Alternatives for backing up your Mac
Your photos, music, documents, and software are important. The best way to protect them is to frequently back up all the files on your Mac. There are several easy ways to do this.
Time Machine
Time Machine backs up everything on your Mac, including your photos, music, movies, and documents. After you set up Time Machine, it regularly backs up your Mac without any more effort on your part. For more information, see Connect a new backup disk to your Mac.
CDs and DVDs
You can create a burn folder that contains all your important files. Whenever you want to back up the latest versions of those files to a CD or DVD, simply open that burn folder, then click Burn. For more information, see Create and use a burn folder.
Other disks
If you have a second hard disk, you can back up files by copying them from one disk to the other. To save space, compress an item before copying it to a backup disk by selecting it, then choosing File > Compress.
If your hard disk is divided into partitions, you can back up files from one partition to another. This solution isn’t as safe as other options because your backup may be lost along with the original files if your hard disk is damaged. For information about partitioning a disk, see Partition a physical disk.
Disk Utility
If you need to back up more files than can fit on a single CD or DVD, you can use Disk Utility to create a compressed disk image of the files.