I don't know if an iBook is classified as vintage. My first mac was the LC.

I've dug out my white iBook because I needed to rescue some old files backed up on CDs and it turned out the iBook is still working and it has a slot. The battery seems to be cactus, but I've successfully used it to transfer over what I wanted from the CDs to an external hard drive.

I've often toyed with the idea of seeing if any of my old macs still worked and I could perhaps use the Adobe software on them. Happily, this iBook has InDesign 2 and Illustrator 10, although sadly, no Photoshop.

Before I start experimenting, I figured I should back up my iBook to preserve these precious applications – I doubt I could lay my hands on original discs or my registration details. I've owned them outright since Photoshop and Illustrator were unnumbered. I don't recall if Adobe numbered the original InDesign, but I swapped over from Quark as soon as it came out too. I've invested a lot of money over the years and I resent that I now have to pay piecemeal if I want to use Adobe products. I went bush for 15 years and when I came back to civilisation, the world as I knew it had changed. Modern system software is too sophisticated for old Adobe software.

How do I back up an iBook G4? I use Time Machine on my current macs. I have no recollection of backing up the whole system of this one. I think I used to back up my work and reinstall the applications if necessary.

I'd appreciate some advice.