HD cloning software

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kenglade

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 20, 2008
278
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The original HD in my iMac G5 running Leopard is getting very full. I want to replace it with a Seagate 3.5 1T drive. The documentation for the Seagate said it came complete with a software program called Disk Wizard that would clone the HD and make replacement a snap. The fine print, however, says DW is not Mac compatible. Can anyone suggest a suitable software program which i can use to clone my old drive?

I use Time Machine on an external drive but I'm not sure it has everything I need.
 

r.j.s

r.j.s

Moderator emeritus
Mar 7, 2007
15,026
35
Texas
You can use CCC as recommended above, but if you are using Time Machine, it will have everything you need. Unless you are excluding things from the TM backup.
 
K

kenglade

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 20, 2008
278
1
r.j.s said:
You can use CCC as recommended above, but if you are using Time Machine, it will have everything you need. Unless you are excluding things from the TM backup.
Click to expand...
I think Time Machine has everything except my pix files which I store on a separate external HD. I'm not sure, though, where some things like Gmail and Yahoo are kept so I could copy them to a CD just in case.

Would the procedure go like this: remove old HD, replace it, format the new drive, then open Time Machine and have it restore "Mackintosh HD."

Can it be as simple as that?

Apologies for sounding dense but I'm a converted PC user and I/m more accustomed to Gates' detailed procedures.
 
M

Massnegro

macrumors newbie
Sep 14, 2009
28
0
"Can it be as simple as that?"

Yes, but...

Time Machine will do the job no problems, just follow the prompts after reloading the system software on the new drive, however that restore/copy of your old hard drive will not contain any updates. So as soon as you start up the new machine and before starting your applications you will have to do a system update and those updates will have to be downloaded again which depending on your connection speed might take some time. So in reality you'd be better of with carbon copy.
 
K

kenglade

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 20, 2008
278
1
Massnegro said:
"Can it be as simple as that?"

Yes, but...

Time Machine will do the job no problems, just follow the prompts after reloading the system software on the new drive, however that restore/copy of your old hard drive will not contain any updates. So as soon as you start up the new machine and before starting your applications you will have to do a system update and those updates will have to be downloaded again which depending on your connection speed might take some time. So in reality you'd be better of with carbon copy.
Click to expand...
Dang! I knew it sounded too good to be true. But it isn't as if CCC is an expensive program.

Many thanks
 
K

kenglade

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 20, 2008
278
1
Massnegro said:
It's free....
Click to expand...
Can't beat free. Tried it and it seemed to perform well by backing up my HD to an external. Test will come when I try to reverse the process and put data from my old HD onto the new one.

FMI, what's the best way to delete the data from my external? Just format the disc?
 

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