Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Backup, not back-breaking
BackBack

Backup, not back-breaking

Backup, not back-breaking

Premium


Regardless of the operating system, backing-up the critical data on a computer is something everyone should do. Unfortunately, few do. That's because performing regular backups is a major hassle that's been likened to doing taxes or changing the oil. It's easy to put them off, even though the consequences of not doing them can be catastrophic. Now, Apple has come up with a hardware and software combination that makes backing-up data almost effortless. And, before you Windows users turn away in disgust, get this: You can benefit from the hardware angle, too.

To test Time Capsule's integration with Time Machine, I used a MacBook Pro review unit. Time Machine makes a complete backup of a computer's hard drive when it's initially set up, then backs up any changed files every hour. These are consolidated on a daily basis. That first backup can take a while. It took about three hours to backup the 16 GB on the notebook, and that included an interruption when I decided to change settings on the router and it restarted, aborting the backup process. It took Time Machine quite a while to figure out where to resume the back up, and its progress bar became confused, showing the amount of data transferred in kilobytes rather than megabytes. I was worried then that it was going to take days.

However, once the process was complete, the backup was fine, and Time Machine continued to back up to Time Capsule on the hour. To restore, you can go back to any point in time and recover files that were on your computer at that point. You can also do a full system restore from any point in time.

The Time Capsule/Time Machine combination is best experienced with a notebook computer. I was able to sit in my living room and surf the Web while watching ‘Lost’, as my MacBook was backed up to the Time Capsule drive in my home office via Wi-Fi. I soaked up the mysteries of the island without worrying about the mysteries of backing up my data. Windows users can install the software that comes with Time Capsule to make it easier to work with the internal disk. Apple includes a Windows version of Bonjour, a network protocol, so connecting to Time Capsule is simple. You can map it as a network drive in Windows, and many third-party backup programs will work with it. In fact, the built-in backup program in Windows XP will use it. However, a security feature in Windows Vista prevents that operating system's built-in backup from working with Time Capsule.

Finally, you can make Time Capsule accessible via Internet. You'll need to know its numeric Internet Protocol address, and you'll want to protect it with a strong password. But, this can be handy if you want to access your network files while you're away from home.

©2008/The New York Times

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 09 Apr 2008, 12:17 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App