Things You'll Need:
- External hard drive
- Backup software (optional)
- DVD burner
- Blank DVDs
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Step 1
Determine that you do have Mac OS X Panther (10.3.x) installed by going to the "Apple" menu and selecting "About This Mac." The resulting box will display the version of the Mac OS (Operating System) that is installed.
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Step 2
Determine how many bootable drives (startup disks) you have by going to "System Preferences" in the "Dock," under the "Apple" menu or in the "Applications" folder. Select "Startup Disk" and you will see precisely where Mac OS Panther is installed (network servers, external Firewire drives and internal hard disks). It may be installed in several locations, but you want to back up the drive that your normally start up from.
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Step 3
Measure the amount of data that you have to back up by selecting the appropriate drive icon on the "Desktop" and choosing "Get Info" from the "File" menu (or use Cmd-I as a keyboard command). The resulting "Get Info" dialog box will tell you how much data is on the drive you wish to back up.
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Step 4
Make sure you have enough single- or dual-layer DVDs (depending on your burner) to hold the data that is on the drive, or have an additional internal (IDE or SATA) drive or external drive (attached via USB, Firewire, eSATA or RAID) that is large enough.
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Step 5
Have a browser window open to these instructions or to similar instructions on a Mac resource site like MacFixit (see Resources below). Have a printed copy of these instructions handy in case you lose Internet connectivity during the process.
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Step 1
Insert a blank DVD in your internal or external burner, and drag folders to its icon on the "Desktop." You will get an alert message when you reach the DVD's capacity.
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Step 2
Right-click on the DVD icon and select "Burn Disc" from the resulting Contextual menu, or highlight the DVD with a single click and select the "Burn Disc" command from the "File" menu. The DVD will burn and be verified, after which you will eject it (drag to "Trash" in the "Dock" or select "Eject" from the "File" or Contextual menu).
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Step 3
Continue the previous two steps until you have backed up the entire drive.
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Step 1
Obtain a freeware or commercial backup utility, such as La Cie's no-cost SilverKeeper, if you do not have one already, and install it per the instructions (see Resources below). Most basic backup utilities operate in much the same way.
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Step 2
Start up SilverKeeper and set up the backup routine for manual use (you cannot automate a DVD backup that requires multiple discs) per the step-by-step on-screen instructions.
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Step 3
Remove DVDs after SilverKeeper burns them, continuing the process until the drive is completely backed up.
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Step 1
Locate the second drive's icon on the "Desktop" and manually drag all the folders from your startup disk's "Home" directory (the "House" icon in the left panel of the "Finder" window) to the backup drive.
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Step 2
Use SilverKeeper or your preferred backup software if you want to set up an automated and unattended backup. You can also set it up to run while you observe the operation.
