The data there in our system is crucial to us and none of us would actually want to loose the data on our system. Today we will discuss “how to back up data using disk utility”. The process remains same for both Mac OS X 10.5 & 10.6. The process is quite simple, but a simplest of mistake can lead to loss of data. The data lost will then only be recovered by a data recovery Mac software. Let’s start of with the back up process.
Steps to Back up data using disk utility:
1. Make sure the hard drive you opt for back up should have sufficient space in it for back up.
2. Connect the external hard dive to your Macintosh.
3. Insert the Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6 DVD and restart the system while holding C Key.
4. Then select the language. Make sure you do not start an installation process.
5. Go to the Utilities Menu and select Disk Utilities form there.
6. Now from the source pane on the left, the source disk has to be selected which you want to back up.
7. The next step is to verify the hard disk for errors, to do this Click “Verify Disk“. If the hard disk shows errors click repair disk to correct the errors.
8. In the tool bar you will find the New Image button, click on it.
9. Now name the image you should name it wisely, I would recommend to put a date in the name that will easier for the future references.
10. Now apply security to the backup disk image.
* From the Encryption menu.
* Select any of the 128-bit or 256-bit AES encryption.
* Enter a password when asked for it
11. Save the destination on a location on the external hard drive, click save and continue.
12. Enter the name and the password if prompted
13. This will strat the imaging process. The time taken will depend on the data in the drive. It images 1 GB per minute so now you can calculate accordingly, but that too depends on several factors.
14. Once you are done with the imaging process, select the newely created image on the disk
15. From the menu Choose the Images >> Scan Image for Restore, and complete the scan process.
16. Press the (Q-command) to quit the disk utility.
17. Last step would be to press the Q-command to quit Mac OS X installer.
18. Restart the system
The image of the disk will be created and the You can be sure of that the data will not be lost. While doing this process you can clean up your Mac too. Delete the unwanted and the large files from the system. You can do that with the help of the software too like Mac SpeedUp
OR Drive ToolBox To Optimize your Mac
