{"id":73108,"date":"2018-08-13T09:12:57","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T16:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/?p=73108"},"modified":"2020-11-13T08:27:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T16:27:31","slug":"how-to-verify-your-backups-are-working-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intego.com\/mac-security-blog\/how-to-verify-your-backups-are-working-properly\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Verify Your Backups are Working Properly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

Every\u00a0one of us\u00a0has some type of data we\u00a0can\u2019t afford to lose. Pictures, spreadsheets, emails, financial data or the draft of that novel you\u2019ve been writing\u2014you name it. I’m referring to the data you think of when, for instance, I ask, “What would you hate to lose most if your Mac crashed and burned, right now<\/em>?”<\/p>\n

Of course, by now, if you’ve been an avid reader of The Mac Security Blog, you should know to\u00a0have at least one backup of all your important data at all times (three is better<\/a>), and luckily these days more people are indeed backing\u00a0up their data. Yet something most people\u00a0rarely do, if ever,\u00a0is verify that your backups are working properly.<\/p>\n

When was\u00a0the last time you tested your backups to verify they are actually working?<\/p>\n

Backing up your data is great, but it doesn\u2019t mean a thing if your backup is corrupted or if the drive or disc that holds the backup is damaged. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your backups are in top shape.<\/p>\n

Verify\u00a0the original data and media is in good shape<\/h3>\n

If the original data is damaged or corrupted, the backup will likely be as well. To ensure\u00a0the original data is in the best shape, here are some ways to check both the data and the media it exists on.<\/p>\n

Hard drives (and even solid state drives) go bad eventually. Sometimes this can happen in a few months, other times\u00a0it can take years before an issue manifests. Sudden loss of power, improper shutdowns or botched installations or updates can also damage a drive\u2019s formatting. This is not a hardware type of damage, but it can affect your data.<\/p>\n

A quick way to check the basic health of a drive is by using Disk utility<\/a>, which is built-in to macOS and found\u00a0in the Applications<\/strong> > Utilities<\/strong> folder. Using Disk Utility is pretty straightforward. Select your drive in the left column; the one you want has the same name as your startup disk, in case more than one drive is listed, and then click the \u201cFirst Aid\u201d button.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nClick through the pop-up windows to start the First Aid process and, if all is well, this should be the result:<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nYou can click on the triangle next to \u201cShow Details\u201d to see exactly what went on in the background, if you want. Then click \u201cDone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Disk Utility is absolutely useless when it comes to verifying your drive\u2019s S.M.A.R.T. status<\/a>. By the time Disk Utility informs you about a failing S.M.A.R.T. status (you have to be lucky enough to open Disk Utility; there are no alerts or notifications unless the app is open) your drive is likely already toast.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need a utility that actually interprets the S.M.A.R.T. parameters of a drive properly, so that it can inform you at the very first signs of trouble. This is actually what S.M.A.R.T. is all about!<\/p>\n

SMART Utility by Volitans Software<\/a> is the best tool for the job. It reads out your drive\u2019s S.M.A.R.T. parameters, interprets them and immediately tells you if there is an issue creeping up on you. The utility sits in your menu bar<\/a> and stays out of your way until you need it. I can\u2019t begin to tell you how many drives I was able to save data from before it failed completely thanks to this utility.\u2028 Run SMART Utility to see if the hardware is in good shape, and then move on to the next step.<\/p>\n

With the drive\u2019s formatting and S.M.A.R.T. parameters all checking out, there is one more thing to check: the actual data on the drive. For this, there is only one tool to recommend and that\u2019s DiskWarrior by Alsoft<\/a> (NOTE: <\/strong>As of DiskWarrior 5.2, it does not support APFS formatted drives<\/a>). It checks your files and folders, and also offers to optimize and replace the current file structures. This utility is as close to magic as you\u2019ll ever see; I\u2019ve seen it bring back files that were corrupted, fix the dreaded spinning beach ball, speed up the Mac, and more. Mostly used once a Mac starts experiencing issues, this is also an amazing preventative maintenance utility. I run it once a month or when it tells me a volume is in less-than-great-shape to rebuild my directories, and have been doing so for over a decade.<\/p>\n

With these checks and repairs done, and if everything checked out OK, you at least know if the source data is in good shape. Now it\u2019s time to shift focus to the backups.<\/p>\n

Check the backup settings\u2028<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The backups are made by either the macOS or a 3rd party utility you use, so checking the settings is important to make sure the software responsible for making your backup is configured properly. Things you want to pay attention to here are:<\/p>\n