Restoring Backups

Problem: how do you get files from your backup drive to your laptop? Or, how do you get your backed-up files onto a new (replacement) laptop?

Grabbing Individual Files

SK makes regular file copies of your files. If you want to restore one or more files, you can drag them in the Finder from your La Cie drive over to your laptop, as long as it’s plugged-in.

Using SK to Restore

  1. On the right-hand side of SK, choose “Restore Set” after choosing which set you want to restore, on the left. In the diagram below, I am going to restore my home folder.
  2. Press ‘Go.’

Restore Process

This reverses the ‘direction’ of the backup, placing the previously copied files on to the source disk. This should work fine to restore files onto a healthy laptop.

What if my laptop isn’t healthy? If you have data loss, are given a new drive, or some other such calamity, first,

  1. Repair disk permissions on your laptop (see our first page of instructions).
  2. Ensure that your (new) home folder on the laptop (plus the name of your hard drive) is the same as it was on your older laptop (if you are using a replacement).
  3. Restore, as noted above.

When in doubt, present your laptop and your backup drive to your media specialist.

Tips and Advice

Sharing Your Drive with Students

Under no circumstances should you share your new drive with students. The backups you have performed contain confidential data. If you use your drive to transfer contents from a student machine to your drive, do it yourself.

Storing your Drive

Take care not to crush, crimp, or bend your Firewire and USB cables. Store the drive in the black pouch. Keep it safe—it is not indestructable. We also recommend storing the drive in a secure location other than your laptop bag. If your laptop is stolen or damaged, you will want your data in a separate, secure location.

Using Your Drive

Your drive is formatted HFS+ and should only be used with Mac OS X 10.2 or higher. While the drive technically is compatible with Windows and Linux, the drive has been formatted for Macintosh. We do not recommend reformatting the drive to anything other than HFS+.

If the drive is stored in the cold (bad for laptop, bad for drive), do not use it (plug it in) until it has had sufficient time to reach room temperature. Condensation can form, otherwise. Water + electronics = bad news.

© 2006 by Goochland County Public Schools. Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.