DavidA Loc: Hopewell NJ

I have twice used Time Machine to backup all the stuff on one machine and then copy it all to a new machine. The new machine then has everything, including all the desktop folders, etc.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

I believe there is some misunderstanding going on here, as the concept of 'backing up' might be something different than what you are trying to achieve.

There are some files on a computer (Mac or Windows, actually) that need to be st up in a specific way in order for the computer to work at all. These root files need to be properly installed; simply dragging them over from another source does not work. So, for that reason, when you 'drag and drop' the entire desktop to an external drive, or for that matter, use Time Machine on the Mac, what gets copied over are the files that are not part of the operating system per se.

As Bill Burk (@burkphoto) pointed out above, using CCC from Bombich can help - I use that today (having replaced another utility called "SuperDuper!" previously - what CCC does is essentially clone the contents of the source drive (i.e. - your Mac) to the target drive (i.e. - the external backup).

And in the olden days, you could make that external backup drive "bootable" - that is, it would work as the startup drive for the Mac.

However, according to Bombich, this is no longer the case when used with the new Macs with the M1 (or presumably M2) CPU. Seems that Apple has changed some of their protocols and so even a full backup to an external drive with CCC might not be bootable. In addition, when CCC failed to work numerous times with the 1TB external hard drives I had used successfully before (with my 27: iMac using Intel CPU), it seems you need to use a SD as the external backup drive, as after a while even CCC fails due to what they called "chatter" - the speed at which the M1 Mac was pushing over data was too great for the HDD to accept to the point where the process failed. After getting a few SSDs to use as backups, that has not happened.

Red6

Sounds like a trip to the Apple store and a refresher class on the Macbook is in order. You can also view training classes online from Apple and dozens of training classes on Youtube. With computational or digital photography the computer is as much a part of the photographic process as the camera itself. The photographer must be as adept at using the computer as he is his camera gear to get the best results.

You should be copying or backing up only the directories and files filled with your images, not the entire hard drive and MacOS each time. Time machine is good for some things but I do not think it was ever intended to back up a single directory of images, documents etc and I do not think Apple still uses or promotes it.

I use both Mac and Windows machines but are more familiar with Windows. Unlike MS Windows, Apple allows its users to download all their MacOSs for free from them at any time so there is never a need to copy or clone your operating system.

As far as copying your images it should be as easy as bringing up your FINDER, finding your image files or directories and dragging them to your backup drive which should also appear in your finder when attached. At this point you can also rename them or add a date you backed them up etc.

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

I'm not sure if this addresses your question but -
Open time machine (from system preferences), click the lock icon at the bottom left and use your admin password to unlock the options, click on options button on the bottom right, this opens a window with a listing of directories to be excluded from the backup. If folders on your desktop are being exluded they are probably listed here as items to be exluded. Items on your desktop are just folders or shortcuts to folders. Open finder and click on your username which is just another folder (or directory) on the hard drive in the following path Macintosh HD (root)>users>yourname>desktop etc.

Follow other advice regarding multiple backups etc. as you wish.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I clone my hard drive monthly via a direct connection that my old and beloved case provides me. I put a drive on the connections and then "Clone" the existing drive. The Solidstate Clone drive is then removed, boxed, and stored in my underwear drawer... Cotton is non-static... the full load is safe and sound in case of a vicious virus or such

There are many free Clone ware that will do the job... at least for PCs

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

I think you want to clone your drive

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

***********
Thank you, that is really helpful.

To the rest of UHH, yes I have more than one, 4 active ones and 5 old drives. All working.

Here's an odd one; my main PS computer ( not connected to the internet ) is from 2008, the last/ newest 5Tb extn h.d. doesn't see the old 2008 computer. I wanted to copy my 2 book folders but the 5Tb would not show on the desktop.

Peter
Peter

Grey Ghost

Simply call Apple Support and they wii answer your questions and assist you in properly doing a Time Machine backup to your external hard drive. There is no fee for this consultation. Call 800 275 2273.

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

Thank you, I will today !
Peter

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Apple Care can answer this question as well as anyone here, and their information is accurate.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

My thought is that the desktop icons are simply links to their parent folders and files, duplicates in a sense, so backups don’t include those.

morkie Loc: Simi Valley CA

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Time Machine is no longer a separate piece of hardware. But the SOFTWARE is now built right into the macOS and works with any external hard drive you prepare for use with Time Machine. It is the preferred way to keep your Mac backed up without interference. The best part about it is it IS like a Time Machine. It takes snapshots at regular intervals so you can go back and restore a file that you may have ruined, or altered undesirably, or deleted.

CCC still makes Intel Macs bootable from an external drive. And clones are certainly useful with Apple Silicon Macs because they retain all sorts of things you need when rebuilding a computer's collective OS and software system on new hardware.

That said, a CCC clone that boots an Intel device is not very useful on an M1 or later Mac, since the OS and software are probably Intel versions.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I’m not a Mac guy so I don’t know the setup, but with Windows the Desktop is displaying the contents of a folder called “Desktop”. That folder is generally on the C drive in the “Users” folder inside a folder for that particular user”, (C:\Users\[username]\Desktop. If I backed up the. C drive the Desktop is part of it. I’m guessing the Mac does something similar.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Instead of a copy or backup, you need to "mirror" the hard drive. That will make an identical copy including (I believe) even the boot sector.

Backups usually only copy user data, not programs or operating systems. I don't know why it missed desktop shortcuts.