Need help with Carbon Copy Cloner

If you have installed it properly (downloaded the DMG, mounted the DMG and dragged CCC to the Applications folder and unmounted the DMG) then you should have CCC in your Applications folder and the DMG in your Downloads folder.

To see if it the clone is bootable, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk*, the clone should be listed there, if it is connected to your Mac.

If the clone is listed there, restart your Mac, press the OPTION key after the startup chime and select the clone to boot from to verify if everything is there.

Is that understandable?

kapalua12 said:

but it does not seem to have installed in Applications. It's still in Downloads.

Click to expand...

The dmg will stay in the download folder, just be sure the app is in the application folder and remove it from downloads

CCC has nothing to do with booting your mac, it just clones your drives

kapalua12 said:

my CCC Clone IS listed in my Startup file BUT CCC is not in Applications. When I use Spotlight to find CCC it opens a window which says "Registration". I see CCC in Downloads and an icon for the partition for CCC Backups is on my desktop.

How do I get CCC to my Applications folder without destroying the backup I already made or to make updates to that CCC backup? Do I just drag the download from downloads to Applications. I did have to enter my iMac system master PW to allow CCC to make the initial backup copy.

Thanks so much!

Click to expand...

You install it properly: Installing Applications in Mac OS X

It will not damage any clone you already made, you just have not installed it properly. Why? Only you know.


Since I haven't installed CCC in a while, I checked again, and as you only download a ZIP file, the ZIP file becomes automatically extracted (unless you changed Safari's behaviour in its Preferences > General > Open "safe" files ...) and you get the actual app file.
That app file can and should be dragged to the Applications folder.

I do not understand the rest though (icon for the partition for CCC Backups and registration window).

kapalua12 said:

Since there is no mounted image of CCC on my desktop, if I just double click on the CCC download again to reinstall, will that correct the issue or will I end up with 2 copies of Trial Version CCC on my system?

Click to expand...

See my edited post above yours. No need to download again.

Just out of curiosity, you have installed applications coming in ZIP form before?

kapalua12 said:

Thanks!

That worked. I was referring to the icons on the desktop indicating the various partitions on the external hard drive showing on the desktop that I used to install CCC.

Is there a way to have those external hard drive partitions icons not show on the desktop since I can see them in Finder anyways?

Click to expand...

MenuBar>Finder>Preferences>General

"Program ran great, but it does not seem to have installed in Applications. It's still in Downloads."

Just "grab" it with the mouse and "drop it" into the applications folder.
Problem solved.

"If so, how can I access the backup I made to a Thunderbolt drive and "verify" the image? How do I test it's ability to boot the iMac?"

As another poster mentioned, you can use "startup disk" to specify which drive to boot from.

But there's also another way -- through the "startup manger". Here's how to use it.

1. Have Thunderbolt drive with your cloned backup connected and powered up - the drive icon should be on the desktop.
2. RESTART the Mac
3. As soon as you hear the startup sound, hold down the option key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN
4. In a few moments, the startup manager should appear
5. IF the Thunderbolt-connected drive is bootable, you should see an icon for it in the startup manager (along with the icon for your internal drive)
6. Click on the icon for the Thunderbolt drive to select it, then hit return.
7. If things are working properly, the Mac should now boot from the Thunderbolt drive (instead of from the internal).

IMPORTANT:
When you get to the finder, the Thunderbolt drive is going to look JUST LIKE THE INTERNAL, insofar as what you see on the desktop is concerned. After all, it's a "clone" -- it's supposed to be an exact copy of the original.
You can verify that you're booted from the Thunderbolt drive by choosing "About this Mac" right under the Apple menu -- it will indicate from what drive it's booted.

Another question you asked:
"Is there a way to have those external hard drive partitions icons not show on the desktop since I can see them in Finder anyways?"

You WANT to be able to see the icons for the two drives "on the desktop". (At least I do.)
You want to "know that they're there, and "mounted up" in front of you.
The fact that the Thunderbolt drive IS NOT there -- should tell you it isn't mounted. So you want to be able to know when it is.
I normally keep -7- drive icons mounted on my desktop, any one available at all times...

I have a question in regards to CCC.

When initially opening CCC, it looks like it wants to create a clone of the HD on my iMac. If I do a clone (which would be bootable provided something happened), can I still do incremental backups to the same clone?

I'm wanting everything on the computer backed up to an extra 1TB external I have and I want to schedule any changes I've made to be backed up every few days or so. The backup files wouldn't be large but they're important.

So the question in an easy form; can I add incremental backups to a backup clone?

Weaselboy said:

Yes. What it does is still makes the clone, then also makes a subfolder off the root backup that is dated and contains all the files that would have been overwritten had you not turned on the incremental option.

So if you do a clone on May 1 then delete a file on May 2, and do a clone with incremental turned on May 3.... you will find a folder on the clone drive dated May 3 containing the file you deleted May 2. So you now have a clone from May 3 with any deletions since the May 1 clone in a folder dated May 3 off the root.

Click to expand...

Thanks! That's exactly what I'm wanting to do. I have multiple backups but no clones of the OS or system files. I rarely delete files but the important family / work files aren't backed up on a regular basis so the incremental backups on top of the clone will save me a lot of time.

Thanks again, Weaselboy.