Easy Mac OS X Lion - Kate Binder [15]
Choose Apple menu, System Preferences.
Click the Time Machine button to see your backup settings.
Click Select Disk to choose a hard drive where Time Machine can store backed-up files.
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Tip: Better Safe Than Sorry
If at all possible, use a drive for Time Machine that doesn’t have any files stored on it. For one thing, you want the maximum amount of room available for backup files. For another, it’s a remote possibility that Time Machine might overwrite your files.
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Choose a disk in the list.
Click Use Backup Disk.
Click Options to exclude disks from the backup.
Click the plus and minus buttons to add or delete disks; then click Save.
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Tip: Skipping Along
Check Skip System files in the Time Machine preferences if you haven’t customized your Mac OS X system with a lot of add-ons. That will save a lot of space on your backup drive.
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Tip: I Said No
Another way to save space on your backup drive is to add disks or folders to the Do not back up list in the Time Machine preferences. These items will be ignored when Time Machine backs up the rest of your files.
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Restoring Backed-Up Files
You know right where the file was. You’re sure of it. You even know when and why you deleted it—but now you need it back. Fortunately for you, your Time Machine can solve your problem. All you have to do is take a look at past versions of your hard drive and choose the files you want to resurrect.
Open the folder where the file you want was previously located; then click Time Machine.
Click back and forth through the previous versions of that folder to find a backup in which the file still exists.
Click to select the file you want.
Click Restore to return the file to your present-day Mac.
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Tip: Take Me There
If you know exactly what date you’re looking for in Time Machine, click the bars on the right side of the screen to choose a specific backup date. You’ll zoom right to the state of your Mac on that date.
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Using the Go Menu
To make getting around your system easier, the Go menu contains commands that instantly take you to specific locations, including any of the special folders Mac OS X creates for your programs and documents. The Go menu also keeps track of the last several folders you’ve opened so you can return to any of them with a single click.
To go to one of Mac OS X’s special folders, click Go and choose Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Computer, Home, Applications, or Utilities.
To go to one of the folders you’ve opened recently, choose Go, Recent Folders and choose a folder.
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Tip: Using the Keyboard
You can also go to the special folders with keyboard commands. Press to see the Computer window; press to open your home folder; press to open the Applications folder; and press to open the Utilities folder.
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Note: All of Them? Really?
Choose All My Files in the Go menu to see all your documents listed in a single window and sorted neatly by type—images, text files, and so on. Naturally, the more documents you have, the less useful this option becomes.
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Chapter 3: Installing and Using Applications
It’s the programs that make using your Mac worthwhile, whether they’re the applications that come with Mac OS X (such as Preview, TextEdit, and Safari) or the ones you buy and install yourself (such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, or your favorite games). Apple even sells two collections of programs designed just for home and business users, called iLife (with iMovie, GarageBand, and the like) and iWork (featuring Pages, for page layout, Numbers for spreadsheets, and so on).
Some programs come with a special installer program that puts all their pieces in the right places. Other programs are so simple that you can just drag and drop them into your Applications or Utilities folder, and programs you buy in the App Store