How to Backup Specific Files on a Macintosh Computer

With the latest release of Apple's Mac OS X operating system, also known as Leopard, computer users are able to continuously backup their files and settings through a utility called Time Machine. Time Machine stores the data on an external hard drive, and then users can restore any files by choosing a backup from a certain date. However, Time Machine's backups obviously take up a large amount of space on most hard drives, so users may want to limit which files the utility saves. This article explains how to backup specific files with Time Machine.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later, external hard drive

1. Open System Preferences by clicking on the icon in the dock.

2. Go to the "Time Machine" control panel underneath the "System" category.

3. Click the "Options" button in the middle of the control panel window.

4. Click the plus sign in the lower-left corner of the pop-up window.

5. Select any folders or files that you do not want Time Machine to backup, and then click "Exclude." Time Machine will not save any of the selected files during future backups. All files not selected will be backed up.