Apple MobileMe Backup for Mac3.2

Now Apple have taken away iDisc and MobileMe BackUp seems a complete waste of time ... Does not seem possible to use with iCloud. Apple have become control freaks ...

Fundamentally flawed. Users are prompted to create a plan to back up their home directory to MobileMe. Well...great...except that each plan is limited to 90 megs. Kind of silly, ey? OK, so having done MobileMe support for a few months (until something better came along after I relocated to TX), I can tell you that many, many people have been burned by this Backup application, when used in conjunction with MobileMe. Call MobileMe support (or chat them through the Apple Support forum) and ask a tech if it's possible to do a complete restore using Backup archives stored in MobileMe. Go ahead... Free. Yes. Good. No. Get Carbon Copy Cloner or  SuperDuper... Don Montalvo, TX

I've actually been using Backup for several years and it has done a fairly good job as far as my needs go. I've got Time Machine going all the time and I also make a clone of my hard drive twice a week and of my admin folder twice a week using paid for apps. I use Backup primarily to run some of the built in scripts that comes with it. Don't know if these are needed, but it does give me peace of mind knowing they are there. One thing I really do not like about Backup: it always opens the Finder when it loads. I use Pathfinder all the time, and so have Finder shut down. Backup overrides that (as does the mounting of disks). Maybe this is not a Backup thing, but a Mac thing in that every time a disk mounts, Finder has to do it. Anyway. It's a pretty good app for my purposes. And it's free. Can't beat that!

This program is such a complete and utter joke -- does anyone use MobileMe for backup? Most importantly, the program is barely being updated -- when was the 3.1 update released? Two years ago?

Frustating enought backups are limited to 100 mb, unless you upgrade to full subscription to .Mac. Doesn't matter wether you're backing to .Mac or not, full subscription is required.

I just don't understand why this app can't back up everything. Why not include Applications? Yeah, I know it will do the ones in my home folder...

I like Backup because it is tidy and allows as much or as little customization as I like. It is easy to use and it works. I have restored from it successfully several times. I particularly like that it gives the option of choosing from several versions of any given file, based on the date. That way, in case I backup something that is not quite right, I still have an earlier version that I like to choose from instead. So I can't overwrite a good file with a bad one, just because it's newer. I like it.

It should also be mentioned that Backup 3.1 is now a Universal Binary. The previous version (3.0.1) was not.

Apple Backup 3.1 seems innocuous enough. Works on my loaded TiBook and Dual 2GHz G5 Power Mac (what else?) with Tiger.4-just like 3.0...imagine that!

Can be as simple or powerful as you want it to be. Easy selection of which folders/files to copy and not to copy. Pretty good app, although can be a bit slow at times. GUI is clean and seems good to me. I use it for quick weekly backups to a FireWire drive of my most important files. As long as it does its job when restoring, I'm happy.

I would give this version zero stars if possible. Color me nutty, but I think of backing up like insurance: It's all about the "God forbid..." scenario. That said, I recently backed up my essentials prior to a hard drive crash. I followed everything to the letter and checked the package contents to make sure all's was hunky-dorey, and so it was. Following the insanely frustrating disposal & replacement of a hard drive -- performed all by Apple -- I then went back to my discs to restore my info to my "new" laptop. And guess what? Yup, although the app recognized the data on the disc as native to that app, and although the app launched, nothing happened. Nothing! The only thing that did seem to happen correctly was that the DVD I restored to appeared as a valid restore source. Could I then actually restore that data? Nope. Did it give a reason? Nope. Were the help notes...well, helpful? Not a chance. Unfortunately for these review purposes, Apple gets an F. What good is an application if it doesn't -- can't or won't -- perform the basic of core-related functions? RECOVERY TIP: The only way I was able to recover my data from DVD was to do something that the average user wouldn't ever know about: I viewed the package contents, then mounted the .sparseimage, then manually dragged what I needed onto my new hard drive.

Pretty good but the GUI. More options than Backup 2 (they are hidden, you'll have to find how to acess them, that's not a smart interface).

I like Backup 2 better. Viewing the .Mac training films about Back up illustrates the intuitive iinterface of B-U2 versis 3. Little step back, imho.

Worst GUI I have ever seen. Backup 2 was good. Is this one usable?

How do comments about dial-up connections provide useful information about a particular product? I wish people would actually review the products they use and not their impression of something heard in the bathroom. Having used Backup along side Synchronize Plus for a few years, I have found it to be one of the best solutions for people with basic backup needs. Its ability to support external media is a wonderful addition. Now with version 3, the backup process can be as simple, or as complex, as you like. If you select one of the predefined solutions, you get a quick backup of specific items. If you have more experience, you can build your own backup solution. Since backup can be set to run at specific times, it will quite happily perform different backup tasks while you are away from your machine. I'm not sure if it works when logged out, but I assume it does.

As an original iTools user… This interface as well as Tiger is becoming, well, ugly and more complicated… Thousands of small cryptic files (visible and invisible) everywhere! We are being forced feed software that requires faster hardware just because… If you're on dialup then go out to a movie while this tries to talk with Apple.

Bad interface (Backup 2 was better imho), a few bugs when restoring, still no Virex with .mac

I never ever though I would use Apple's Backup again. Everything before version 3 was nightmare, hard to use, with weird interface... The new version is leaps and bounds ahead of anything I have ever used before (oh well.. Keeper was nice back in Classic OS days :)). It's easy to learn, easy to configure, interface is simple, WITHOUT any unneeded bells and whistless. I must say I'm a happy .Mac camper now, and may be that's one of reasons I might renew my subscription to the service in 6 month I have left until it expires. Way to go Apple. And give some nice sweet cookies to the programmers who created this version.

Great, new interface and features... except for the unbelievable fact that I can't backup to my 2nd internal hard drive, or an external FireWire drive.

Maybe this should be renamed "CoasterMaker 2005". Went to back up all my essential files (7 DVDs) and twice after burning the first DVD it failed on verify and stopped the process. My DVD player is the nearly the latest model and it's running on a dual 2 gig G5 with 3 gig of ram.

Confusing interface compared to Backup 2 that I grudgingly used as I "felt" my way through it....backup went OK...THEN I TRIED TO RESTORE.....a nightmare.....you cannot see your backup on another computer so forget about transferring files or folders.....and when I did do a test restore to a folder on the desktop Backup 3 said it was complete but the file was MISSING.....use with EXTREME CAUTION

. Unlike the person who previously commented, I have used 3.0 and it is a vast improvement over 2.0. It is almost flawless to use and even more intuitive to set up. Keep up the good work Apple.

I've never liked slow and cranky Backup, so I keep my mission-critical stuff in the .Mac Documents folder and use my regular FTP client to do uploads. Works just fine.

If you store your iTunes music and/or iPhoto pictures on another hard drive, the QuickPicks included with Backup 3 does not find those files.

Great!! Fast, nice interface.... Thanks Apple

I've used Backup for years, & I still love it. I hadly even know it's there, but I'm glad it is.

I *like* the new design. And backups to .Mac seem considerably faster to me. Good update!

sucks sucks, I won't renew .MAC this year. I prefered the old design and features. Nothing much new.

no problem with back up3 its great and we now get 1gb of storage as well

The joke's on you Indrik. Backup 3 is sweet! You're the kind of person who thinks that when an Operating System is updated, every single software vender will update their software accordingly to run perfectly with the new system RIGHT AWAY. Things don't work that way buddy, this isn't a perfect world. The best thing comes to those who JUST RELAX AND HAVE SOME FREAKING PATIENCE!!! Next time save us all some time and just wait to write your lame "review" of a product.

I'm cancelling my .Mac account. All was good for the last 3 years, then Backup started failing. I followed all Apple suggestions, deleting preferences, repairing permissions, reinstalling. Nada. If it needs more than 2 DVD, it says "disk errir". I have used DVD-RW and DVD-R many times before. Even tried brand new ones and 2 different brands (TDK & Verbatim). Nada. My Mac is a 15" laptop. All other DVD burns work fine. I am "manually" backing up now (drag to DVD & burn). Will look at buying a good backup program.. Even at say $100 once off, it will be cheaped than continuous .Mac accounts. As for email, I'll get a cheap hosting & get my own domain. Bonus is I can back up 2 - 4 Gig to my own servr if needed (more space than .Mac offer). Cheers... Indrik

I haven't had the stability problems others have mentioned, thankfully. I use this program only to backup crucial documents and Mac OS X-bundled application data to my iDisk. I have not used the backup-to-CD functionality, and I don't plan to. For larger backup sets, I recommend LaCie Silverkeeper and an external hard drive. Silverkeeper is an excellent program, and you don't need .Mac to run it. Backup is really a .Mac program, in that it functions best to store settings, and it does not seem as suited to clone data. For limited iDisk backups, it works simply and expectedly (at least so far).

Is there an app like Backup, that doesn't require a .Mac account, specifically and backup utility that will backup across multiple CDs/DVDs? Not Retrospect, I mean an inexpensive app, that doesn't use it's own proprietary format... that works with OS X 10.4?

This software is the weak link in the iDisk storage feature on .Mac. Backup fails too frequently in a normal use. But that's only the beginning of the problem. When routine backing up fails, I turn to the "Try to recover" function. But that has never worked in the years I have used this program. Not once. After a normal backup fails, I must delete everything previously backed up and back up everything from scratch. This procedure requires many attempts (3-10+ to clear the existing files, 3-6+ for actual backup) before successful backup. Given all of the other problems, I am concerned about relying upon Backup to do what it purports to do: backup files so that they can be restored.

i use backup since 6 month, i never had problems, but yesterday i did my backup as every week and saved the backup to an external drive. so i wanted to set up tiger on my machine. everything worked, after the installation i wanted to put back the files and i realised that backup did a horrible job, my files (i worked with) where backuped only once! so every file i did some work on was not saved again. and i asked me why!!!!?? so at the moment i have a big mess on my computer and im very angry about that because this makes no sense.

Same exact problem...just installed backup 2.0.2 today and tried to open it and got this: unrecoverable internal error! What is that? And then I tried to open it again and it is not even available in my applications anymore! Very frustrated....

I use Backup once a week to save important files to my iDisk, iPod, and CD-R. I've also used it to backup all my files to an external drive when doing a clean system install. Backup makes both processes extremely easy, with no problems so far. Thanks Apple.

Horrible piece of software (v.2.0.2). Never mind the fact that this is likely to be the slowest utility you have ever run. Never mind that while it backs data up to my external FW800 drive (a fast one) it gobbles up so much CPU time as to make every other app unresponsive until it's complete. Never mind that it keeps bouncing in the Dock while it is executing a background only operation that should not require your attention. These are all issues that I could have tolerated if it actually *worked*. Just today I needed to do a complete restore of my system, one that I had diligently backed up every week, and again today just before wiping it out. Backup failed in horrible ways: it restored files that I had deleted; it scattered stuff where it didn't belong (it seems that it gets confused if you simply rename folders and move stuff around); it *lost* some of the files here and there (some recent, others were old MP3s in my iTunes Music folder); I'd be crazy to trust this piece of junk again. I can't say anything better about backing things up to my iDisk (an automated daily routine); frequent, seemingly random errors with no real explanation. My original reason for going with Backup was fear of losing important work, wanting an easy to use interface (using CVS for backup seemed overkill). I can attest that I had never lost data for a stupid, preventable reason until Backup came along.

This is very good utility but HEY!, retrospect work and work very good! So don't be mislead!

"Checking for iDisk server... Internal System Error An unrecoverable internal error has occurred." Satellite internet connection, but Backup's worked before on it. Apple tech help has no idea what to do. Help!

Backup still fails to back up my files on a regular basis. I have to manually delete my backup every other time. Having bought an extra 100M for a lot of money, I feel betrayed by Apple. Here's how it fails: I back up about 110M. Works great if I deleted my backup folder. If I didn't, backup seems to write another 110M to my iDisk and fails as I "only" have 200 available. It would work if I had an option to "delete old file versions on iDisk before backing up new versions". This would not be an incremental backup. I'm switching more and more to other file servers for backup. I still use backup, but not with iDisk. Kinda odd, right?

i think you are all missing the point here. this is a free utility from apple for those that do not wish to use unix and rsync. just remember this! it is SO MUCH Better than retrospect could ever be. the simple reason is that it works. unlike retrospect.

i Can't UNDERSTAND why apple didn't make Backup as a rsync GUI.... rsync is so efficient to backup datas... with this app my backups takes forever to upload on the .mac server....pfffff.....annoying.... rsync is a UNIX jewell...RsyncX is so good

I consider Backup as a last resort. But, an application that has the potential for great promise one day. like most things Apple delivers to us-- its all cutting edge, and keeps getting better. Brian Patrick Cork

. Backup could be so much better. But, it's not. It is buggy, inconsistent, unreliable, limiting. But I stick with it, hoping it will get better.

Anyone know whether this is supposed to be able to do incremental backups? For me it backs up everything every time, even stuff that hasn't changed since the previous backup. It's a big waste of DVD's.

Two problems 1) The Apple site has 2.0.1 only (as of 5/10/04). 2) Backup lets you backup ONE computer only to a ".mac" account - so my iBook is S.O.L.

My main problem with Backup is that it does not backup invisible .files or .app applications.

One world to rule them all: perfect ;-)

This isn't so much a review of Backup, as a winge that I don't have it. And why? Because Apple in their fiscal wisdom make no allowance for currency exchange when they charge you for it: try paying double the US cost in relative terms, and you'l know where I'm coming from. Literally. But to make things worse, Apple stiffs us non-fee-paying un-Apple-like democratics with iSync, an application that should be listed with the US Military as a potentially lethal weapon - try syncing a bluetooth phone with iSync and seeing what it does to your precious data... Wake up Apple, where are you going on this one? Do you want us to sync, or not? If not, just let us know, and we'll use someone else's software to back things up. And by the way, when you go to all the trouble of wooing a company like Sony Ericsson into supporting your iSync software with their bluetooth phones, at least make it work and don't embarrass yourself.

Whiners give it a break, you can burn CD in OS X and if you don't have a .mac account you don't really need Backup. Backup works well for me and it never crashed. It is a great little application. Apple makes our life easier, if you're not happy try linux or windows, then you'll have reasons to complaint.

I've been using Backup 2.0 for awhile now, mainly because it is a free download for .mac users. It's probably not the best backup app out there, but it does the job for me. Probably not what you need if you want to backup or sync a large amount of files, but if there are just a few documents you want to make sure get backed up you can schedule backup to do it for you.

Bacup 2.0 did not backup all files, i.e. files with special permissions and some executable were never saved to my backup disk. Also, it did not handle files moved to other directories, therefore the backup grows up time after time with duplicated files and the restore becomes an headache (Backup doesn't seem to do incremental copy). I won't try Backup 2.0.1, my files are too important. Try Synchronize X. It's quite ugly but it works very very well and it's not so expensive...

No, you don't have to buy .Mac in order to back up your files to CD. You can do that without using this program. Quit bitching about .Mac. If you're that hard up, use one of the many free *NIX backup tools available.

Am I right in thinking you have to buy a .Mac membership just to backup your files to CD!!!?!?!?

When it works, Backup is cool and useful. Hopefully this update will increase reliability. It does need to be faster... At least its simple and easy to use. You can use it from any of your systems be they at work, home, or on the fly. B

It is a crying shame that MacOS never had a decent backup software bundled with. When I left the MacOS @ 7.5 there was no, when I came back @ 10.2, there is still no. :-( You know how I backed up my Mac drives during 7.x times? I plugged them into Amiga and used a Diavolo Backup there to be able to archive their contents on the streamer we used that time. Shame! I would rather do the same today - but today I don't have an Amiga that could handle the new Mac formats and the amount of data the drives contain. :-( A decent backup with tape drives support should be an integral part of the OS.

Calm down people... If you don't want to pay for a backup utility from Apple (buying a worthy (if you want it) .Mac account)...then don't. Use LaCie Silverkeeper 1.1 or BUY one of the more comprehensive shareware/commercial offerings. I think you can even use Panther Disk Utility at a push. You have a choice. I chose Retrospect.

Yes, this is a silly idea. Plenty of free or shareware applications are available to do this so I don't see what the point of Backup is. All those lovely Apple apps (iCal, iTunes, Safari, etc) come for "free" but basic file backup has to be paid for. Not a good way to do business as it gets everyone angry. By the way, "free" actually means paying over $100 for 10.3, so I think it is a bit harsh to say people have an over-developed sense of entitlement. Maybe Apple should get real and join the real world where basic file management is part of the OS.

Well, let's see... if you take your business elsewhere, say, to Dantz Retrospect, you'll have to fork out $99 for a 5-user client license. Other backup software (other than giftware provided by generous programmers) costs anywhere between $20 to $100. Given that Apple Backup is FREE, and for your .Mac membership you also get online storage, email, device syncing, iCalendar, and a host of other goodies... just where exactly do you suppose you're going to take your business to get a *better* deal? What's with you people? Where did you get this outrageous sense of entitlement? Please, for God's sake, grow up and join the real world.

I must concur with John Adams. It is absolutely absurd that a tool for backing up my hard drive REQUIRES me to have a .Mac account. There is no technical reason for this; this was obviously done to EXTORT money from Mac owners who want to protect their data but who don't want to pay for services they don't need. I too will take my business elsewhere because of this.

While this App is free from Apple, I consider it to be a "requirement" for any commercial OS. Hell MS-DOS had it. But the fact that Apple requires you to have a iMac account in order for the app to work is bad business. Even just to test/try the app you can get a free 60 day iMac account, but Backup 2.0 is crippled in that it won't let you backup to anything but a temp/small iDisk across the Internet. I would gladly pay extra for the OS for it to come with a reliable backup/recovery solution. To require that I pay a yearly fee to use my backup/recovery app is bad business, and I will take my business elsewhere. P.S. I can't really do a true review, as I could never get the application to work, just as Apple didn't want it to work. Hmm :-)

Gret so far. 0 bug, good for a beta.

We asked for it and now were gonna get it. I'm ready for a quick backup to my external hard drive, I hope its fast. Someone post a note to let me and other's know how well it works, I can't risk installing a beta. thanks! and thanks! to Apple

Hi everyone, Am back with a quick question as I have just realized I was not the only one having trouble with the INTERNAL DRIVE ONLY feature coming with BU 1.2.3... Has anyone found a fix for this, or an indirect way of burning my backups to an external drive. Thanks in advance for any input on this. And again, for our friends at Apple, not acceptable to provide a fee-based service like Backup that is not open to all hardware . Decreases the value down to zero basically.

Hi For those of you who have EXTERNAL burners, beware! I just found out to much of my chagrin that Backup 1.2.3 does NOT backup your files to an external CDRW, but only to internal drives. A major drawback for which Apple has not announced any fix so far. And remember, Backup is not free per se, as it is part of the .Mac subscription.

Backup 1.2.3 doesn't support burning to external CD drives. I just purchased an external CD drive expressely for creating backups, and now I can't use the .mac / backup application that I paid for ... How can I get Backup 1.2.1, which purports to backup to external drive?! Thanks stephanie twogeeks

Apple Backup works very well. I do however think they should add the ability to backup to a folder, like on your external hard drive. It should be a lot faster than using say a dvd and cost less. I haven't tried backing up to a dvd-rw yet, but I can just imagine how long that would take. For those people who still don't have a .mac account, your missing out.

Another excellent update that works perfectly with .Mac. Jobs was quite right when he said that .Mac would be a value added service. Its features and benefits are well worth the cost. Despite what Mr Smart seems to think, not everything in this world is free, and the components and integration of .Mac are a great resource. If people want a program that does not depend on .Mac then go out and buy one! Why should Apple provide you with a continuous stream of free software?

If the chaps at apple are reading this, they should consider dropping the whole dependency on .mac accounts, you are ripping off the people you depend on for your business. not smart

How many updates are there now? And still no support for proxies!!! That really sucks!

Even after almost a year, I'm still wondering why this feature is part of .Mac and not OS X/Jaguar. I understand the merchandising, marketing, and revenue reasons but don't think backup software should be part of an online subscription service.

Backup is excellent! True Apple app! Easy to use, does the job quickly (mine is set to back up at 5 in the morning) never fails. The best backup solution I have seen!

The idea is good, but I've found that the backup: 1) takes far too long to do it's task 2) uses more CD space than is necessary 3) often gives an error message when trying to backup the library. Hopefully the version with the upcoming Panther OS will be better.

Not bad, but should be able to do so much more. Shouldn't require .Mac to back up to CD/DVD's and should be able to back up to another disk (zip, HD etc).