Apple released MacOS High Sierra to the world and it’s time to upgrade our Macs. In this video I explain how to make sure your Macbook, Macbook Pro, iMac, Macbook Air or Mac Pro is backed up before you perform the upgrade to MacOS High Sierra.
Before you upgrade, consider that there might not be full support for all of your hardware and software. In the past this was more of a problem, but more recently I have found it to be less of a concern. It’s definitely a good reason to have a recent backup through Apple’s integrated Time Machine feature. You should always have a recent Time Machine backup before you intend to upgrade to a new OS.
Time Machine Backup
Some of you may already have it setup to do automated backups and will have a recent backup available. To setup a backup drive do the following:
Plug in an external hard drive and it will show up on your desktop.
Open System Preferences.
Select Time Machine. 
If you have a disk already selected, you can still add additional disks for backup.
You’ll want to make sure the disk you recently plugged in has enough space for what the backup will require. You can find the space required for the backup by opening Finder and selecting the name of your computer. Select your hard drive and hit Command + i.
The disk’s information panel will show you how much space is used by your current installation of MacOS. You will need to use a backup drive with more space available than what your current MacOS installation is occupying. 
After you confirm that your backup drive has enough space, assign it as the Disk to use with Time Machine. Time Machine may ask if you want to use the drive as a Secondary Backup to your Current Backup, unless you don’t already have a current backup in place. 
Adding a Drive or Partition to Time Machine will prompt you to erase the drive and complete a Format. If you have files on the drive that you don’t want to lose, I recommend using a different drive or moving your files to a different Drive. 
If you are a more advanced user, you can look into something called Partitioning. This allows your drive to be utilized both for storage and for backup by separating the storage of your single drive into multiple distinct drives that you can utilize independently of each other.
After the drive is done formatting, perform the backup process. Future instances of backup will be much faster, since it will only need to update the changes you have made since your previous backup. You can also check if you’re currently backing up with Time Machine by selecting the option to have the Time Machine icon displayed in your Menu Bar.
When your Mac is backing up with Time Machine, you will see the Time Machine icon spinning. From this icon’s drop down menu, you can also force your Mac to create a back up immediately, by selecting Back Up Now. 
Installing MacOS:
In the App Store, search for MacOS High Sierra, or whatever is the name of the latest MacOS. 
Download the appropriate MacOS from the App Store. Once it has loaded, you will see an Install screen. Click Continue to start the installation. 
Click Agree for the prompt that follows. 
Select your Target Disk and press Install. Enter your password and the installation process will begin. 
Depending on the speed of your computer and the speed of the disk where you are installing MacOS, the time to install can take a while. It may take fifteen minutes or it may take an hour. Prepare to be patient as your experience may vary. Before you begin the installation, ensure you are able to remain Connected to Power for the duration of the process.
If you run into any complications during the process, such as a blank screen, don’t freak out. Simply power cycle your Mac by holding down the Power button for ten seconds. Wait a few more seconds and turn your Mac back on. The process will resume where it left off.
After the installation process completes, Login into your Mac and Sign In with your Apple ID.
Accept the Terms and Conditions and it will finish the setup process in the next few moments.
You will be prompted to enable Siri. You can now access Siri within the dock and can also find her in the upper right hand corner. 
If you press Command + Space, you will bring up Spotlight Search, but if you HOLD DOWN Command + Space, you can simply ask Siri a question. The fans will pause to ensure clarity as she listens for your voice.
After you’ve confirmed that your hardware and software are working properly with the new MacOS, perform another Time Machine Back Up. If you find that there are functionality issues with the new installation, you may want to use the back up previously created to return to the previous MacOS installation.
Here are some excellent Back Up Drive recommendations for use with Time Machine:
1TB Samsung T3 on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bKocSd
500GB Samsung T3 on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bzA0dV
250GB Samsung T3 on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bzzLQ6
