[rickyc]

I want to back up my IPad (without the cloud) to an external hard drive that also will back up my IMac using Time Machine. How can I do this? Thanks!!

[rickyc]

200 views since Jul. 28 - not one suggestion. Very disappointed!

I will change/delete the Time Machine part. How can I back up an IPad to an external drive connected to my IMac?

TIA!

This post has been edited by rickyc: 18 August 2012 - 05:39 PM

[smax013]

rickyc, on 18 August 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

200 views since Jul. 28 - not one suggestion. Very disappointed!

I will change/delete the Time Machine part. How can I back up an IPad to an external drive connected to my IMac?

TIA!

I don't know of a way to specifically back up to an external drive. But, if you sync you iPad to iTunes (whether with the sync cable or by WiFi sync) on your iMac, it will back your iPad to your Mac's internal hard drive. And then if you use Time Machine to back up your Mac to an external drive, then it will in essence be backing up your iPad to the external drive as well.

And I should note that iPad backups will not necessarily be the full size of your iPad storage. I don't believe an iPad backup specifically "backs up" your music, video, and apps but rather "syncs" them with iTunes. The actual "backup file" that iTunes makes will be your settings and other stuff. All of my actual "backup" files are 1.30 GB or less for my various devices. Of course, my iTunes library that contains my music, videos and apps is MUCH, MUCH larger (I have quite a few videos). I will also note that you can set iTunes to store is library on an external drive...thus, if you have a small hard drive in the Mac and don't want all your videos, music and apps taking up room on that drive, you can have them on an external drive (this should NOT be the same drive that you use for a Time Machine backup).

[rickyc]

Thanks for your answer. When you use Itunes to backup Ipad to Imac, does it mix contacts, calender, etc., or keep them separate? The Ipad I want to back up is my wife's.

Also, will it save everything? Bookmarks, settings, notes, photos, music?? We have kept hers and mine separate, but she needs a backup of those things.

Many thanks - yours is the only reply I have ever received for a forum question.


I don't know of a way to specifically back up to an external drive. But, if you sync you iPad to iTunes (whether with the sync cable or by WiFi sync) on your iMac, it will back your iPad to your Mac's internal hard drive. And then if you use Time Machine to back up your Mac to an external drive, then it will in essence be backing up your iPad to the external drive as well.

And I should note that iPad backups will not necessarily be the full size of your iPad storage. I don't believe an iPad backup specifically "backs up" your music, video, and apps but rather "syncs" them with iTunes. The actual "backup file" that iTunes makes will be your settings and other stuff. All of my actual "backup" files are 1.30 GB or less for my various devices. Of course, my iTunes library that contains my music, videos and apps is MUCH, MUCH larger (I have quite a few videos). I will also note that you can set iTunes to store is library on an external drive...thus, if you have a small hard drive in the Mac and don't want all your videos, music and apps taking up room on that drive, you can have them on an external drive (this should NOT be the same drive that you use for a Time Machine backup).
[/quote]

[smax013]

rickyc, on 27 August 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

Thanks for your answer. When you use Itunes to backup Ipad to Imac, does it mix contacts, calender, etc., or keep them separate? The Ipad I want to back up is my wife's.

Also, will it save everything? Bookmarks, settings, notes, photos, music?? We have kept hers and mine separate, but she needs a backup of those things.

Many thanks - yours is the only reply I have ever received for a forum question.

You can backup/sync multiple devices to iTunes on a single computer. It keeps the backup for each device separate.

The backup handle just things that DO NOT get synced with iTunes. When you sync with iTunes, all the music, TV shows, movies, podcasts, apps, etc get put into the same iTunes library (this assumes that you use the same Mac user ID). The backup then deals with stuff that does not get synced. So, for example, I have a 64 GB iPad. The backup for my iPad is about 1 GB...and the other 50 or so GBs of stuff is music, videos, and apps that get synced to the iTunes library. Another way to think of it is that the "backup" contains the "unique" content of the iOS device while the "sync" contains the more "common" stuff.

As far as contacts and calendars go, if you are using iCloud for calendars and contacts, then syncing of contact and calendars by way of iTunes should be turned off by default if memory serves me. Thus, it should not sync any calendars or contacts from her iPad to the Mac (unless you have iCloud setup to do that).

And yes, the "syncing" of an iPad with iTunes will "backup" everything. There might be a few settings you need to fix if you every have to restore from that backup...but it nominally should be the same as when you backed it up.

FWIW, syncing/backing up an iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) with iTunes used to be the only way to back it up. It was not until iCloud last year that there was another option. This is the way I have always done it and still do it. I like it because the backup is on a computer that _I_ control, not Apple. The only difference is that with the latest version of iOS, I can do that syncing by way of WiFi...it used to be that I had to always use the sync cable.

[Radmacdaddy]

Here is a backup drive that works with photos... not sure about anything else...
http://www.hypershop...-p/hdip-500.htm

it goes up to 1TB... seems like a clever and needed device.