Apple
HOW-TO; Creacte a secure backup, using OS X
10/07/08 09:28
(If you just want the HOW-TO, scroll down, it’s below
the intro to backup)
Sometimes, its not a bad idea to have backup, and most people realize this when they need the backup.
You only think of your car’s spare tire when you have a flat, and after the first time you get stuck in the
middle of nowhere with a flat spare, it will never happen to you again, and you will always check your
spare before going on a trip.
Backup on OS X is very easy, and you have to be super-lazy or an absolutely careless and free spirited
person. If you are like me, and your Apple is almost an extension of your body (i almost feel naked when i leave the house without my laptop bag), then you dont want to have to resort to...(drum roll) Data Recovery.
This is not a ‘How-to backup’, so i’ll just mention my backup scheme:
1. SuperDuper clone of my internal HD, in a safe.
2. portable media vault (PMV), two partitions, one is encrypted
3. PMV clone at home
4. Capture scratch and FMV (fixed media vault)
why so much? well, hard disks are not reliable, and i do not want my 90 gig itunes library dead, nor my 15 gig iphoto library, so it is backed up (anyone who experienced the ‘external firewire erase’ bug of itunes knows what i am talking about). Capture Scratch is something to do with video editing, so you may disregard the CS+FMV item.
PMV i need because anyway my Internal HD is getting full, and this is why the need for encryption; these small (2.5”, laptop disk) disks are very easy to steal.
(what we came here for)How to encrypt an external USB disk?
as you may or may not know, OS X has a FileVault App, which encrypts your home folder. nice and handy, but wont work for external disks.
solutions?
1. can use applications like TrueCrypt. my problem with truecrypt was, that it doesnt allow you to format your disk as HFS+, only FAT (forget about files larger then 2gig), and is kind of complicated and intimidating, unless you name is Mr. Data.
2. my solution - create a sparse disk image, encrypted, with shrink script.
HOW-TO create a SPARSE DISK IMAGE
(this is very very easy to do, just follow the instructions)
1. open DISK UTILTY
2. FILE > NEW > BLANK DISK IMAGE
3. choose where and how the image is saved.
4 choose the size you want. there is an overhead of about 100mb for 100gb, so it is ok to choose very big images. mine is 120gb, but you should experiment with smaller ones before committing.
5. encrypt using 128-bit, or 256-bit if they are after you. you may want to uncheck the keychain box, so you (or the thief) will have to enter the password in order to mount it (this matters only when mounted on your computer, otherwise, password is needed anyway).
6. choose sparse disk image. this means the image, even if defined in size ‘200 gb’, will be just as big as it’s contents, and will expand until it reaches the predefined size.
you are done. mount the image, drag files into it, they are now AES 128-bit encrypted. this works fine for all your needs, video playback, iPhoto (all these naughty pictures are finally safe), itunes and so on. infect, this is exactly what FileVault does behind the scenes.
the is one tiny problem. when you delete files from the image file, it will not shrink. this has something to do with encryption and trash cans, but we dont really care why, we just want to fix this, dont we?
enters THE AUTO-SHRINK
(thanks iShater @ Mac Forums)
Instructions:
1) Download this zip
2) Extract the .workflow file in the archive.
3) Launch Automator from the applications folder.
4) Open the workflow file.
5) Verify the contents (Should always do that before executing someone else's script!) - you will see that it is shelling out to the bash shell and telling it to run the disk utilities application (hdiutil) to compact the file being passed in (compact "$@", where the funny characters refer to the file you select in finder when running the script).
6) In Automator do a Save-As Plug-in
7) Pick a name (same name as the script is OK)
8) Select Finder as the Plug-in type
Once that is done, you can right-click the image file and select Automator->Compact sparse image (or whatever name you chose for the script).
It will then reclaim any space left by deleted files from the sparse image.
This script was courtesy of an article from MacWorld.
Sometimes, its not a bad idea to have backup, and most people realize this when they need the backup.
You only think of your car’s spare tire when you have a flat, and after the first time you get stuck in the
middle of nowhere with a flat spare, it will never happen to you again, and you will always check your
spare before going on a trip.
Backup on OS X is very easy, and you have to be super-lazy or an absolutely careless and free spirited
person. If you are like me, and your Apple is almost an extension of your body (i almost feel naked when i leave the house without my laptop bag), then you dont want to have to resort to...(drum roll) Data Recovery.
This is not a ‘How-to backup’, so i’ll just mention my backup scheme:
1. SuperDuper clone of my internal HD, in a safe.
2. portable media vault (PMV), two partitions, one is encrypted
3. PMV clone at home
4. Capture scratch and FMV (fixed media vault)
why so much? well, hard disks are not reliable, and i do not want my 90 gig itunes library dead, nor my 15 gig iphoto library, so it is backed up (anyone who experienced the ‘external firewire erase’ bug of itunes knows what i am talking about). Capture Scratch is something to do with video editing, so you may disregard the CS+FMV item.
PMV i need because anyway my Internal HD is getting full, and this is why the need for encryption; these small (2.5”, laptop disk) disks are very easy to steal.
(what we came here for)How to encrypt an external USB disk?
as you may or may not know, OS X has a FileVault App, which encrypts your home folder. nice and handy, but wont work for external disks.
solutions?
1. can use applications like TrueCrypt. my problem with truecrypt was, that it doesnt allow you to format your disk as HFS+, only FAT (forget about files larger then 2gig), and is kind of complicated and intimidating, unless you name is Mr. Data.
2. my solution - create a sparse disk image, encrypted, with shrink script.
HOW-TO create a SPARSE DISK IMAGE
(this is very very easy to do, just follow the instructions)
1. open DISK UTILTY
2. FILE > NEW > BLANK DISK IMAGE
3. choose where and how the image is saved.
4 choose the size you want. there is an overhead of about 100mb for 100gb, so it is ok to choose very big images. mine is 120gb, but you should experiment with smaller ones before committing.
5. encrypt using 128-bit, or 256-bit if they are after you. you may want to uncheck the keychain box, so you (or the thief) will have to enter the password in order to mount it (this matters only when mounted on your computer, otherwise, password is needed anyway).
6. choose sparse disk image. this means the image, even if defined in size ‘200 gb’, will be just as big as it’s contents, and will expand until it reaches the predefined size.
you are done. mount the image, drag files into it, they are now AES 128-bit encrypted. this works fine for all your needs, video playback, iPhoto (all these naughty pictures are finally safe), itunes and so on. infect, this is exactly what FileVault does behind the scenes.
the is one tiny problem. when you delete files from the image file, it will not shrink. this has something to do with encryption and trash cans, but we dont really care why, we just want to fix this, dont we?
enters THE AUTO-SHRINK
(thanks iShater @ Mac Forums)
Instructions:
1) Download this zip
2) Extract the .workflow file in the archive.
3) Launch Automator from the applications folder.
4) Open the workflow file.
5) Verify the contents (Should always do that before executing someone else's script!) - you will see that it is shelling out to the bash shell and telling it to run the disk utilities application (hdiutil) to compact the file being passed in (compact "$@", where the funny characters refer to the file you select in finder when running the script).
6) In Automator do a Save-As Plug-in
7) Pick a name (same name as the script is OK)
8) Select Finder as the Plug-in type
Once that is done, you can right-click the image file and select Automator->Compact sparse image (or whatever name you chose for the script).
It will then reclaim any space left by deleted files from the sparse image.
This script was courtesy of an article from MacWorld.
|
Firefox 3 (yay!)
18/06/08 09:39
Ok, I did as instructed,downloaded during the
Guinness record event and installed Firefox 3.
Installation was as easy as expected, and the new Firefox seems faster and looks better, but
thats not what i wanted to talk about.
Firefox had a nasty bug (maybe just my MBP?) that causes it to open as a tiny window that
i had to look forever for, and Firefox would not remember the window size, so every time it
started i had to resize and position it. very annoying.
THE SOLUTION FOR THE NASTY MICRO WINDOW FIREFOX BUG:
(Note - this has worked for me perfectly, please let me know if it does not work for you)
1. Quit Firefox (but not before reading this text, lol...)
2. go to : USERNAME \ LIBRARY \ APPLICATION SUPPORT \ FIREFOX \ PROFILES \ YOUR.PROFILE \
3. locate the file localstore.rdf
4. make sure you quit firefox before doing anything (but fear not, i tried doing this without quitting, and it's OK)
5. rename localstore.rdf as localstore.rdf.bak (or .sav or whatever, this is your localstore backup file for now)
you might have to 'Show Info' on the file (cmd+i) so you can untick the 'hide extension' box, so that you can
change the .rdf to .rdf.bak.
6. launch Firefox. it should be fine now, and you will see a new Localstore.rdf file created in the profile you fixed.
thats it. if you are having trouble, leave a comment and i will try and help.
Installation was as easy as expected, and the new Firefox seems faster and looks better, but
thats not what i wanted to talk about.
Firefox had a nasty bug (maybe just my MBP?) that causes it to open as a tiny window that
i had to look forever for, and Firefox would not remember the window size, so every time it
started i had to resize and position it. very annoying.
THE SOLUTION FOR THE NASTY MICRO WINDOW FIREFOX BUG:
(Note - this has worked for me perfectly, please let me know if it does not work for you)
1. Quit Firefox (but not before reading this text, lol...)
2. go to : USERNAME \ LIBRARY \ APPLICATION SUPPORT \ FIREFOX \ PROFILES \ YOUR.PROFILE \
3. locate the file localstore.rdf
4. make sure you quit firefox before doing anything (but fear not, i tried doing this without quitting, and it's OK)
5. rename localstore.rdf as localstore.rdf.bak (or .sav or whatever, this is your localstore backup file for now)
you might have to 'Show Info' on the file (cmd+i) so you can untick the 'hide extension' box, so that you can
change the .rdf to .rdf.bak.
6. launch Firefox. it should be fine now, and you will see a new Localstore.rdf file created in the profile you fixed.
thats it. if you are having trouble, leave a comment and i will try and help.
Apple's TimePiece
18/05/08 10:36
Apple's TimePiece, a revolutionary new product \
service to be unveiled
next month, sources claim (yes, another apple rumor...fanboys rejoice)
TimePiece, still unknown if 'firmware update' for Time Capsule or sold
separately, will enable users to browse back in time (a La Time Machine),
not only on their local drive, but web pages as well.
the principal is quite simple; backup entire domains, as several companies
already do, using petabyte scale storage pools (in folk-talk, record the
internet on a giant computer) and serve it chronologically. apparently,
apple has been recording the 'net for some years, since 1991 (first browser,web page ever,
NeXt computers).
TimePiece will enable users to check, for example, what happened on
the internet on Sep. 10th, 2001, or Sep 12th... or to see how trends@net
grow.
no details as of yet on the cost, or the business model (will it be like a .mac
account, or pay-by-session? may pay-per-Mb?)
Time will tell..
Technorati Profile
next month, sources claim (yes, another apple rumor...fanboys rejoice)
TimePiece, still unknown if 'firmware update' for Time Capsule or sold
separately, will enable users to browse back in time (a La Time Machine),
not only on their local drive, but web pages as well.
the principal is quite simple; backup entire domains, as several companies
already do, using petabyte scale storage pools (in folk-talk, record the
internet on a giant computer) and serve it chronologically. apparently,
apple has been recording the 'net for some years, since 1991 (first browser,web page ever,
NeXt computers).
TimePiece will enable users to check, for example, what happened on
the internet on Sep. 10th, 2001, or Sep 12th... or to see how trends@net
grow.
no details as of yet on the cost, or the business model (will it be like a .mac
account, or pay-by-session? may pay-per-Mb?)
Time will tell..
Technorati Profile