> From: Allen Barnella <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > This has become an increasingly important > topic for me as I'm considering getting an eMac which has either a > 40GB or 60GB hard drive. So, what's a user with a large hard drive to > do?
My compliments on the subject line! :) With large hard drives, really the easiest/fastest thing to do is to buy a second hard drive (perhaps somewhat smaller in size, preferably an external Firewire one if possible). You can set up said second drive either as an automatic mirror of the first or just schedule periodic automatic backups of certain folders (a tool called Carbon Copy Cloner is particularly good at helping with this, and there are others as well). The major advantage is that you can have a bootable, uncompressed backup ready to go within seconds to help repair the first volume or just to enable you to keep working with minimal delay. In my experience I've found that most users really only *need* to back up a few gig's worth of data on any given system -- the vast majority of the rest is stuff (like the system, apps, mp3s and so on) that could easily be recreated from the originals in the event of a crash. The stuff you really want to take the time to SAVE is the stuff that can't be easily recreated (like all your prefs and registration numbers, address books, etc.). .Mac members can also use their iDisk as a great offsite storage of the really hard-to-recreate but small files like address books, keychains, iTunes playlists, personal WP documents and other stuff that doesn't add up to much in terms of MB but is nevertheless important. Offsite storage is often more important than people think -- if your home burned down (heaven forbid), it's likely that all your "home" backups would be gone too. For this alone Backup and .Mac are (for some people) well worth the price. Every user ought to take a few minutes and really think about what portion of their HD actually needs to be backed up regularly, and then come up with a plan that best fits their needs. For most home users, a few carefully-chosen folders backed up onto a few CD-RWs should do the trick nicely. For a production environment, the investment in mirrored HDs and remote storage makes sound financial sense. For others, some alternative method (such as tapes or ZIP discs) might work out best. It depends on what's valuable to you, what's recreatable from the originals with relative ease, and how much effort you're willing to put into it. _Chas_ Come to ... The CHASbah! http://thechasbah.blogspot.com **Go see BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE. It may change your life.** -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
