Well, that was fun

[ksmith]

Nothing like a Mac's Grey Screen of Death to get one to activate the iDisk account and back up all the wip files. Then back up the wip files to the external hard drive for good measure.

I used to back up more regularly, but had fallen off these past months. I didn't back up the whole hard drive, but the important stuff is now in a couple of different places.

I hope the Grey Screen of Death was a hiccup and not a sign that something is soon to go Badly Wrong with my 3 yo MacBook.

Comments

[galeni.livejournal.com]

Fingers crossed. But backups are always good to have.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

True. And I had dropped the ball in that regard.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I got a couple of screen-o-deaths on my 5 yr old Mac, plus it had gotten sludgy and really slow, so I checked my bank account and decided just to buy a new one. It took (my son) 3 hours to do the sync, and the new one is so fabulous I can't say. Fast, and I love the big screen (21") which has amazing graphics display.

Not that I recommend this course of action. Mine was just long overdue for overhaul or upgrade.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I would like a new machine, but I want to wait until the summer. Lion is supposed to be released then, and I thought I read that there would be enough new bells and whistles that it would pay to have an updated machine on which to run it.

[silvergryphyn.livejournal.com]

I've been very happy with SugarSync as a backup/syncing plan. It all happens in the background, keeps my Win7 machine at work and my MacBook Pro at home in sync, can be accessed via an iPhone app or the web etc. It's a bit more pricey than some other options but I need the syncing. It's been worth every penny if only for my piece of mind. This site has been useful for comparing what's out there.

http://www.onlinebackupsreview.com/compare.php

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I know there are a number of plans out there. I felt I should use iDisk because I'm already paying for the MobileMe account. Not sure how flexible or easy to use it is.

[silvergryphyn.livejournal.com]

Quite easy but you have to pick and choose a little depending on how much stuff you want to backup.

1) Open the Backup application and select New Plan from the Plan Menu.
2) Select the last option for Custom.
3) Add the folders/files you want to backup on the top half and pick iDisk on the bottom half of the dialog (along with how often).
4) Select Backup Now at the bottom and you're good to go.

I would also make a second plan that's the "Personal Data and Settings" option from the New Plan dialog. That gets all the important bits that are a bit more scattered all over the disc. Please feel free to ask any questions if you try this out and have any problems.

~Sarah

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Tonight the plan I set up yesterday to back up my work-in-progress file and my personal data kicked in right on time. Made me feel a little more secure. Wish I could back up the entire hard drive every so often, but that seems to take forever. But it works in the background, doesn't it? So even if it takes some time and I keep working, my working shouldn't interfere?

[silvergryphyn.livejournal.com]

That's right. You can continue to work and it will do its thing in the background. The one thing I'm not sure of is whether it will backup files that are open and in use at the time of the backup (some backup programs can do this, some can't). I will check into that and get back to you. If it doesn't, that would mean closing your WIP file semi-regularly and having backup set late at night or some other time you wouldn't be on the computer in order to get that file included.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link, btw. Good info about a number of plans.