# Auto backup with Mac and other Mac questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640 "2011-08-30T16:00:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/1 "2011-08-30T16:00:43Z")
My daughter convinced me to get her a Mac (Book Pro, Core i5, rotating HD not an SSD, OS X Lion) and I haven’t used one in years. I’m fairly good at maintaining and updating PCs, but I find myself at sea when it comes to Macs. Anyway, I’d like to automatically back up some of her directories on a weekly basis (without having to buy the Apple hardware required for Time Machine). On the PC, I used the Task Scheduler, a batch file, and xcopy to automatically copy only the updated files from only certain directories each week. It works pretty flawlessly as long as the machines are powered on or sleeping when the time comes for the backup. I don’t know where to begin on a Mac – I can’t even find a task scheduler. Do I have to track down how to use cron again? One website recommended rsync, but also said that Apple was deprecating that or something. Second, if there’s a good resource for Mac questions (where the above may have already been answered), please feel free to point me there. I know good places for Linux support and PC support, but not Mac support so much. Thanks for your help! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/2 "2011-08-30T16:19:35Z")
You don’t need any “Official Apple Device” to use Time Machine, any data-storing device will do; any external hard drive will work, or you can even backup to the cloud. Here is [Apple’s official forum](https://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa), or [MacForums](http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/) is also a good resource. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/3 "2011-08-30T16:54:40Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > You don’t need any “Official Apple Device” to use Time Machine, any data-storing device will do; any external hard drive will work, or you can even backup to the cloud. > > Here is [Apple’s official forum](https://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa), or [MacForums](http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/) is also a good resource. This. My wife and I both have 500 GB back-up drives plugged into a USB port on our respective iMacs. They’re just regular off-the-shelf external drives, not proprietary Apple devices. Plug the drive in, turn on Time Machine (built into the OS), and it automatically backs up the computer’s files (I believe every hour). Very simple to set up and use – I haven’t had any issues yet. You can also give [the Apple website’s tutorials](http://www.apple.com/ca/findouthow/mac/)a whirl, complete with video instructions for most of the basic basics. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/4 "2011-08-30T17:01:04Z")
I’ll check out those forums. I’d like to back up to a NAS. Time Machine says it can’t find anything, even though I have the NAS mounted. Anyway, thanks for pointing me to those forums. I’ll see what I can dig up there. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/5 "2011-08-31T01:38:22Z")
TM only works on Apple formatted (not NTFS) drives. So you can’t share them with Windows PCs easily. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/6 "2011-08-31T01:47:23Z")
Another vote for Time Machine. It’s the only way to go! Run it on any NAS on your home network. The Mac just does its magic without anyone having to do a thing. This is precisely how I make sure my wife’s MacBook Pro is backed up. She would never do it herself. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/7 "2011-08-31T03:08:49Z")
Time Machine won’t back up to any old NAS. Certain NASs explicitly support Time Machine (some Buffalos, for example). For NASs that don’t support Tim Machine, you can “fool” it into thinking it’s a valid device by following [these](http://appleclinic.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/time-machine-on-nas/) instructions. Note that it’s not trivial (but not all that hard) to do. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/8 "2011-08-31T03:40:42Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Time Machine won’t back up to any old NAS. Certain NASs explicitly support Time Machine (some Buffalos, for example). For NASs that don’t support Tim Machine, you can “fool” it into thinking it’s a valid device by following [these](http://appleclinic.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/time-machine-on-nas/) instructions. Note that it’s not trivial (but not all that hard) to do. I can vouch for the accuracy of those instructions. My server at work backs up to a NAS that I setup that way. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/9 "2011-08-31T10:09:23Z")
In addition to Time Machine on a local USB drive, I used launchd and a shell script (using rsync mostly) to backup to the network machines _and_ keep the accounts in sync. Even works over the internet. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/10 "2011-08-31T17:17:57Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > In addition to Time Machine on a local USB drive, I used launchd and a shell script (using rsync mostly) to backup to the network machines _and_ keep the accounts in sync. Even works over the internet. It looks like launchd (or, is it launchctl?) and rsync would be closest to what I do with my PCs. Is there a windowed user interface for launchctl, similar to the Task Scheduler on the PC? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/11 "2011-09-01T01:17:30Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Is there a windowed user interface for launchctl, similar to the Task Scheduler on the PC? Not a native one, but I found this: [Lingon](http://www.peterborgapps.com/lingon/). I’ve never used it, though. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/12 "2011-09-01T01:29:51Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > It looks like launchd (or, is it launchctl?) and rsync would be closest to what I do with my PCs. Is there a windowed user interface for launchctl, similar to the Task Scheduler on the PC? You can schedule it with cron or iCal(!). Examples of both: > **[How to Backup Your Mac Using Rsync | Macinstruct](https://www.macinstruct.com/tutorials/how-to-backup-your-mac-using-rsync/)** > > Learn how to backup your Mac using the Rsync utility. If you can find a way to make Time Machine work, do that instead. It’s good, and you can recover straight from the OS X install disks in the event of a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/13 "2011-09-01T21:05:32Z")
I shelled out for the Official Hardware solution, a Time Capsule. It all seems very nice and was easy to start. Every time I go checking, it seems to have everything saved that it is supposed to. Expensive, yes, but for anybody whose priority is a clean simple setup that just works, it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auto-backup-with-mac-and-other-mac-questions/594640/14 "2011-09-01T21:42:30Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I shelled out for the Official Hardware solution, a Time Capsule. It all seems very nice and was easy to start. Every time I go checking, it seems to have everything saved that it is supposed to. > > Expensive, yes, but for anybody whose priority is a clean simple setup that just works, it’s great. I also use a time capsule. My Macbook had a hard drive fail. After replacing the hard drive and I was able to recover everything from the time capsule and load it to the new drive very easily.