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Making A Bootable Backup?

M

markp9114

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 8, 2009
82
0
IL
I want to backup my entire hard drive onto an external hard drive so that I can reformat back my laptop to factory settings. I just want to erase my laptop hard drive and start fresh with a clean install of snow leopard or lion. However, I want to have a bootable backup of my current hard drive so that I can access my old files if necessary.

I'm reading this recent thread here:https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1213627/

and I am using CCC to do it. However, I got this warning:
2re6443.png


Does this mean my backup won't be bootable? Do I need it to be? I just want a complete backup that I can browse through and copy files from my external onto my newly formatted drive in my laptop if I need to. I've never done this before so I just want to make sure that all my files will be retrievable once backed up on my external. Thanks guys!
 
"I am using CCC to do it. However, I got this warning:"

Important question:
Where were you trying to PUT the backup?

Into a "folder"?

Or onto the "root level" of the target (i.e. external) drive?

You can't make a bootable back by backing up into a folder on your external. Like CCC has warned you, it has to be to the "root level" of the drive.

I'm going to _guess_ that the external already has some files on it?

If so, you might consider partitioning the external. Use one partition for your existing files, and create another one to hold the cloned copy of your main drive.

If that won't work, you could always re-initialize the external and start over (of course you will wipe out anything that's already on the drive).

My recommendation is that you ALWAYS have a second, bootable backup drive somewhere, for when things just go wrong on your main drive.

Another suggestion:
Pick up a USB/SATA docking station. These things are _dirt cheap_ right now, see dealmac.com today (8/21/11) and you can find one for $15 with free shipping:
http://dealmac.com/lw/artclick.html?1,492454,1717249

Then, just pick up a "bare drive" of your choice. Put it into the dock, turn it on, initialize it, and _then_ use CCC to do a clone of your main drive. You can boot right from the docked drive.

Very very handy device to have on your desktop or in a drawer nearby.
 
Fishrrman said:
"I am using CCC to do it. However, I got this warning:"

Important question:
Where were you trying to PUT the backup?

Into a "folder"?

Or onto the "root level" of the target (i.e. external) drive?

You can't make a bootable back by backing up into a folder on your external. Like CCC has warned you, it has to be to the "root level" of the drive.

I'm going to _guess_ that the external already has some files on it?

If so, you might consider partitioning the external. Use one partition for your existing files, and create another one to hold the cloned copy of your main drive.

If that won't work, you could always re-initialize the external and start over (of course you will wipe out anything that's already on the drive).

My recommendation is that you ALWAYS have a second, bootable backup drive somewhere, for when things just go wrong on your main drive.

Another suggestion:
Pick up a USB/SATA docking station. These things are _dirt cheap_ right now, see dealmac.com today (8/21/11) and you can find one for $15 with free shipping:
http://dealmac.com/lw/artclick.html?1,492454,1717249

Then, just pick up a "bare drive" of your choice. Put it into the dock, turn it on, initialize it, and _then_ use CCC to do a clone of your main drive. You can boot right from the docked drive.

Very very handy device to have on your desktop or in a drawer nearby.
Click to expand...


darn i wish you would have replied before I backed up...all done now. I bought a 1TB external to backup onto and yes I did put it into a folder. There wasn't any files on it though so I should have portioned it prior. Cool tip about the USB/SATA docking station, will definitely pick one up.

so if I bought another "bare drive" could I transfer my files from the folder on my external to create a bootable backup?
 
"so if I bought another "bare drive" could I transfer my files from the folder on my external to create a bootable backup?"

I'm not sure if that will work, never tried such a method.

The files within the "folder" (assuming that they included the System files for the Mac OS) may have been "changed" in some way by the process of backing them up into a folder, with the result that they will no longer be able to boot the Mac even after you've "re-cloned" them to a root-level partition.

The only way to _know_ is to try it, and see what the results will be. But I will guess not.

I still recommend the docking station (with a bare drive) as a good "alternative boot drive". They are dirt cheap (see my original post above), EXTREMELY EASY TO USE (did I shout?), are fully bootable, and you have "infinite expandability". That is, if you have to deal with another drive, just plug it and off you go. Once you get one of these, you'll be asking "why didn't I do this before?"
 
Hello markp9114,

What I would do is just boot using MacOSX install disc that came with your Macintosh ... run DiskTools ... use the Restore function.

Doing this works fine for me.

No special third party software necessary.

SookieSam

PS: your a "markp" ehhh... funny thing, so am I ;-)
 
SookieSam said:
Hello markp9114,

What I would do is just boot using MacOSX install disc that came with your Macintosh ... run DiskTools ... use the Restore function.

Doing this works fine for me.

No special third party software necessary.

SookieSam

PS: your a "markp" ehhh... funny thing, so am I ;-)
Click to expand...

Not sure if I'm doing this properly, but I wanted to edit my post here.

Made a mistake ... utility is not called DiskTools anymore. (I'm still living in old MacOS classic days). Utility is now called "Disk Utility". Also, it takes about two to three hours to copy the contents of one drive to another using this method ... depending the the size of HD.

cheers,

SookieSam
 
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