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Carbon Copy Cloner, Super Duper, Time Machine

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ravinder08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
361
79
Going to be getting my first Mac in the next week or so.
I wanted a good back up system in place from day 1.
I have heard of the back up programs below
Carbon Copy Cloner,
Super Duper,
Time Machine

Can any one tell me which is the best program to use and what the differences are if any.

Rav:)
 
D

davidnssbm

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2009
173
0
I bought super duper because I was told it's one of the best, and at first it was, but it started to not make my drives identical with the smart clone over time. Theres an option to delete/add what's necessary to make the drives identical, and it stopped working. But it works fine on my dads computer and many people love it here.

So I downloaded the FREE carbon copy cloner and its actually FASTER and does what it's told! so I recommend CCC
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,346
12,461
Here's another thumbs up for CarbonCopyCloner. If you need to create a bootable clone that's there for you "in a moment of extreme need", CCC is the thing to get.

If you want a truly bootable second drive, do not, repeat DO NOT, use Time Machine. TM gobbles up disk space with copy after copy after copy after copy after copy of the same files over and over and over and over again (had enough?) until your target disk is full. And worst of all, the backups that TM creates ARE NOT BOOTABLE (shouting intentional). I have read one report after another from folks who have used TM for "backup", and then - in a moment of need - CAN'T access their TM backups.

You WON'T have such problems if you use CCC (or SuperDuper as well).

CCC is the tool you need.
 
R

ravinder08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
361
79
Fishrrman said:
Here's another thumbs up for CarbonCopyCloner. If you need to create a bootable clone that's there for you "in a moment of extreme need", CCC is the thing to get.

If you want a truly bootable second drive, do not, repeat DO NOT, use Time Machine. TM gobbles up disk space with copy after copy after copy after copy after copy of the same files over and over and over and over again (had enough?) until your target disk is full. And worst of all, the backups that TM creates ARE NOT BOOTABLE (shouting intentional). I have read one report after another from folks who have used TM for "backup", and then - in a moment of need - CAN'T access their TM backups.

You WON'T have such problems if you use CCC (or SuperDuper as well).

CCC is the tool you need.
Click to expand...

Thank You guys, really appreciate your helpful advice, I was going to just use Time Machine but will probably use CC now when my brand new 27" i7 Imac arrives!

Thanks

Rav
 
warrena

warrena

macrumors member
Jun 29, 2010
57
0
DFW area
+1 on CCC, I have been using it for years and never had an issue. I typically clone my drive weekly with CCC so I have a bootable drive and also backup with TM as well. I restored once from TM but it took almost all night so having a clone handy for very fast recovery is good. I also run VMware Fusion and do not back that up with TM - consumes too much space. The clone helps me keep my VM's backed up as well.
 
R

ravinder08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
361
79
warrena said:
+1 on CCC, I have been using it for years and never had an issue. I typically clone my drive weekly with CCC so I have a bootable drive and also backup with TM as well. I restored once from TM but it took almost all night so having a clone handy for very fast recovery is good. I also run VMware Fusion and do not back that up with TM - consumes too much space. The clone helps me keep my VM's backed up as well.
Click to expand...

Your using CCC as well as Time Machine.
Could I not use just CCC, to back up everything?

Also should I get a firewire HD to use as the back up drive.

Rav;)
 
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Neil P

macrumors member
Jun 9, 2010
30
0
UK
ravinder08 said:
Your using CCC as well as Time Machine.
Could I not use just CCC, to back up everything?

Also should I get a firewire HD to use as the back up drive.

Rav;)
Click to expand...

You certainly can just use CCC -that's what I do, in fact I find it seems to run faster than Time Machine.

For the backup drive, either Firewire or USB2 HDs should be fine - I've accumulated a few of both over the years :)
 
U

upthespurs

macrumors member
Jun 14, 2010
66
5
Does CCC save your iTunes authorizations too? My ex's movies are still on my computer and I would like to keep them but don't know her password for when my new iMac comes.
 
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FourCandles

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2009
835
0
England
ravinder08 said:
...
Also should I get a firewire HD to use as the back up drive.
Click to expand...

If you have a PowerPC Mac (I'm assuming not as you say you're getting your first Mac soon, but it could be secondhand), then you will need a Firewire external HDD in order for the clone to be bootable. If you are on on Intel Mac, either USB or FW will work.

If your Mac has a FW800 port then data transfer on a FW800 equipped drive should be much faster than via a USB port. If you only have FW400 then the difference is much smaller.
 
R

ravinder08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
361
79
FourCandles said:
If you have a PowerPC Mac (I'm assuming not as you say you're getting your first Mac soon, but it could be secondhand), then you will need a Firewire external HDD in order for the clone to be bootable. If you are on on Intel Mac, either USB or FW will work.

If your Mac has a FW800 port then data transfer on a FW800 equipped drive should be much faster than via a USB port. If you only have FW400 then the difference is much smaller.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be getting the refreshed iMac i7.
I'll connect the back up drive to the firewire 800 port.

Is it better to store all my Music, Phot's and Videos on anther separate external, I have about 500gb worth. Or would you store it all on the iMacs internal HD.

This is going to be my first Mac experience so would like to get off on the right track.

Thanks

Rav:)
 
F

FourCandles

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2009
835
0
England
ravinder08 said:
...
Is it better to store all my Music, Phot's and Videos on anther separate external, I have about 500gb worth. Or would you store it all on the iMacs internal HD.
...
Click to expand...

On an iMac you should be OK with the internal HDD, providing it doesn't get too full (leave 30% free space as a guide).
 
R

ravinder08

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 11, 2010
361
79
FourCandles said:
On an iMac you should be OK with the internal HDD, providing it doesn't get too full (leave 30% free space as a guide).
Click to expand...

With all the Music, Photo's and movies I have I will probably fill the HD 50% straight away.

Many Thanks

Rav:)
 
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