Solved Please forgive: Off-topic (Mac Related)


Archigos

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I know this site is Windows-based, but I've noticed some users reference Macs in the past so I hope someone uses them and may be able to help with a recommendation. I was going to put this in Backup and Restore but since it's not Windows, thought this would be better.

My iMac has no issues with network drives, but for some reason, it has trouble keeping a connection to the NAS's TimeMachine partition so it rarely backs up the computer. When I try to run it manually it ALWAYS claims the backup file is in use and can't add to the backup properly. A little over a year ago I got a deal on Acronis Backup and had been using that for a weekly backup and everything was well. My one year ran out and now they want $90 to renew for a year and I deem that too much for it (it's cloud-based and will not store the backup on the NAS).

So the question is: What would you recommend as a Mac alternative to Macrium Reflect or even AOMEI... I don't mind paying a one-time fee to buy the software but refuse to pay an annual fee and ideally want it to save to my current NAS.


(If this post shouldn't be here, feel free to delete it and I apologize in advance)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro β
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Laptop 15-eg0070wm
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel® Iris® Xᵉ Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2TB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
  • Operating System
    macOS Ventura
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple iMac 27" 5K (2017)
    CPU
    3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
    Memory
    40 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon Pro 570 4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" 5K, 34" UW
    Screen Resolution
    Mon 1: 5120 × 2880 Mon 2: 2560 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    32GB NVME, 1TB SSD
I personally cannot vouch for it since I've never owned a Mac, but the name Chronosync pops up a lot. You might look into it to see if it fits your needs. Download ChronoSync for Mac | MacUpdate
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
ChronoSync is one of them that popped up in my search too, but looking into it more seems like it might be a good fit unless others have more suggestions.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro β
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Laptop 15-eg0070wm
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel® Iris® Xᵉ Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2TB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
  • Operating System
    macOS Ventura
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple iMac 27" 5K (2017)
    CPU
    3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
    Memory
    40 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon Pro 570 4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" 5K, 34" UW
    Screen Resolution
    Mon 1: 5120 × 2880 Mon 2: 2560 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    32GB NVME, 1TB SSD
I wish I could remember the forum I got Mac help at. Apple's own site can be helpful OR it can pretend you're the problem when you're not. Did you try Apple Discussions yet?

Also, I'm have a vague recollection of the fix. Which is essentially starting all over again with Time Machine. But don't follow that advice because it was too long ago.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11 if on this site
I've tried Apple Discussions and as you said, sadly a lot of the time, they make it out where the topic creator is the problem, not the software/hardware. I've gone through and redid everything with TimeMachine multiple times and I'd say out of like 15-20 retries, I might have gotten like 4 or 5 'good' backups without error, so I'm done with TM.

I'm going to wait until next month and buy ChronoSync and use that...
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro β
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Laptop 15-eg0070wm
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel® Iris® Xᵉ Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2TB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD
  • Operating System
    macOS Ventura
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple iMac 27" 5K (2017)
    CPU
    3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
    Memory
    40 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon Pro 570 4 GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" 5K, 34" UW
    Screen Resolution
    Mon 1: 5120 × 2880 Mon 2: 2560 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    32GB NVME, 1TB SSD
I've tried Apple Discussions and as you said, sadly a lot of the time, they make it out where the topic creator is the problem

When I realized that was the case, I quit my user profile and started a new one. My handle became a cool double reference. Both to Apple pretending something isn't a known issue and to John Lennon. I was NotTheOnly1...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    11 if on this site
I use a Mac daily, and the two programs I would recommend are Carbon Copy Cloner by Bombich Software or SuperDuper! by shirt pocket software. Carbon Copy Cloner is a bit more complex and has more features, and SuperDuper is simpler and a little bit less expensive. Both are very reliable.

The structure of modern macOS file systems is such that you have to re-create a bootable back up from scratch and cannot just add to it. Both software will let you know about that.

I would not use Time Machine over a network because that makes a sparse backup file and not a true bootable copy. I would use Time Machine with a local hard drive only. Time Machine is meant to be plugged in all the time so that it can take hourly daily weekly and monthly back ups. If done that way it's very reliable.

I had one customer who had one plugged in since 2007. When her power supply died, all I had to do was plug her time machine hard disk into a newer Mac that I had. I restored the back up and she lost nothing. That means all of her applications, system and user settings and structure of her files was exactly the same on the new Mac. No software installations at all were required.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    macOS Monterey
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Apple
    CPU
    Core i7 2.2 GHz (I7-5650U)
    Motherboard
    MacBook Air 2017 BTO
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD Graphics 6000
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SSD (PCIe 2.0 x4)
    Case
    Unibody aluminum
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 21H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    i3-3240
    Motherboard
    Optiplex 7010
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP EliteDisplay E210
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 900
    Hard Drives
    Kingston A400 240 GB SSD
    Toshiba 2 TB HDD
    PSU
    650 W
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Premium
I've never experienced issues with Time Machine, but I always run it on a USB attached HDD or currently an external SSD.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.

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