Best backup practices and recovering lost data.
Backup and Recovery
Does Time Machine work with the new APFS file system on my Mac?
Episode 1429
Eric fromEric converted to High Sierra on his Mac and chose APFS on Time Machine. Now he's got trouble. Leo says that Apple cautioned not to do that. Can he at least downgrade? Leo says that the good news is there was no data lost, so he could format it to downgrade from APFS and then let it backup again. Eric should check out this article at macobserver on how to use Time Machine with APFS. He shouldn't convert to APFS if he has a Fusion drive just yet.
Why am I having problems booting into my Mac?
Episode 1429
Terry fromTerry is having problems booting up his Mac unless it's in safe mode. Leo says that it sounds like there's a corrupted kernel that is clobbering everything. He recommends backing up his data, wiping the drive and then reinstalling the OS and programs. The Mac makes it easy to do, too. If he bought his programs in the Mac App Store, he can just install all the apps he owns. Terry shouldn't install anything he doesn't need. It's better to just install as he goes. It's also an indication that his hard drive may be going bad, so it may be time to get a new drive.
Can I make an image backup of my mobile phone?
Episode 1429
Bob fromBob has a dual SIM mobile phone with T-Mobile and he's having trouble going from one number to the other. He couldn't receive calls. He's tried to go to T-Mobile and has also done the factory reset and now he can get calls. But he's lost all his data. Can he get it back? Leo says the safest way to protect his data is to backup his data to his Google account. He can do this by going to "Backup and Reset" in settings. Then he could automatically restore it. This would save his settings, apps, and contacts, but it won't save his music or photos.
What's the best way to transfer my data to a new Android phone?
Episode 1427
Chip fromChip has over 400 apps on his Android phone, along with hundreds of contacts. He wants to know the best method for transferring all of that data to a new phone. Leo says that first of all, both Samsung and Google will backup his data. His previous phone was an HTC, and his new phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note. Leo says even if the two phones aren't from the same company, Android will still prompt him to transfer some of the data through NFC by touching the phones together. Google syncs his settings, and on Samsung phones it's under "Cloud and Accounts" in Settings.
Why can't I update Windows 10?
Episode 1427
Kyle fromKyle is having trouble updating Windows 10 to the Spring Creator's Edition on his HP PC. HP has had problems with the Spring Creator's Update and Leo has a hunch the fall update will have similar issues. Leo says not to force the update. Microsoft will only offer the update when the machine is ready to receive it. It locks up after about 35%. Leo says to get it as a stand alone update and update it that way. He should download it directly as a file and install from a thumb drive. If that doesn't work, he can try the latest update from Microsoft with the media creation tool.
How can we quickly manage backups in the cloud?
Episode 1426
Jerry fromJerry is a network admin for an print shop. Has a ton of data to manage. He backs up to a Drobo 8 drive NAS, but they're looking to go with a cloud solution. It would take months to backup to one, though. Is there a faster way to do it? Leo says that it takes so long because the upload speeds are always slower. It's better to send them an external drive that has all the backups on it. Carbonite is a good option. Amazon Glacier is another one.
How can I restore Windows on my computer?
Episode 1424
Todd fromTodd has a Dell laptop running Windows 8. He recently upgraded to Windows 10 and now he's having issues with the laptop crashing and he can't restore it. It won't even do a factory reset. Dell also no longer has Windows 8 discs that he can restore the OS from. Rich says that getting a clean install of Windows is the most important thing. He recommends getting a Windows 10 disc, like downloading the media creation tool and using that from a friend's computer. Then install that. He could also buy Windows 8 on eBay. It's also best to format his hard drive first.
How can I back up old hard drives?
Episode 1424
David fromDavid has a bunch of hard drives he wants to back up online in the cloud. Rich says that Amazon AWS Cloud Storage is probably the best solution. He won't want to upload to the cloud per se. Amazon will send him a container to ship the hard drives to them.
What is a good alternative to Apple Time Machine?
Episode 1417
Chris fromChris says that his Time Machine won't let him set when the backup happens. It just does it when it wants to. Are there any alternatives? Leo says that SuperDuper is a better option. It can not only back up his internal drive, but it can make his external drive bootable so that if his hard drive dies, he'll be back up and running within minutes or even seconds!
Can Carbonite backup movies?
Episode 1416
Terry fromTerry wants to backup his home movies with Carbonite. He did it manually the first time, but will Carbonite automatically do it after the first time? Leo says that he'll have to pay extra for that feature, and he'll have to be sure his photo and video file folder is selected. They do it this way because video takes a very long time to backup. It will hog his bandwidth for quite awhile, all the time. Terry will also want to be sure he has plenty of bandwidth.
