Switcher

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hey guys, I recently switched to mac from many years of PC use. Seems like I got "in " on things at a good time with Tiger being released as well as some new hardware. Anyway, to my question....



what is the best way to create a bootable backup of my system?



Also, what folders do you suggest I backup?



Thanks, I appreciate any assistance.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    gsxrboygsxrboy Posts: 565member
  • Reply 2 of 3
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    If you follow the OS X (unix) philosophy, you only really have to backup your user folder. For most people, this captures all of their critical data. Convenient aye?



    Although, this assumes that you're willing to reinstall applications and drivers from their original CDs and then to reconfigure the system. Since a complete reinstall is pretty rare with OS X, many people choose to backup only their /Users directory.



    Next, an important distinction to make is that the the /System folder is reserved for use by Apple and only Apple. This is convenient because you don't have to worry about the contents of this folder. /Library and /Applications is where system wide things are installed that aren't directly from apple.



    So basically:

    /Users <-- definately backup

    /Library <-- recommend backup

    /Applications <-- recommend backup

    /System <-- not abslutely neccessary to backup if you're short on space
  • Reply 3 of 3
    Thanks for your help.
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