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Booting from an external drive

gadgetdad

gadgetdad

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Is this possible in a macbook pro? Reason is I have a pretty new 320 g HD that I plan to install but I want to format, and Time Machine backup prior to installing my new HD. I want to make sure it works prior to me swapping out my drives.

Tips?
 
Yes, it's possible.

Rather than Time Machine, clone the drive in the MBP with Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (you have to pay to get scheduling with SuperDuper, but manual cloning is available with the free download).

Boot to the new drive first to check that it works, then all you have to do is swap the drives.

I did that before I changed my iMac hard drive.

You'll need a laptop drive enclosure or something like this adapter.
 
plinden said:
Yes, it's possible.

Rather than Time Machine, clone the drive in the MBP with Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper (you have to pay to get scheduling with SuperDuper, but manual cloning is available with the free download).

Boot to the new drive first to check that it works, then all you have to do is swap the drives.

I did that before I changed my iMac hard drive.

You'll need a laptop drive enclosure or something like this adapter.
Click to expand...

Iam ordering an enclosure off ebay. So why do you recommend Carbon Copy Cloner in lieu of Time Machine?
 
I think using both is a great way to protect yourself. I have Super Duper to make my clone--but don't always make fresh backups very often. So for the most up-to-date files, I have Time Machine!
 
Well I couldnt wait for my enclosure to arrive so I bit the bullet. I installed the new drive, booted from my leopard disk and restored via time machine.

The only scary part was messing with those sticky wires on the hard drive. Tring to pull them off without breaking my $2000.00 baby.😱

Took Time machine 1 hour to restore, and now its perfect. 😀
 
gadgetdad said:
Correct. But you can restore from it using the system disks.
Click to expand...

The reason that I mentiontioned that they have different functions is that I have the habit of making two backups: 1 Time machine, and one SD (super duper) on a partitioned external. This way, if I need to restore a file I accidentally deleted from 2 weeks ago, I look through TM. However, if I have a HDD crash (twice so far) and I don't have time to waste a weekend at the apple store getting it fixed, I boot up my cloned external and continue to work from there. In my opinion using both is best for different reasons.

Now, if TM had a bootable option it'd be the only one that I used.
 
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