Customer Reviews

Real World Mac Maintenance and Backups

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Since I have used OS X from day, I was very anxious to analyze this book and see how it compares to my actual experience. While I don't agree with everything the author wrote, the advice is solid, well explained, and very reliable. Every Mac should ship with this book.

Unlike other books written for the IT crowd, this "Real World" book omits the boring details about why you should do certain tasks, and gives readers specific instructions on what to do daily, weekly, and yearly basis. You can open up the book and immediately start keeping your Mac in tip top shape.

There were certain aspects of the advice I, and many other Mac professionals, would disagree with. The advice isn't incorrect, just not Universal (pun intended!). There is not one solution that fits all situations. Kissell acknowledges other opinions on these subjects. He actually quotes a variety of experts who disagree with his advice. In this industry, it's pretty rare for a expert to admit there are other perfectly valid, and polar opposite, opinions. I really appreciated Kissell's lack of ego. Again, this is "Real World" and in the real world two doctors can both be excellent and, yet have very different opinions.

For example, some experts believe repairing permissions is absolutely critical while Kissell indicates this procedure has no redeeming value. His panel of experts gave different opinions allowing the reader to dras their own conclusion. (Personally, I recommend repairing permissions before any Apple update and any time you have problems), This book is his opinion and suggestions on proper maintenance. Unless you have a logical and justified reason not to follow his outstanding advice, treat his advice as gospel and follow it to the letter.

In spite of the great maintenance advice Kissel gives, his advice on backups is second to none and should be required reading for anyone who has anything of value on their Mac. Why can't Apple explain it this easy (oh, that's right, they want you to upgrade to Leopard with built-in rudimentary backups)? He is going to save readers thousands of dollars in emergency data recovery costs. I suspect Kissel will be getting cookies baked for him, invitations to weddings, and wedding proposals himself. With Kissel's help, data loss can be eliminated in our generation! Seriously though, Kisssel realizes that people won't do everything he suggests, and he acknowledges that fact and creates good/better/best type scenarios for backups. People get intimidated by backups, and just ignore it--the same reason people don't go to the dentist. In the last chapter of the book, Kissel take the most popular backup program out there, Retrospect, and takes you step by step through proper backup and restoration. Even the least technical among us can easily follow his advice and not wake up in the middle of the night in fear of data loss.

This book is one of the best organized I have seen. This is not a technical reference to be used only when you have a question, but a practical how-to guide with all the information you need at your fingertips. Not only does Kissel refer to shareware programs with eact download to download them in context of the chapters, but Appendix B summarizes all the programs mentioned in the book, the program features, and where to get them. Wow--why don't more books do that. The last page of the book summarizes everything you need to do to maintain your Mac. Most Mac users should rip out that page and keep it near their computer--taunting them to actually do the things they learned in the book.

This book is probably going to win some major awards and should be given as a gift to any Mac user who cares about their data. Every small business should follow his advice to the letter. Too often, people think because Macs are so realiable, they won't fail. While they tend to have less problems than Windows computers, Macs need Maintenance and Backups too!

Pros; Hands down the BEST book on backups and specifically Retrospect. Great maintenance advice given in a straightforward easy to follow manner.

Cons: This book will put lots of technicians out of business. He'll also kill the entire data recovery business, as well as a good share of therapists who counsel people after data loss. Good for consumers, bad for professionals like myself J. Just kidding....maybe.

Microsoft conditioned me to feel insecure about my data. Because of this I had always planned on following the often heard but rarely heeded advice to do regular backups of my data. But what this really requires is a coherent backup *system* not just a backup product. Similarly, I'd always planned to set up a regular maintenance routine for my Mac, a systematic approach not just the occasional use of a maintenance product.

Problem: almost all info and reviews of backup and maintenance products in the Mac press write from a product-centered point of view focused on product features rather than a user-centric point of view focused on how to set up a backup and maintenance system to fit your needs and then how to choose products to fit into your system accordingly.

Solution: Joe Kissell's book. Kissell's book is a very smart approach to developing automated backup and maintenance systems for your Mac that largely run in the background to protect your data and your hard drive automatically. He starts not with product features to look for, but with a thorough assessment of your specific needs that drives your search for specific product features to meet those needs. After guiding you through your needs, including things I had not thought of or considered, he then has a smart comparative review of current backup software to best match your needs with the products that have the features you need. It's systematic; the only systematic approach I've ever found to this complex subject.

My only gripe is that you can tell it was written in Microsoft Word because the typography is terrible. But the substance, the content, is best in class. This is the best source of information on backups and maintenance for the Mac platform bar none. It's the only resource you need. All you need to do is read his book, set up your system, implement it, and stick to the weekly schedule. The whole thing can be done in one day or over a weekend. Do it before you lose important data that would take you far longer than a weekend to replace or reconstruct.

I've integrated Joe's recommendations for a backup system and a maintenance system into an easy weekly backup & maintenance routine that keeps my Mac in top shape with redundant backups just in case. For once I have peace of mind regarding my data. Thanks Joe.

Jeff Nailen

BioFit Solutions

I've been using backup software since 1991, sometimes handling over 100 computers on a single backup set, and maintaining my Mac since 1985 (OS X since version 10.1) -- and I still learned quite a lot from this book (in its original form as two separate ebooks). This is a critical addition to one's Mac library, because it provides both a reference on how to keep a Mac working and solve problems that crop up, while also giving step-by-step advice on making backups that can save your bacon when data is inevitably lost.

As an IT support professional with fifteeen years of Macintosh experience, I didn't think I'd learn much from Kissell's book(s). I was wrong. His coverage of the pedagogy and practice of backups is stellar, and the discussion of different methods and products is invaluable. Similarly, the dicey issue of maintenance practices and procedures is handled with aplomb, including the suprisingly controversial topic of repairing permissions.

I could bill my clients for several hours of lecture and best practices, but I prefer to recommend Kissell's work and encourage self-education.

I found the Backup half particularly relevant and useful for coverage of why booting is important (ignored by many backup systems, because it's *hard*), and why archival is important (because propagating data loss sucks). Both books are well-written with lots of useful content, and contained things I hadn't known (my Mac experience goes back to Mac OS X Public Beta, and before that to the original 128k 'Mac' (no model name, as there were no other models yet).

Disclaimer: I read drafts of both books.

Full disclosure: I'm on a mailing list on which the author solicited feedback and advice for one of the two ebooks that went into this volume. I watched the Backups book develop from a strong first draft into an in-depth, well reasoned, and thoroughly tested final version. This volume is not a book only for Mac novices, though they would benefit from it. Experts too will find here things they didn't know. And kudos for Joe Kissell for having the cojones to say publicly that repairing permissions is the "take two aspirin and call me in the morning" advice for the world of Mac OS X.

It is now twenty years that I have been using Macintoshes and buying books about this computer. While many have been helpful, this one stands out in providing the essential information that is critical to users of any computer. As our world becomes more dependent on these beasts, the old dictum: there are two kinds of people in this world--those who have lost data and those who will -- is even more true. I began backing up to 3.5 inch floppies using retrospect, and then tried a Syquist Drive which worked for years, and then began using inexpensive hard drive storage. But a logical way to strategize, or someone to hold my hand as I made critical decisions about back up, was absent until this book came along. All the Macintosh bibles and missing manuals were nice, but this one is indispensible. There are lots of great reviews of this book, and I wanted to frame this in a broader picture. The maintenance material is essential too.

I am sure that at one time this was a useful book. Now it is of nearly no use at all. Mac has invented Time Capsule to back up your computer wirelessly every hour onto its own internal hard drive that also gives you wireless internet. Save your money and buy Time Capsule instead.

Very helpful, especially the Mac backup information. Helped cut through the hype, provided clear answers.

In language which those of us without technical degrees can understand, Joe Kissell explains how to keep your Mac AND your valuable data safe and healthy. I'm one who didn't know the difference between an "archive" and a "back up". Well, I do now, thanks to this book. It is a truism that nobody backs up their data until they have lost it at least once. Don't let this be true of you when it's so easy to keep everything safe and your Mac happy.

I'd also like to point out that this book is interesting and even fun to read, unlike many computer books I've seen. Joe Kissell will not put you to sleep, and you just might want to send him a thank you note the first time his advice saves your from hours (or more) of heartache.