(Revised May 2008)

Smart folders are special folders that contain links to files rather than actually containing files. The file links contained in a Smart folder are determined by criteria you set either from a Spotlight search or by defining criteria manually. Unlike the contents of regular folders that changes only when you add or remove files from the folder, the links in a Smart folder change dynamically, according to the criteria set for the folder.

Burn folders are also special folders, and, like Smart folders, they only contain links to files. However, when you choose to burn the contents of the folder, the actual files are copied and burned to your CD or DVD.

In this short tutorial, I'll show you how to use a Smart folder in conjunction with a Burn folder to create archival disks of all new data and applications on your drive.

We are going to create two folders - a Smart folder and a Burn folder - and we'll place them in the Finder Sidebar. We'll name both folders "Backup Files," but the extensions will differ (.savedSearch for the Smart folder and .fpbf for the Burn folder).

Smart Folder

1. Select "New Smart Folder" from the Finder File menu. A pane will open and you can start setting criteria for your Smart folder by clicking the Kind button. In Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), you need to first click the plus symbol at the right end of the Search Bar. A drop-down menu will appear with several options, including Kind and Name. For our example, we will select Last Modified (Last modified date in Mac OS X 10.5).

2. Click the button to the right of the first button and select Today from the drop-down menu.

3. We don't need a second row of criteria, so click the minus symbol at the end of the second row (for Mac OS X 10.4 only).

4. Click the Save button in the top right corner of the window. Save the Smart folder as "Backup Files" and make certain the box in front of "Add to Sidebar" is checked.

Burn Folder

5. Select your hard drive in the Sidebar, and then select "New Burn Folder" from the File menu.

6. Drag the Burn folder that is created to the Sidebar. Rename the folder "Backup Files".

Smart Folder to Burn Folder to Disk

7. Select the Smart folder and drag the items in it that you want to back up to the Burn folder. Click the Burn button next to the Burn folder to burn the contents to a CD or DVD.

Set an alarm in iCal to remind you to back up the Smart folder every night (I set mine for 11:45 PM). If you use AppleScript and Automator, you can create an application to do the backup for you.

Now that you know how to create Smart folders and Burn folders, I'm sure you'll find many new ways to use them effectively.

Learn more about Smart folders and Burn folders with our Introduction to Leopard - Book 1.

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