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Backing up my entire HD?

Z

Zim Bargo

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 21, 2004
67
0
London
I've just taken the plunge and upgraded to Tiger, which arrived today along with a new 320G Miglia FW HD for my Powerbook 1.25ghz.

I want to do a clean install of Tiger, but in order to have a safety net - and because I now have the space - was planning to back up my entire HD to the Miglia so I can access it and copy anything I'm missing over if necessary. Do I just click and drag to do this, and how do I then boot into Panther from the Miglia if I have Tiger installed on the PB hard drive.

Thanks for the help - can't wait to get home and hear this thing roar!

Zim
 
I'm in the same boat. I just bought an external FW hard drive and plan on backing up my G5 tower. However, I'm going to wait until 10.4.2 comes out to upgrade (hopefully later this week). I'm now starting to research the best way to back up all my information, passwords, router settings, network settings, mail, etc. My plan is to load everything on the FireWire drive, and wipe the G5, set up 2 partitions (one for system/programs and one for all my work), and install Tiger.

I've considered Carbon Copy Cloner for the initial data transfer, however I've read a number of reports that say it misses files sometimes. That's a chance I can't afford to take. So I'm still looking into options...
 
Hi Black & Tan,

Does that mean it isn't possible to just click & drag to copy the PB HD onto the FW HD, (ie. do I need to get a programme like Carbon Cloner or whichever is best for this).

I was considering holding off on the update for 4.2, but don't see the point - I'll still have to install 4.0 from the disk and then do a do a software update - is there something I'm missing here? Mind you by the time I've backed everything up, there's a good chance 4.2 will already be out.

Also, any particular benefit to partitioning the drive?

Thanks

Zim
 
Partitioning the drive is a good idea (do one that matches your HD size in the PB) so that you can keep stuff on the other partition. Some backup software erases the volume before it starts backing up which makes using the HD as storage too a little tricky. Depending on the size of your external drive, you may want to have 2 back up partitions (so you can rotate your backups) and leave the rest for other stuff. You can do your initial partitions through Disk Utility.

Dragging your HD onto the external drive won't make a bootable backup which is the best option if you ever want to 'restore' it directly to your PB.
SuperDuper will make a bootable backup for you. It's free to do a basic back up or you can pay $20 to have a copy that allows you to do incremental backups plus some other clever features.

You boot from your external drive by connecting the drive (by firewire) and then choosing StartUp Disk in your System Preferences and selecting the backup.

Incidentally, I'd try an Archive & Install before you go the whole hog and do an Erase and Install, particularly if your system is currently running without problems. You'll still end up with clean System files but it makes it much easier to avoid having to re-install applications and re-set your wireless networks, re-organise your mail/iCal/Address Books etc. If you do go with the Clean Install, you can use the Migration Assistant, booting to the external drive rather than another Mac, to pull stuff over automatically.
 
Thanks Applespider! You've gone and thrown a monkey wrench into my backup plans! (Hmmm...what is a monkey wrench, anyway?)

;-)

Two partitions on the FireWire drive isn't a bad idea...it allows you incremental backup for say Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Tuesday/Thursday. That way, if you make a mistake, you can go back to the last backup, or even further.

I''ll look at SuperDuper, that may do the trick. I'm not really worried about being able to boot up from the Firewire drive, I've got Techtool and the emergency edrive, so that should cover problematic booting issues. My overall plan is to partition the G5's hard drive as I'm upgrading to Tiger, so I don't think an Archive & Install will work.

In regards to 10.4.2, my reasoning is to start with a completely clean system. No hacks, or modifications. Then I'll install FontAgent Pro and my fonts and remove the unnecessary OSX fonts (I'm a designer, so I need to avoid the dfonts as much as possible). Finally, I'll install my programs.

Kind of a pain in the neck to do, but I actually enjoy starting anew and organizing my apps and files.
 
Thanks very much for this Applespider, cleared up a lot of stuff.

I'll take a look at SuperDuper, but can you give any more detail on the migration assistant andhow to use it - haven't come across that, is it something in Disk Utility or that come with SuperDuper?

Zim
 
Zim Bargo said:
I'll take a look at SuperDuper, but can you give any more detail on the migration assistant andhow to use it - haven't come across that, is it something in Disk Utility or that come with SuperDuper?
Click to expand...

It appears when you set up a Mac from scratch as part of the 'Welcome' as you set it up. Or, if you miss it, you can run it later from the Applications > Utilities Folder. It brings over your settings/applications/files for you and, by all accounts, is pretty good.
 
I have a 100GB portable HD which i use with my PB. I split the HD in two both 50GB big, i use one to do a backup using SuperDuper and the other 50GB as a normal external HD. I recommend SuperDuper because its very easy to use and has always worked for me without any problems.

I also use SuperDuper with my G5 and i backup my HD which sometimes gets a big as 400GB without any problems.
 
hi was wondering about the miglia 320gb hard drive.

is it faster than all the rest????? i mean lacie or maxtor??

tell me how you find it in day to day use and speed?

ordered mine in the delivery van tomorrow i think.
 
Be VERY careful with external hard drives, i have had 2 in the past, both buggered up (I think due to overheating) and took a lot of extremely important data with them. Thankyou very much maxtor.
 
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