Disk Image for External HD Back Up?

[sage1]

I don't have a HD back-up yet, it's on the short list of things to do. Using a G5 running 10.4.6 so TM isn't an option. Going to be buying a new imac soon so I want to back up the old one before doing a transfer.

Hoping someone can shed some light on this for me... In disk utility you can make a disk image of your HD. Why not do this and set the destination for the new external HD? Would the disadvantage to a disk image be that it's a non updatable copy? Would this method be good when doing a back-up of an old machine before transferring to a new imac?

A lot of questions, thank you in advance. S1

 

[rkaufmann87]

I don't have a HD back-up yet, it's on the short list of things to do. Using a G5 running 10.4.6 so TM isn't an option. Going to be buying a new imac soon so I want to back up the old one before doing a transfer.

Hoping someone can shed some light on this for me... In disk utility you can make a disk image of your HD. Why not do this and set the destination for the new external HD? Would the disadvantage to a disk image be that it's a non updatable copy? Would this method be good when doing a back-up of an old machine before transferring to a new imac?

A lot of questions, thank you in advance. S1

You will want to create a Bootable Clone using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.

When you get the new iMac the first time you turn it on it will run Setup Assistant part of the setup is asking if you are migrating from another Mac. In your case choose yes, then follow the on-screen instructions. You can migrate your data, settings, & apps either from the old Mac or Bootable Clone (recommended). Prior to turning on the new machine make sure you have the correct cable to connect either the Clone or G5 to the iMac. DO NOT repeat DO NOT do a Wi-Fi migration, use either a Ethernet, FireWire or USB connection. Here are is an outline of how to use Setup Assistant, read it carefully!!!!

http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupLion.html

In your case I would NOT recommend migrating apps. I would do fresh installs of all your apps. Also you may have many apps that won't run on Lion. Lion will not run PPC based apps. You can easily tell what apps that are on your G5 by running System Profiler, click Applications in the left pane and then look in the Kind column. The type of apps that will run on Lion are Intel & Universal. Any PPC apps will NOT work so you need to upgrade these or replace them with more up-to-date apps.