[berberman]

Hello, i have some very basic questions about using a backing up program.

I used to copy paste all my Macbook pro's documents, music and photos to my external hardrive manually. I would like to use a backup program such as SD and hence would like to know the following before doing so:

-how it's different from doing it the manual way (copying and pasting)
-if it does save the applications and programs
- and finally to what extent it restores your data: does it restore your files only or does it restore the exact way you had for example your screensaver set, your wallpaper, your documents layed out on the desktop, and the programs on the dock. (is that what we call a disk image?)

Thanks for the answers.