How to Choose an iMac Hard Drive Backup

With the Time Machine software, which is included with the latest release of the Mac OS X operating system, you can configure an external hard drive to automatically back up your entire iMac computer. In the Time Machine system preferences menu, you can choose which hard drive to use as your iMac backup.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later External hard drive

1. Connect your external hard drive to its power source.

2. Plug your external hard drive into your iMac using a USB or Firewire cable. Then turn the hard drive on.

3. Log on to your iMac using an administrative account.

4. Open System Preferences by clicking on the icon in the Dock.

5. Go to the "Time Machine" control panel underneath the "System" heading.

6. Click on the "Choose Disk" button in the control panel window.

7. Highlight the external hard drive that you want to choose as your iMac backup and click "OK." Time Machine will now begin performing hourly backups of your iMac computer using your external hard drive.