MSAD # 54 Elementary Schools
 

K-6 Technology Integration
Backups

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If you're an elementary staffer who received one of the Mac laptops this year, you should know that any documents you create on it are not automatically backed up, and thus are at risk if your computer goes belly-up for any reason. If you have documents you want to back up for safe-keeping, here's the process you should follow. Note that in order for this to work, you must be at school - you can't do it from home. I'd recommend that you read through these instruction in their entirety to get an overview of the process before you actually attempt it.
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Step 1

While you are in the Finder, choose "Connect to Server..." from the Go menu at the top of the screen.

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Step 2

Enter the Server Address for your school exactly as it appears in the list below:

Bloomfield - s8
Canaan - 10.7.1.3
Cornville - 10.3.1.3
MCSS - 10.9.1.3
Mercer - 10.5.1.3
NCGS - 10.6.1.3
North Elem - 10.8.1.3
Smithfield - 10.4.1.3
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Step 3

Click "Connect."

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Step 4

Enter your name and password, then click "Connect."

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Step 5

Bloomfield staff will see only "Staff" in this window. All other users will see a number of options, and should select "userdocs" from the list. You may need to scroll down to find it.

Step 6

Click "OK."

An icon like this userdocs should then appear on your desktop, and a window will open to display the folders of everyone who uses that server. Don't worry! They're all password-protected. Yours is the only one you'll be able to get into.

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Step 7

The icons may look a little different from what I've shown here (they may be in an alphabetized list, or in columns) but the process itself is exactly the same: scroll through the folders until you locate your own, then open it.

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Step 8

Locate your Documents folder and open that. Bloomfield staff note: Make sure you use the "Documents" folder and not the "My Documents" folder if you see one there.

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Step 9

Create a folder for your backups by choosing "New Folder" from the File menu.

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Step 10

Name the new folder "06-07 Backups," or something similarly helpful.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT use slashes in your folder names (or in ANY file names, for that matter). Spaces are OK, as are periods (also called "dots") and underscores.

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Step 11

Drag your laptop's "Documents" folder into the backup folder you just created. If you like, you can create additional folders (inside the backup folder) to better organize your stuff. Make sure to include any stray files you have lingering on your desktop or anyplace else. The bottom line is that everything you want to back up gets dragged to the backup folder. This process creates copies of your files on the server, and leaves the originals on your laptop. This may take some time, so be patient.

 

Important Note:

Make sure you back up ONLY things that are in your laptop's Documents folder, and things that YOU have created. You don't need to back up the Library or any other items from your Home folder. If you have movies or photos you want to backup, contact Dan first to make sure we have sufficient capacity on the servers.

And finally...

Drag the Userdocs icon user1 to the trash. As you do so, you'll notice the trash can transform into user2 a horizontal line with a triangle over it. This is actually the "Eject" icon, and means only that you are disconnecting your laptop from the server - nothing is actually thrown away.