now drag the icon of your startup disk (X) into the “Source” line window, and drag the disk icon into the “Destination” line. which will save your clone, for example, Backup. This can be an external FireWire or USB disk, as well as an internal HDD or a flash drive of sufficient capacity.
If you need to pre-format this directory, switch to Erase. For external media, the format does not matter (as a rule, this is Mac OS Extended Journaled), but for hard drive on mac with Intel processor, it is preferable to select “GUID Partition Table”.
Now click “Restore” and enter your password. Go.
After some time, another “Dolly the Sheep” will appear - an absolute copy of your system disk.
Now, if your Mac OS X crashes fatally, and no “cure” will help, you can repeat this procedure in reverse, replacing the damaged system with your saved copy.
To do this, you need to “start” from the backup system itself: turn on your Mac while holding option key, then select the disk with the finished clone as a boot disk (in our example, Backup) and perform the recovery procedure in reverse order.
But before you do this, you must definitely try to “cure” the damaged system with the same “Disk Utility”.
Select the “damaged” disk in the left menu (in our example it is X and in the “First Aid” section do the following procedures: “Verify Disk Permission” and, if necessary, do “Restore access rights” ( Repair Disk Permission) and, accordingly, “Verify Disk” - “Repair Disk”.
The familiar OnyX program can also provide irreplaceable help here.
Despite the ease of cloning using " Disk Utility", this method has one drawback. Absolutely all information, without exception, is copied. And if we're talking about about a small spare disk, or even a flash drive? The files may simply not fit on them.
What is the choice?
There are many options for cloning your Dolly the Sheep. Up to use command line according to instructions from Apple itself. “Mere mortals” may find other utilities more accessible, such as SuperDuper!, Clone X, Tri-BACKUP or MacTuneUp. In my opinion, the most advanced among them, convenient and at the same time absolutely free, is called Carbon Copy Cloner.
Carbon Copy Cloner is produced by Bombich Software. You can download it. Voluntary donations to developers (Donate) are welcome.
Mike Bombich, the creator of this wonderful program, in an interview with a popular American website, especially noted the “highlights” of his brainchild: the speed of the cloning process, the ability to selectively transfer data and additional protection from random actions in the form special list all possible candidate disks with a request for their ID (Unique Identifier).
Carbon Copy Cloner allows you to create a full or partial clone of your system, moving it to another disk or saving it as a .dmg (disk image). IN latest versions Carbon Copy Cloner, targeting the Snow Leopard system ( Snow Leopard), compression is supported in the HFS+ file system, displaying the sizes of folders and drives in the decimal system has become noticeably more convenient, copying speed has increased, and databases are also ignored Time data Machine if they have already been created.
Carbon Copy Cloner can be very useful when upgrading a system disk and replacing it with a more capacious one. It is enough to transfer the previously rejected system to a new disk.
Before you start creating a backup copy of your system, it would be a good idea to first clean out all the “garbage” that has accumulated on the system using the OnyX utility and put it in order.
Install Carbon Copy Cloner and launch it. If necessary during operation, enter your usual password and unlock the “lock” at the bottom left.
At the top left in the Source Disk menu, select the one from which your system will be cloned (in our example, this is drive X).
Top right Target Disk ( Target drive) select the one on which the “twin” of your MAC OS X will be saved. (In our case - X2. It is important to note that this utility has the ability to record the system in .dmg format and even to remote computer over the network.
Now let's take a look at another feature of Carbon Copy Cloner: create special filters that allow you to exclude some files from the clone based on their extension, for example .mkv or .avi, and then movies of this format will not be cloned. This will help save space.
In order not to complicate our life, let's try to do some manually preliminary procedures, allowing to facilitate the spare system and speed up the cloning process.
It is not necessary to save your entire media library to a system backup: digital photos, music, movies, supporting documentation, and so on. And also work files that can weigh more than one gigabyte. You can also refuse "heavy programs" if there is not enough space on the backup disk.
Find Items to be copied in the left window and look carefully, unchecking some of the checkboxes opposite unnecessary files. If they are not stored haphazardly on your disk, then most likely they will be in the Users/macuser (your username) directories. For example, in this configuration we disable the Calibrie Library and the books it contains. After all, they are already recorded on a separate DVD.
Then in the section on the right Cloning options (Clone mode) select Incremental backups of selected items (incremental “backup” of selected items) this dynamic mode will allow you to transfer only the changed data the next time you update the version of the spare system. The checkbox below Delete items that don’t exist on the source in synchronization mode will not “take with you” old programs and other files that you have not used for a long time.
Protect root-level items on the target will keep you in superuser mode if you are one. And finally, Archive modified and deleted items will allow you to create separate archive changed and deleted files. In my opinion, it is better to disable this so as not to waste time.
If Carbon Copy Cloner “gives the go-ahead” - This volume will be bootable, - which means there is enough space on the spare disk or flash drive, and this volume will become bootable, you can start.
All made by you presets will be saved if you click Save Task if you are going to clone your drive on a specific schedule, like in Time Machine. But to create backup Mac OS X is unlikely to need this.
Click Clone.
How many files are stored on your system disk? It turns out tens of thousands. so the process may take some time: from fifteen minutes to an hour or two. It depends on the amount of information.
And so it ended. Now we have two “Dolly sheep” - mirrored Mac OS X. And you can be sure that you will not be left with nothing at the most inopportune moment.
The feature was introduced with OS X 10.5 Leopard and is still considered one of the best programs on Mac. Time Machine is one of the most simple ways backup to Mac, and great for both recovery separate files, and to restore the entire hard drive in the event of a disaster.
How does Time Machine work?
Time Machine works with any hard drive connected to the computer via USB port, FireWire or Thunderbolt. It also supports Apple's Time Capsule and network-connected drives, provided they support the protocol Apple File Protocol.
When enabled, Apple Backup periodically takes snapshots of all files and directories, storing them on an external hard drive or Time Capsule. The program creates backup copies of all disk contents hourly, daily and weekly. When the disk becomes full, this utility deletes the oldest backups and replaces them with new versions.
It's better than traditional copying heaps of files in cloud storage or clone your hard drive to external storage. You don't have to restore everything completely hard data disk if you lose just one file. Time Machine can restore specific images, folders, and other files from its multi-level backup system.
On laptops running OS X Yosemite or later later version, the program has a function that allows you to take local pictures when you are far from your backup disk, once a day (and once a week).
Local snapshots will indeed take up some of your laptop hard drive, but if there is less than 20% left on your hard drive, the program will automatically delete old backups.
Note: At the request of my readers, I wrote a simple and clear instructions: . I will be grateful for your assessment.
How to exclude certain folders from backups?
To do this, go to System Settings→ Time Machine, press the button Options and select all folders that you want to exclude from the backup.
How to enable Time Machine backup on Mac
How to Recover Files from a Time Machine Backup
The program will copy the selected file or folder to its original location on your hard drive.
How to restore your system from a Time Machine backup
If you have serious problems with your system or hard drive, the program will help you restore your system or install it on new hard disk.
If your hard drive fails and you replace it, it will not have a recovery partition. But fear not, you can restore your system by running recovery mode from your Time Machine backup disk. Just hold the button Option (Alt) when you start your computer and select the external hard drive with Time Machine.
Questions about the Time Machine utility?
I hope this article helped you understand how to work with Apple's Time Machine. Be sure to use it so you don’t regret it later, because you never know when you’ll need to restore a file or system. Do you use the Time Machine utility? If not, why not? Write in the comments.
This article will look at ways to create backup copies for Windows 7 and Mac OS 10. First, it should be noted that to create copies you will need external hard disk with USB interface. If you are the owner system unit based on a PC or you have a MacPro, and on motherboard there are free SATA connectors, you can install additional HDD. By the way, for computer owners Apple There is a great solution called Time Capsule. This base station 802.11n Wi-Fi with built-in 2 or 3 TB hard drive. This device allows you to backup over a wireless or wired network.
Backing up Windows 7
So, you have connected a hard drive (external or internal). First you need to format it in a file format. NTFS system. Next, you need to open the “Control Panel”, select “System and Security” and then select “Backup and Restore”. In the window that appears, select “Create a system image.” Next, you need to select the drive on which the backup will be saved. Once the copying process is complete, you will be prompted to create bootable DVD, it wouldn’t hurt to do it. Now let's assume that you needed to restore the system from an existing copy. There are several options here (it is clear that the backup disk must be connected to the computer):
- If system HDD is working, then when loading before the appearance Windows logo You need to have time to press the F8 key and select “Troubleshoot computer problems.” In the “System Recovery Options” window that appears, you must select “System Image Restore” and follow the wizard’s instructions.
- When you encounter a situation that you cannot boot from systemic hard disk, you can use it here installation disk Windows 7 or a recovery disk created during the backup process
It should be especially noted that the restored system will be exactly the same as it was at the time the backup was created, so the backup process must be performed as often as possible. Also, to automate this operation, there is specialized software, a typical representative of which is Acronis True Image Home. It can also be recommended to users of Windows XP, where the system image creation function is not available.
Creating a Mac OS X Backup
To organize backups, this OS uses an external or internal hard drive, like the Time Capsule option mentioned above, and the Time Machine utility. You can find it by opening System Preferences. Next, you will be asked to select a disk (it should be noted here that hard size disk must match the size of your system volume). If necessary, Time Machine will ask you to erase the disk to create a file on it. Mac systems OS Extended, after which the shortcut for this disk will become green color and the Time Machine logo will appear on it. Further, after small quantity time, the backup will begin automatically.
Since Time Machine creates an incremental archive (i.e., it writes the entire contents of the system volume once, and adds changes to all subsequent ones), it is advisable to do archiving as often as possible. It is best if the Time Machine drive is constantly connected to the computer, in which case the backup will take place automatically. Automate as much as possible this process allows Time Capsule, since it is enough to set up Time Machine once, and all processes will take place independently of you, because Data storage takes place over the network.
Now about recovery and the benefits of Time Machine
To recover data for some certain period Just open the Time Machine menu, located at the top of the screen in the clock panel, and select “Enter Time Machine.” Then select the required date and restore the necessary data.
Very often there are situations when it is necessary replacement of hard disk. In this case, it is enough to install Mac OS and use the Migration Assistant utility to transfer all data from the Time Machine archive, i.e. you receive a ready-to-use system with all programs, documents and settings. This method is also applicable in the case when the laptop is lost, stolen, cannot be restored, you just need to buy new mac, you have the Time Machine archive, launch Migration Assistant, and you're done.
If you need help creating a system backup, call us at: +7 (495) 664-55-23
The developers of Carbon Copy Cloner announced new version utility that is fully compatible with macOS Sierra. This application allows you to clone hard section disk and store it separately, on another computer or external media. In the future, the Mac driver can quickly restore its system, with all applications, drivers, documents and other files.
The utility will also help with regular backup. To do this, simply select the source disk, check/uncheck the boxes next to the necessary elements and indicate the location where the copying will be made. All these operations can be carried out even from another PC over the network. Now, in the event of data corruption, equipment failure or any other disaster, it will be very easy to restore all information.
Carbon Copy Cloner allows you to create a full or partial clone of your Mac, moving it to another drive or saving it as a .dmg (disk image).
Step 1: Download Carbon Copy Cloner, run the application.
Step 2: Click the Source button and select Macintosh SSD.
Step 3: Now you need to specify the copy format by clicking the button in the Destination section.
Step 4: Select New disk image. Select the folder where your disk image will be stored.
If you need an image that you can modify, in the Image Format item, specify read/write sparse disk image. This will create a .sparseimage file. Otherwise, the utility will create a read-only dmg image. Optionally select encryption. Click OK.
Step 5: Click the Clone button to start creating a backup.
Step 6: The program will warn you that you will not be able to boot from the specified disk. Click Continue Anyway.
Step 7: After a few hours (depending on the amount of data), an image of your entire Mac disk will be created.
Agree that having backups hidden somewhere is vitally important. Of course now hard disks are more reliable than ever, but they can still fail from time to time. Many consider Time Machine to be the default backup solution for Mac, but you'd be surprised how many other similar solutions exist.
Today we will tell you how you can set up Time Machine and make short review various utilities for creating backups, including several online tools.
Since it comes bundled with OS X, this is by far the most convenient affordable solution. It requires the presence external hard disk and will automatically copy data for hours without your intervention. File recovery occurs through an excellent, simply cosmic, interface.
Price: free
Developer: Apple
Requirements: OS X Leopard
is a fairly popular utility for creating an exact clone of one hard drive on another. It is useful for maintaining bootable copy hard drive your Mac, so you can easily continue working even if the drive fails. The program's interface is quite simple, and the reliability of its operation has been tested over the years.
Finally, we bring to your attention - an excellent tool for fine tuning I use a Leopard backup for my applications. Time Machine Editor allows you to change the interval between copies and change other settings. Very convenient and completely free.
Price: free
Developer:
Requirements: Mac OS X Leopard
Don't limit yourself to Time Machine, there is... whole line software which can provide new level security.
How do you take care of data security on your machine?
