Best Free App For Cloning My HD?

[FadeToBlack]

Hey guys,

I'm gonna have to send my MacBook Pro in soon to get the battery replaced and I wanna make an exact copy of my HD, so that I'll just be able to pick up where I left off without having to re-install apps, etc. and I'm wondering what the best free app is for cloning my HD? I know of a few, but I just wanna know which one you guys recommend. I would prefer it to be as easy as possible, too. I'm lazy.

Thanks in advance.

-Sean

 

[Hellhammer]

Carbon Copy Cloner
SuperDuper!

 

[dukebound85]

i like ccc

works awesome for me

 

[TheEightball]

Best Free App For Cloning My HD?

One of the best app is already in your computer.
Diskutility in utility folder.
Start app
Select origin volume
click restore tab
drag & drop source volume onto source field
drag & drop destination volume onto destination field
click restore button
confirm
wait
That's it!

 

[FadeToBlack]

Thanks for the all the suggestions, guys.

 

[MacDawg]

Another vote for Carbon Copy Cloner and its scheduler
Been using it for years and it has saved me several times

 

[-tWv-]

Another vote for carbon copy cloner

 

[GadgetGeek71]

Ccc

 

[FadeToBlack]

I have a question. When buying an external HD for said backup, would buying the size of my current HD be fine (320GB) or should I buy something with more space...say 500GB?

 

[Makosuke]

Given that you'll still have the drive after your initial purpose is served, and the tiny difference between a 320GB and 500GB drive, it seems like a waste not to get something larger. You can always use it as a TimeMachine backup once the repairs are finished, in which case the extra space will eventually come in handy for older versions. Heck, in some cases the larger drive might be exactly the same price (I put a 500GB drive in my MBP for almost exactly the price of a 320GB, and if you go up to desktop-sized externals, you can get 1TB or more for the same price.)

An aside, for basic "I want Drive A to be exactly the same as Drive B" stuff, CCC is hard to beat. Other cloners offer more features, but that's the one I always come back to for migrations at work.

 

[FadeToBlack]

Given that you'll still have the drive after your initial purpose is served, and the tiny difference between a 320GB and 500GB drive, it seems like a waste not to get something larger. You can always use it as a TimeMachine backup once the repairs are finished, in which case the extra space will eventually come in handy for older versions. Heck, in some cases the larger drive might be exactly the same price (I put a 500GB drive in my MBP for almost exactly the price of a 320GB, and if you go up to desktop-sized externals, you can get 1TB or more for the same price.)

An aside, for basic "I want Drive A to be exactly the same as Drive B" stuff, CCC is hard to beat. Other cloners offer more features, but that's the one I always come back to for migrations at work.

Awesome. Thanks for the reply. Gonna go ahead and get the 500GB.