Best way to backup a 500GB G5?

[Converted2Truth]

How can you achieve a TRUE backup?

Okay, i've had this question for a long time. Assume the following senario:

You turn on your computer and you get that oldschool mac icon blinking on your monitor. You are out of options, your hard drive has been fried. You go buy a new one, install it, and are now ready to use you're nifty backup tapes/harddrives/whateverYouUseToBackUp.

I have found no software that will allow you to completely back up an image of your harddrive, create a bootable CD in which to restore that backup, and have it work. From what i've found, there's only crappy software that requires you to re-install the OS etc...

Is there a piece of software that will allow you to create an EXACT image of your hard drive, create a bootable CD in which to restore that said backup, and then bingo! you're good to go? Oh, and it's gotta be cheap.. I am a college student.

Should this be in another thread? Please respond?! This is one of my biggest problems with OSX...

 

[FuzzyBallz]

You don't really think he's gonna get it do you? Use 250GB as main HD, and the other as backup HD. Or just back it up on DVDs.

 

[stoid]

Is there a piece of software that will allow you to create an EXACT image of your hard drive, create a bootable CD in which to restore that said backup, and then bingo! you're good to go? Oh, and it's gotta be cheap.. I am a college student.

Create a disk image of your HD, using Disk Utility, or whatever, and store that on your external HD. Boot off of a Mac OS X system CD, plug in the external HD and launch Disk Utility off of the CD. Use Disk Utility to load the disk image back onto your HD.

 

[Mord]

http://www.barefeats.com/swift.html

i'g get a pair of hitachi 400GB HD's to raid them to a 800GB super disk, and a 500GB raid back up disk. use the 800 to use and the 500 to back up with.

 

[rob118]

i use /dev/null

 

[link92]

The LaCie Bigger Disk Extreme it be...

 

[Diatribe]

I think it's always best to have multiple backups in case. This is what I do:
I back up all of my stuff besides music, pics and videos to my idisk daily. Once a week I backup everything incl. music, pics and videos to my 250GB LaCie at home and every month I back up everything to an ext. HD at another site.
Since my biggest fear is losing my notebook AND my external HD I do the idisk, offsite backup thing. So even IF I lose both, the only data I lose is <4 weeks old and solely consists of music, videos and pics.
And even though all of my REALLY important data is on the iDisk I would seriously kick myself all the way around the world if I would lose all of my pics or music to a fire or a burgler.
But that's for each and everyone to decide. I for one wouldn't want to live without that extra security, it keeps me free from worries.