Time Machine And External HD Question

[Robert11]

Hello,

Am about to set up the Time-Machine automatic backups
on new iMac desktop.

With the new external HD that is required, will this HD be running "all" the time
that the iMac is on, or only when it is actually doing a backup, and automatically
shut off when not ?

If on all the time, which would be my guess, can I also use it to put on e.g.,
some WORD documents, etc., or is it devoted solely to the Time-Machine backups ?

If allowable to put other "stuff" on, what happens if it is doing a backup
and you attempt to place some document on it ?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[honestone]

I don't use Time Machine, but I suspect that with automatic backups (I assume you can set that, ie, "how" automatic a backup happens), the drive needs to be on when it needs to be on, at least for the backups.

If you want to use the drive to also store various items, then you first need to partition the drive, one partition for the backups, and the other for items/things you want to store there. Although I don't do automatic backups with SuperDuper! (once a week is sufficient for my needs), I have two external enclosures, with each being a Samsung 850 Pro 512 gig SSD. I have each one partitioned into 3 partitions. Two of the partitions are for the (separate) SuperDuper! backups for each of my Macs, and the third partition contains other "stuff". Myself, I always have one of those external enclosures plugged into my Mac Mini, even though I am not doing anything with it most of the time.

Regarding "If allowable to put other "stuff" on, what happens if it is doing a backup and you attempt to place some document on it ?", given that the Time Machine automatic backup will be using the connection, not sure if two "actions" can be going on the same time over the connection. Myself, I have never done it, as I allow each backup to run without doing anything else on either machine (I am actually doing something else in our place while the backups are running). Maybe someone else can "chime" in here and make a comment about this.

How often do you plan on having the automatic backup run? If it's only once a day, can you do it while you are not using your Mac? That way, you know when that external drive/partition is "free".

 

[Robert11]

Hi

Thanks for suggestions

You’re probably right.
Best and simplest way for me is to probably do a backup manually every day or two.

Thanks and best regards,
Bob

 

[honestone]

You're welcome.

Are you aware of the two ways you can do backups? Time Machine is fine, but recovery via a Time Machine backup is time consuming, and you have very little control over the process if you need to do a complete recovery. If instead you use a backup/cloning program like either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner, recovery is faster, smoother, and you have more control ver the process. This thread that I had previously started (along with other useful comments) describes the differences:

https://www.mac-help.com/threads/backups-backups-backups.223959/#post-1549235

 

[Robert11]

Hi

Will definitely liok at Carbon Copy Cloner.

Interesting info.

Lots to learn.

Regards,
Bob

 

[honestone]

Cool! Again, either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner are excellent solutions. Myself, as I stated in the link I provided, I don't really care that the (hidden) Recovery HD partition is not backed up via SuperDuper! (that is the main reason for the difference in price, as far as I know). SuperDuper! fills my backup/cloning needs nicely.

 

[Robert11]

Hello,

Have been thinking about this a bit more, and would like to also ask:

Have an iMac, and purchased an external WD HD for backups.
HD is specifically labeled "For Apple"

a. If I use Time Machine, Carbon Copy, or any of the other suggested programs for back ups,
will they also (on this Apple specific HD) back up the Windows from the partition I created using Parallels ?

b. The above programs, I guess, are mainly to recover from a catastrophic failure of the iMac HD.
What's the best way, then, of doing "simple, easily accessible Saves of some WORD and Excel stuff
that I would like to back up, but have very easily accessible ?

Should I get an additional external HD for this ?

If so, should it also be labeled as "Apple HD"

*Could it also backup from the Windows partition ?

Or, best to just put everything on a big USB stick ?
*If on a USB stick, can I co-mingle Apple OS stuff and Windows stuff on it ?

Again, thanks for help; much appreciated,
Bob

 

[honestone]

First of all, be aware that Western Digital (WD) external Hard Drives are notorious for being problematic with the Mac OS. A number of individuals have previously posted on various forums here about issues with WD HDDs. I suspect there are some folks for whom such drives work fine. But I have not seen many positive reports.

Secondly, you say "HD is specifically labeled "For Apple"". What exact WD model is it?

Third, here are the results of a google search I just did for "How to backup the Windows Partition created with Parallels":

https://www.google.com/search?q=How...ome..69i57.19958j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

It looks like Time Machine is the "preferred" way, and thus you would need to create a separate "Parallels" partition on your external HD.

For the Word and Excel "stuff", it would be best if you either 1) create another partition on the external drive for such files, or 2) use a USB Flash Drive tor such files.

Finally, you can create separate Mac OS and Windows partitions on a USB Flash Drive, just like you can for HDDs and SSDs. I actually have a 256 gig Flash Drive that I did a test of that, and it worked fine.

 

[Robert11]

Hi,

The WD external HD is:

My Passport For MAC
Time Machine Ready
1 TB

Not sure of model No. as it doesn't appear
on case. There is a label though, with: WXJ1AA7AU62N
Sure is small.

Thanks for Link. Just what I wanted.

Lots of fun; lots to learn.

Regards,
Bob