How do you create a bootable external drive?

[gangof4]

I'm running SL 10.6.8 and backing up hourly via TM on a LaCie 1TB external drive. How would I create a bootable drive and about how much memory would it need (Would it fit on a 15 gb Cruzer stick drive?)

 

[balamw]

In general running OS X off of flash performs poorly at best.

The easiest way is to boot from your OS X install disc and point it at the external drive in question.

If the drive is large enough, CCC or SuperDuper can also be used.

B

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Use CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to make a 1:1 copy of your internal HDD to an external HDD (you can exclude your user account if you want, but then you need another admin account to administer from the external HDD).

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto​