Cloning drives

Farabomb · March 31, 2016, 08:25:01 AM

I have my old HDD as a backup in case the SSD fails. I want to clone the HDD from the SSD to have a updated backup. Do I (should I?) format the HDD before cloning or just leave it as is?

Also, what's the better option, Apple disk utility or CCC? I'd think disk utility but apple has fooled me in the past.

andyfest · March 31, 2016, 08:45:19 AM

I usually keep Time Machine running in the background to an external, and always have a CCC back-up on an external just in case.

Farabomb · March 31, 2016, 08:50:03 AM

Well, I'm cloning the SSD to the HDD as I type with disk utility. I have TM on an external but since I have the old drive still attached to the chassis I just swap them in and out as a backup drive.

I should mention this is a Mac pro so opening it up and swapping drives is a simple process. I'm sure on the newer iMacs and the new trashcan pro it's not so simple to swap hardware.

Joe · March 31, 2016, 09:05:15 AM

I didn't think you could do a (useable) clone with Disk Utility while booted into the system. I thinkI've tried it before and it didn't work correctly. Time Machine would work though. Not sure if you can boot off of a time machine backup though. Also there is still an old version of CCC that is free but the newer versions are not.

Possum · March 31, 2016, 09:16:39 AM

From what I've read, Time Machine backups are not bootable. They are just for restoration purposes. CCC would do better. You can also make a bootable startup on a USB stick still, no? For when all else fails.

King · March 31, 2016, 09:25:51 AM

I use Get Backup Pro by BeLight Software Company. Its not as feature rich as CCC but it gets the job done for half the cost of CCC. I haven't had any issues booting from and working off of a system clone.

Farabomb · March 31, 2016, 09:52:05 AM

Welp, I'll let you know in another 20 minutes.

I'm going through boxes of old stuff, anyone need a 3com palm sync cradle?

andyfest · March 31, 2016, 01:28:45 PM

Quote from: Possum on March 31, 2016, 09:16:39 AMFrom what I've read, Time Machine backups are not bootable. They are just for restoration purposes. CCC would do better. You can also make a bootable startup on a USB stick still, no? For when all else fails.

You would want to have a boot stick to start up from and then use the "Restore from Time Machine back-up" option. I'm not sure how that would work in 10.6.8, but it works well in 10.8 and up. There are tutorials on how to make a good boot USB stick. I think back when I was using 10.6.8 we would use a Mac as the "master", have an external with the CCC clone, and target disc the machine we wanted to write to, then source from external > target drive.

Farabomb · April 01, 2016, 07:32:06 AM

Or just do what I did. Put another drive in, in my case the old 250g HHD that the computer shipped with all those years ago, use disk utility and make an exact clone of your system drive. No waiting for a TM backup, just pull out the old drive and slap in the backup. I believe it works with external drives as well. Took about 2 hours to clone a 250g drive.

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Cloning drives