Help I'm going to buy a Mac!

[Den]

You said you would not mention her Rik 

[Rik]

So far I haven't, Den, but Seb is Jung at heart.

[Steve]

For anyone with a Mac or thinking about purchasing one the Apple Time capsules are failing after a year to 18 months,there are 2 long threads about dead Time Capsules in the Apple Discussion forum. Although luckily they are covered by any Applecare Agreement you may have with your Mac machine linked to the TC (read the small print) after the initial 1 year Time Capsule warranty has expired. This of course is cold comfort as any data loss is not covered. I took the step this weekend of purchasing an external firewire drive for the iMac Time machine backups. I will still use the Time capsule for the Macbook but ensure the sparse image is archived elsewhere on a regular basis

[Rik]

Forgive my ignorance, Steve, but what's a Tim Capsule?

[Steve]

Forgive my ignorance, Steve, but what's a Tim Capsule?

http://www.apple.com/uk/timecapsule/


The idea works well with a MacBook or Macbook Pro as it all happens via the Mac OS X Time Machine software and connects via wireless to the Time capsule

[Rik]

Thanks. 

[Bill]

http://www.apple.com/uk/timecapsule/

The idea works well with a MacBook or Macbook Pro as it all happens via the Mac OS X Time Machine software and connects via wireless to the Time capsule

There's a tip here how to use a Time Machine drive on (eg) an iMac to back up a MacBook on the same LAN via wireless:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/mac/t/3571816-time-machine-tip.html

I should emphasise I haven't actually tried it as there's nothing important on the MB !

[Steve]

Thanks Bill . What worries me with an unsupported volume backup using Time Machine is the ability to restore from it. I have used a non supported disk previously and was unable to mount it at startup from an OS DVD

[Bill]

Thanks Bill . What worries me with an unsupported volume backup using Time Machine is the ability to restore from it. I have used a non supported disk previously and was unable to mount it at startup from an OS DVD

That seems to prod a memory... I think that was discussed in another thread and it was decided that you couldn't do a full system restore that way, but it would be fine for apps, data etc.

And tbh, on the couple of occasions I've had a major crash, I've found that a clean reinstall of the OS (followed by appropriate updates) and a restore of the bits I need is a good way to clear out all the rubbish that tends to accumulate on any hard drive

[Gary]

It would be to much hassle to change to a Mac even if I wanted to. All my invoicing, payroll and everything else work fine on a PC and the thought of moving across would give me nightmares.   

A good target for hackers is......DEN  never tell even a friendly world whats on your pc 

[Tacitus]

Forgive my ignorance, Steve, but what's a Tim Capsule?

Actually it's a Time Capsule - a combined wireless router (Apple Airport) and backup drive, which integrates with the Apple time machine automated backup system.  The system will allow you to role back to any given version of a saved file.

I imagine they are failing through overheating.  The Airport routers get pretty hot in my experience, so combine that with a hard drive and you have a recipe for failures.

Personally I use a separate firewire drive and SuperDuper which creates a bootable backup. 

[Steve]

The TC internal power supply component fails presumably as you say due to lack of airflow and overheating. However the Airport Extreme  has an external power adaptor

[Den]

A good target for hackers is......DEN  never tell even a friendly world whats on your pc 

I've got three computers so now you have to guess which one I use for business 

[Steve]

There's a tip here how to use a Time Machine drive on (eg) an iMac to back up a MacBook on the same LAN via wireless:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/mac/t/3571816-time-machine-tip.html

I should emphasise I haven't actually tried it as there's nothing important on the MB !

It appears this is supported by Time machine see here as well http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018.

The iMac attached firewire drive appears in the MB Finder and is available as a Time Machine Backup location

[Gary]

I've got three computers so now you have to guess which one I use for business 

Well one gets compromised and then the rest come tumbling down these days it seems, if Microsoft cant keep Hotmail safe.......

[Tacitus]

The TC internal power supply component fails presumably as you say due to lack of airflow and overheating. However the Airport Extreme  has an external power adaptor

I know, but the one I have still seems to run rather hot compared to other routers I've used which barely get above mildly warm.   

[Rik]

Actually it's a Time Capsule

Showing my age, Tac, I still remember dialling TIM.

[Fox]

I bet when you think that far back it all goes black and white 

[Rik]

Grey, even.

[Fox]

When I worked for the BBC in the 80's (as a videotape engineer in Television Center) each suite had a dedicated feed from TIM, so we could play in the news opening exactly on time.

[Rik]

I'm surprised they didn't use the Rugby signal.

[bobleslie]

That was only a couple of miles from where I lived.

Naturally, I was always on time.

The TV picture was lousy, though.  

[Rik]

I always liked seeing the red lights on the masts come into view as I drove down the M6, I knew I was getting near home.

[bobleslie]

I knew I was near home when I saw Watford Gap. 

[Rik]

I knew I'd gone too far when I saw Watford Junction.