Bea writes, <Thank you for responding. I was told by Chris and others to back up only the Mail Index and Database and you have to be careful that both are taken together. I prefer your method but have just one worry.
I've had crash's before and everytime I get the computer back i find the technie's have their own method of putting Claris together again! As you know it is supposedly obsolete and it is irritating that they see it that way - considering its such a great application. > You're welcome....but, crashing is what backups are FOR. ;-) And what kind of laptop and what sorts of failures does it have that you need to bring it to "techies" to be fixed? See, when I think of "crashing," I think of the system freezing up and simply having to be restarted -- I don't get that much (especially since I got OS X), but on the worst occasion -- my G4 going all the way down from a bad Software Update -- I was able to fix it with an archive-reinstall of OS X from my Tiger install DVD -- after consulting a LEM list to find out how to get a CD out of the CD drive when the machine wouldn't boot (I crashed and burned while there was a CD in the machine!). When I have actual hardware failures (I've experienced HDD death, monitor death and fan death, plus on my old Beige G3, a processor upgrade fiasco which forced me back to my old 7200/120 for two months), I do need a "techie" -- and I have one, only he lives 300 miles away. I can't begin to tell you how having a good backup system has "saved my life" in these instances, but that's another subject. I'll get to it momentarily. <I've just done a search and I think I've found the correct Claris Emailer folder. The Emailer Preferences is 12 KB while the Claris Emailer Files Folder totals 1048 KB plus the application which is 3.7 MB (this latter doesn't sound correct, and in another folder the application is 370 MB! Anyway, I'm taking your suggestion and backing up these two which are in the 'Claris Emailer Folder'. I'm wondering how these sizes stack up against yours?> OK, if you want to compare notes: my entire CE folder is 154.1 MB in size. Emailer Preferences is 12K, and Claris Emailer Files is 144.7 MB. My CE application is 2.3 MB. I shall try and BU more frequently now> Very good idea...and CE probably isn't the only thing you should be backing up. I back up EVERYTHING except the OS and programs I have on CDs). I used to use CDRWs which I updated once a week (plus zip disks for dynamic frequent updates on stuff like my writing, because an old backup of a novel I'm writing will not be enough if my computer dies anywhere from 24 hours since the last backup to the day before the next scheduled update. Elements of my Sims game now also require daily backup updates -- and not only do I back up the active game daily, but I have "Reference Point Backups" of full tested installations, so if the whole game goes down (and it has!), i don't have to reinstall it with the CDs -- all I do is copy a Reference Point Backup and use copies of my backups of all the custom content and within an hour I reconstruct the whole thing and can pick up where I left off before it blew up in my face. I now have a 40 GB external USB/Firewire HD, who I named Memory Alpha, which I use for backups, which makes it so easy that I kind of fell off my former weekly schedule (except for CE, but really, since I use that every day, I should update its backup every day too instead of once a week: and starting now, I will!!). Important files and folders which I use daily -- every day I just drag them to Memory Alpha, and I have this one other folder which I make only occasional changes with -- so as soon as I finish the change, I just drag it over to Memory Alpha and the backup is updated. While Memory Alpha lives with the G4, I can still use it with the iBook In fact, I've connected the iBook to Memory Alpha (USB port) to transfer data over to it when the transfer was too big for the flash drive. <So I guess you use a desktop G4 and the Ibook to travel. I use my laptop with an airport card for wireless reception and take that everywhere with me. My husband uses the desktop....so its just a question of backing it up. > Correct. My G4 is the Indoors Mac, and the iBook is my "traveling Mac." I don't travel much, but even if I'm not out of town, I still take it out: on nice days I do like to go to the park with it or bring it to work to do my own thing at lunch hour (when I'm working, that is -- I just got laid off this past Friday! :-O) Anyway -- here are my recommendations concerning backups/survival of system crashes and hardware failures. YMMV and it also depends on what you can afford, obviously -- if you can do all of this, great. If you can only do some of it, just do what you can. 1. Make sure you know where all your OS and program installation CDs and/or DVDs are. If you can, make backups of those, too (on blank DVDs and/or CDs). Put the originals away someplace safe and if you ever need to restore your OS or any of these applications, use your backup copies. 2. Get a USB/Firewire external hard drive, hook it up to your laptop, and back up ALL of your data and third party apps for which you don't have CDs or DVDs (i..e., shareware, freeware you downloaded off the Internet). All you have to do to make this backup is drag and drop! All you have to do to keep these backups updated is drag and drop -- you'll be asked if you want to replace the older one with the newer one, all you need to do is click Replace. 3. In lieu of an external HD, CD-RWs or DVD-RWs will also serve the purpose. Make yourself a daily or weekly or monthly or whatever works for you automatic burn schedule, and set up the Burn folders in OS X to accommodate. You don't need to use RWs -- regular CDs or DVDs are OK, it's just that I personally preferred RWs because I could reuse them. :-) And in the event of external HD failure, it's a good idea to make a set of CD or DVD hard backups of vital but unchanging stuff (like freeware/shareware apps or archives), just so you have it all. 4. Flash drives are good temporary backup devices (although for me personally, they're mainly data transfer implements). But if that's all I had, I'd use them for backing up too. I have two of them myself -- the original 1-gig I bought last year, and an 8-gig I bought a couple of months ago. OK, and now that you have a framework with which to build a good backup system (yes, I'm OCD-ish with mine!) -- here's what I do to minimize against hardware failures so I can still use a computer while waiting for my "techie" to visit (he's my boyfriend, and we're in a long distance relationship): OLD SPARES!!!!!!!!!!!! My main desktop is a G4/867 Quicksilver. My backup desktop Mac is an old B&W G3/450. No, it won't be as good as my G4, but if my G4 goes down and I have to wait a few weeks for my boyfriend to come down and fix it, guess what: I am not computerless. I originally set up the B&W identically to the G4 -- that is, it has two internal HDs, one with an installation of OS X Tiger, one with an installation of OS 9.2.2. All I'd need to do in a G4 emergency is hook it up on my desk -- and to Memory Alpha, my backup drive -- and all the apps and data I had on the G4 will go nicely into the B&W. It won't be as fast on this machine (and I think the Sims game I play on the G4 and iBook is "too big" for it), but I'll be functional. I also have two spare monitors, "just in case." My boyfriend had picked them out of the trash, so they didn't cost anything. You'd be surprised what people throw away -- it's not ALL broken junk! In fact, my main monitor, the Gateway EV-910 beautiful 19-incher which I'm using on my G4 right now, also came from my Pack Rat's pickings! ;-) I've been using it for three years now I think! My main laptop is the G3/800 iBook. I can also use this as a "spare" if the G4 goes down, but I still have my old Powerbooks, and they all work. The old Powerbooks: Lombard G3/400, Powerbook 5300c and Powerbook 190. None of these are OS X machines, but I can still email, web surf, write and chat on OS 9 (or less: The Lombard is on 9.2.2, but the 5300 has 8.6 and the 190 has 7.5.3!) if I have to. And if I do anything on THEM, I have zips and floppies for backing up. So, if it's at all possible for you (look at the LEM Swap List and/or FleaBay) -- I'd suggest you get yourself a cheap spare machine to be used for severe emergencies. Since I don't know what your main laptop is, I wouldn't know what to recommend in lieu of another one just like it...so you need to decide that on your own. (Go to www.everymac.com to look at specs of all Mac laptops so you can find one you think will suit your purposes.) Oh, oops, almost forgot: <I forgot to ask what is the Port 587 version?> A version of CE for wireless. My "regular" CE will PICK UP email when my iBook is connected on WiFi, but it won't SEND. Port 587 "supposedly" fixes this (sorry, but I don't understand the actual mechanisms of how wireless works so I can't explain it). I say Port 587 "supposedly" works because while that's its intention, I had mixed results with it. To wit: At WiFi hotspots, even with Port 587, I was still able to pick up email but not send any out. BUT, at my boyfriend's house last summer, he has what he calls a "wireless dialup" ethernet setup running (don't ask ME, please!). On this "network" of his, I WAS able to both send and pick up email on the iBook using CE Port 587. I still consider Port 587 worth keeping and I'm glad I have it, but I guess the only place I can use it is at my boyfriend's house. Well -- good luck! ~Yersinia. ________ "Never ask a man what sort of computer he drives. If it's a Mac, he'll tell you. If not, why embarrass him?" -- Tom Clancy ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
