I backed up my mac to an EXT HD, but cant choose it using the installation disk

[rederstorm]

What i want to do is erase all the data on my main internal HD and replace those files with the backup, so i backed up my files onto a partition on my external HD using SuperDuper! and went to use the installation disk to erase all my data off of my internal HD.

But when i came to select where to install the OS from i couldnt select my external HD, it didnt even show, it just said 'searching for time machine backups' in the middle and my external HD didnt even show up.

Now im not sure on this, but would i have to reformat my external HD then re-backup using time machine in order to do this?

And im not too sure with time machine, would it backup my files then start using it as a time machine? or can i not use that feature and just backup my files using it?

Hope someone can help me here

Thanks .

 

[spinnerlys]

As I understand, you used SuperDuper to clone your internal HDD to an external HDD and the used the installer DVD to erase the internal HDD.

Now you want to use the data copied to the external HDD to be used as an installer back to the internal?
That is only possible if you use the external as a boot disk and use SuperDuper to copy the data back. But the whole process would have been redundant.

You could also use the data copied to the external during the installation using the DVD when it asks you to migrate data from another Mac or HDD.

 

[rederstorm]

As I understand, you used SuperDuper to clone your internal HDD to an external HDD and the used the installer DVD to erase the internal HDD.

Now you want to use the data copied to the external HDD to be used as an installer back to the internal?
That is only possible if you use the external as a boot disk and use SuperDuper to copy the data back. But the whole process would have been redundant.

You could also use the data copied to the external during the installation using the DVD when it asks you to migrate data from another Mac or HDD.

Ah, well, i explained it slightly incorrect there.

I was going to use my external in the backup process but it asks which drive has the backup before it erases your internal HD.

That being the case, i reformatted the external HD again and created another partition for my backup and used time machine to back it up instead.

Apparantly from what i have heared, using time machine is the best way to do this so im going to try and do it that way .

Please reply back as soon as possible if you think this isnt the right thing to do as i am currently making the backup which will take another hour.

Thanks for the help so far .

 

[Amdahl]

How is the drive partitioned? It has to be GUID (GPM) for Intel, and APM for PPC.

 

[danny_w]

If it is a USB external it can only be used as a boot disk for Intel machines, and then only if it is partitioned as GUID as the above poster stated. Installing from the install DVD should be possible to either internal or external disks as long as they are bootable.

EDIT: IMO SuperDuper! is much better for making a clone that canb e used to clone back or migrate data back than is Time Machine (TM cannot create a bootable drive or clone). Both SD! and TM are great products but for different purposes (SD! for clone/backup and TM for archiving).

 

[rederstorm]

Its all solved now, thanks for the help .

In the end all i did was reformat everything to Macintosh (journeled) i think it was, then partition my external HD for time machine to backup my files on.

With that backup i then erased and installed leopard onto my macbook replacing all the data on my internal HD.

Once that was done i had th eoption to import data from another location, because i had used time machine to back up my files it gave me the ability to transfer those files over to the newly installed leopard.

All my passwords saved in the keychain were still there and all my bookmarks and history along with all my other files and applications and settings were all as they were.

But im sure that was the obvious outcome XD.

I now plan to see whether i can install windows xp using a sp1 disk without using bootcamp, but that threads here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7151174#post7151174

Thanks for the help guys, glad i can rely on this forum and its members for mac related help .