How to backup a Mac running Tiger?

Solution 1:

You have two main options. Depending on what you want exactly and how much of your current user information/settings you want to migrate.

Manually

This is the method I prefer. i believe that when doing a clean install the point is to get rid of all the extra junk that is just sitting on your computer. To do this you need to manually backup your stuff data. Just go through all your folders and copy the stuff to an external HD. (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public, Sites, Bookmarks, Adress Book, Mail, etc). You leave all your settings/preferences behind. This makes for a real clean install.

Using backup utility

I would suggest using CarbonCopyCloner. It's free and works on Tiger. With this clone your current hard drive and after doing a clean install Lion will ask you if you want to import your stuff from a previous installation and you can select the clone you just made. Keep in mind that this will also copy back all the preferences/settings and junk you might have accumulated. Thus in my perspective defeating the point of a clean install.

Combination

This is probably the best option. Make a clone with CCC and then instead of having Lion automatically bring back your data, do it yourself manually. This way you will have everything saved from the clone and you will be able to bring back only the important data you want and not any overhead.

Solution 2:

Do you need to do incremental backups, or just make one perfect backup, such as for transferring to a new machine?

If you just need to do the full backup, you can use CarbonCopyCloner. That will make a full byte for byte backup (that's even bootable) onto another machine. You can then copy over user files (such as Music, Movies, etc) to the new machine once the upgrade to Lion is complete.

Now, normally I'd suggest using Apple's Migration Wizard, the built in tool to transfer files to a new install. But since you have Tiger, the migration wizard will not work. So your best bet is to copy over files manually. You may want to only copy over user document folders (Music, Movies, etc) and not Applications and ~/Library as it's likely you'll run into some issues going from Tiger to Lion. Install fresh apps, copy user data, and recreate everything else.