Simple, Cheap, Low-end Mac Backup Addendum

- 2005.12.19

Oh boy. I made a very large error in my very first article, and I am correcting it here.

First, please accept my apologies for any confusion the article may have engendered. I really did proofread it, but in my zeal to weed out spelling errors, I completely overlooked technical matters.

Please insert the following right after step one of the backup instructions. In other words, make this step two and disregard/ignore/shred step two that was previously posted:

2. Double click on the alias of the "Documents" folder that is on your desktop. You'll see the icons for your documents or a listing of them, depending on how you have your Views set). Choose the files you want to back up by shift-clicking on each or by clicking and dragging a box around all of them, and then drag them to the floppy disk. A dialog box will advise you of your progress. Once it vanishes, drag the floppy to the Trash to eject it.

Continue with the rest of the article as posted.

Now for a short explanation:

If you just drag the "Documents" alias to the floppy disk, you'll only copy the alias, not the contents of the folder. That wouldn't do you much good if/when your hard drive decides to vamoose forever, would it?

You have to drag either the actual folder (not the alias) or open the alias and drag the contents. Either one works fine.

Again, I sincerely apologize for this gaff, and many thanks to the eagle eyed readers who kindly pointed out my big goof.

This week my article will deal with backup programs and some options for organizing your hard drive to make your files and folders easier to find. 

Recent Random Advice articles

• Picking the right hardware, software, and strategy for effective backup, 01.31. Do you want a full, incermental, or archival backup? Should you back up to hard drive, CD, DVD, or Zip? What backup programs are available for the Mac?
• Simple, cheap, low-end Mac backup addendum, 12.19. Oops, step 2 in last week's column (since fixed) wasn't quite right. Here's what it should have said.
• Simple, cheap, low-end Mac backup: Do it or else, 12.12. It's not a question of if you'll lose your important data, only when. Be prepared - backup regularly.
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