Carbon Copy Cloner Question -- Permission?

[Amnesiac1]

Hello,

Context: replacing my HD, backing up old HD.

Due to my Time Machine issues, I have downloaded Carbon Copy Cloner. So far, it has been working great. I'm only about twenty minutes in and it has already cloned 5.52 GB. Plus, it tells you what files it is cloning. Fantastic. So much better than Time Machine!

However, I have two questions:

1. Before I started the disk-to-disk clone process, CCC told me that the transfer would be "bootable". What does this mean?

2. When I open my Segate HD (i.e., the 1 TB external HD that the clone is being copied onto), I notice a lot of the files from my HD are already in there and transferred. For instance, Network, Developer, dev, Resources, etc. However, they all have RED SIGNS in front of them. A red circular sign with a horizontal white line in the center. It says I don't have permission to open these files.

Given that my HD is going to be replaced and I need to access those files, is this going to be a problem? Or do I only not have permission to access them now (as in, while the transfer is still operating). In other words, once the transfer is done, will I be able to load my files onto my newly installed HD?

 

[GGJstudios]

However, I have two questions:

1. Before I started the disk-to-disk clone process, CCC told me that the transfer would be "bootable". What does this mean?

It means that once the cloning is done, you can swap the internal drive in your Mac with the external drive and boot from the cloned drive. This is one thing that CCC does that TM can't.

2. When I open my Segate HD (i.e., the 1 TB external HD that the clone is being copied onto), I notice a lot of the files from my HD are already in there and transferred. For instance, Network, Developer, dev, Resources, etc. However, they all have RED SIGNS in front of them. A red circular sign with a horizontal white line in the center. It says I don't have permission to open these files.

Given that my HD is going to be replaced and I need to access those files, is this going to be a problem? Or do I only not have permission to access them now (as in, while the transfer is still operating). In other words, once the transfer is done, will I be able to load my files onto my newly installed HD?

When you clone the drive, you're cloning everything on it, including other users' files, system files, etc. You don't automatically have access to all those files, so you may need to enter your admin password when accessing some folders/files. If you're booting from that cloned drive, you won't see any changes in permissions from what you currently have.

 

[Amnesiac1]

It means that once the cloning is done, you can swap the internal drive in your Mac with the external drive and boot from the cloned drive. This is one thing that CCC does that TM can't.

When you clone the drive, you're cloning everything on it, including other users' files, system files, etc. You don't automatically have access to all those files, so you may need to enter your admin password when accessing some folders/files. If you're booting from that cloned drive, you won't see any changes in permissions from what you currently have.

Thank you!

But, wait, when I get my new internal HD, and if I boot from the external drive... can I successfully (without any permission hang ups) transfer my files over to my new internal HD? I don't want to have to always run my computer off of an external HD... I just want the option to take the clone and access it via my new internal HD and basically have everything I had on my old HD on my newly installed internal HD.

Also, if I stop the CCC process, will it pick up where it left off next time?

 

[GGJstudios]

But, wait, when I get my new internal HD, and if I boot from the external drive... can I successfully (without any permission hang ups) transfer my files over to my new internal HD? I don't want to have to always run my computer off of an external HD... I just want the option to take the clone and access it via my new internal HD and basically have everything I had on my old HD on my newly installed internal HD.

No, I'm not talking about running from your external drive. After you clone your internal on the external, you can, if you choose, put the external drive in your Mac to replace the internal. If you're buying a new internal drive, it's easy to put the new drive in an external enclosure and run CCC to clone your internal drive to the new drive. Then, take the new drive out of the enclosure and install it in your Mac and boot up. Done!

Also, if I stop the CCC process, will it pick up where it left off next time?

Don't stop the cloning process once it starts. It doesn't take that long. It only takes me about 5-7 minutes to clone a 200GB drive with CCC. How is your external drive connected? USB, Firewire 400, or Firewire 800?

 

[greytmom]

I'm only about twenty minutes in and it has already cloned .52 GB.

It's been a long time since I made a clone, but isn't this kind of slow?

 

[Amnesiac1]

It's been a long time since I made a clone, but isn't this kind of slow?

I meant to put 5.52 GB, not .52 GB.

If it's slow, it's at least faster than the glacial pace of TM.

GGJstudios, thanks again. I'm connected via USB. CCC is currently copying my iWeb Applications folder and keeps slowing down on the .nib and .plist files... I'm around 6.15 GB now, after about an hour and ten minutes. The transfer speeds seem to fluctuate, though.

I'm copying about 100 GB, BTW.

 

[Amnesiac1]

NIt only takes me about 5-7 minutes to clone a 200GB drive with CCC.

Wow. Yeah, my transfer is slow then. I'm running off of a 5400rpm HD with only 2GB of RAM, though... on top of that, I gather that USB 2.0 isn't that fast.

 

[GGJstudios]

I meant to put 5.52 GB, not .52 GB.
If it's slow, it's at least faster than the glacial pace of TM.
GGJstudios, thanks again. I'm connected via USB. CCC is currently copying my iWeb Applications folder and keeps slowing down on the .nib and .plist files... I'm around 6.15 GB now, after about an hour and ten minutes. The transfer speeds seem to fluctuate, though.

I'm copying about 100 GB, BTW.

Wow. Yeah, my transfer is slow then. I'm running off of a 5400rpm HD with only 2GB of RAM, though... on top of that, I gather that USB 2.0 isn't that fast.

That still seems unusually slow, even with USB, your drive speed and your RAM. Something's not right. It shouldn't take even an hour to clone your whole drive. I'd consider stopping it and starting over, making sure you have the proper settings. Did you format the drive as HFS+ before you started the cloning?

 

[Amnesiac1]

That still seems unusually slow, even with USB, your drive speed and your RAM. Something's not right. It shouldn't take even an hour to clone your whole drive. I'd consider stopping it and starting over, making sure you have the proper settings. Did you format the drive as HFS+ before you started the cloning?

Thanks for the tip, but it's going super fast now. About a GB a minute. At this rate, it should be done in about an hour.