Still kinda new to the Mac, how should I be doing this...

[iMerlin]

Hello all. I bought my 17" MBP about 8 months ago. Ive never been happier with a purchase before in my life.

So Ive spent the last 8 months learning about the Mac, Unix, afp and all the other new goodies that come along with owning the Mac. But Im still having some workflow issues.

For example, ripping and or burning DVDs. What I would like to do is kill 2 birds with one stone, but I usually have to use 2 stones. In order to rip a DVD to watch on my iPhone or iTunes, I use handbrake. In order to burn the DVD I use a Windows program (running Vista 64 in Parallels) called AnyDVD and CloneDVD.

So how does the seasoned Mac user accomplish these tasks efficiently?


Another project I plan on tackling is upgrading my 260gb HDD to 500gb. But the different options for backing up my data are confusing me. I read I can use Winclone for the Vista partition and CCC or similar for MAC OS X. But why not use the built in utilities? Windows has its own backup and restore feature and Mac can use Disc Utility. So what are the benefits of using something like Winclone or CCC instead of the built ins?

 

[GregE]

Hello all. I bought my 17" MBP about 8 months ago. Ive never been happier with a purchase before in my life.

So Ive spent the last 8 months learning about the Mac, Unix, afp and all the other new goodies that come along with owning the Mac. But Im still having some workflow issues.

For example, ripping and or burning DVDs. What I would like to do is kill 2 birds with one stone, but I usually have to use 2 stones. In order to rip a DVD to watch on my iPhone or iTunes, I use handbrake. In order to burn the DVD I use a Windows program (running Vista 64 in Parallels) called AnyDVD and CloneDVD.

So how does the seasoned Mac user accomplish these tasks efficiently?


Another project I plan on tackling is upgrading my 260gb HDD to 500gb. But the different options for backing up my data are confusing me. I read I can use Winclone for the Vista partition and CCC or similar for MAC OS X. But why not use the built in utilities? Windows has its own backup and restore feature and Mac can use Disc Utility. So what are the benefits of using something like Winclone or CCC instead of the built ins?

Have you tried Mac The Ripper and Toast on your iMac?

 

[MTI]

In order to burn the DVD I use a Windows program (running Vista 64 in Parallels) called AnyDVD and CloneDVD.

So how does the seasoned Mac user accomplish these tasks efficiently?

I also use the Slysoft's Windows based software, AnyDVD, so I have no problem recommending their companion program CloneDVDMobile to convert the files to iPhone/Touch; Palm, PSP, avi, mpeg4, DivX or,XviD. Eliminates the need for Handbrake.

 

[hatehereyes]

Hello all. I bought my 17" MBP about 8 months ago. Ive never been happier with a purchase before in my life.

So Ive spent the last 8 months learning about the Mac, Unix, afp and all the other new goodies that come along with owning the Mac. But Im still having some workflow issues.

For example, ripping and or burning DVDs. What I would like to do is kill 2 birds with one stone, but I usually have to use 2 stones. In order to rip a DVD to watch on my iPhone or iTunes, I use handbrake. In order to burn the DVD I use a Windows program (running Vista 64 in Parallels) called AnyDVD and CloneDVD.

So how does the seasoned Mac user accomplish these tasks efficiently?


Another project I plan on tackling is upgrading my 260gb HDD to 500gb. But the different options for backing up my data are confusing me. I read I can use Winclone for the Vista partition and CCC or similar for MAC OS X. But why not use the built in utilities? Windows has its own backup and restore feature and Mac can use Disc Utility. So what are the benefits of using something like Winclone or CCC instead of the built ins?

It's already been recommended but I second Toast to burn your dvd's. Great program.

But I think the best way to upgrade a drive is to use time machine so you can fully restore to the new drive.

 

[Consultant]

Burn DVD with Roxio Popcorn

You can use the built in disk utility to clone OSX portion. You need winclone for windows portion.

 

[Makosuke]

I read I can use Winclone for the Vista partition and CCC or similar for MAC OS X. But why not use the built in utilities? Windows has its own backup and restore feature and Mac can use Disc Utility. So what are the benefits of using something like Winclone or CCC instead of the built ins?

I've used both, but based on years of experience CCC is just more consistent and transparent when it comes to cloning a boot partition to another one of different size. I've never had it foul anything up, to be sure, and since it's free and easy to use I don't see much reason not to go for it. You can certainly try Disk Utility if you want, though--theoretically it'll create a bootable clone as well using the correct restore options.

As for the Windows partition, frankly I wouldn't have enough faith in Winclone, so I'd probably do it your way to be safe--that is, clone my MacOS partition, then use BootCamp to create a Windows partition (remember you can't just feed BootCamp a pre-partitioned drive--it won't like that), then install Windows on that and use the built-in migration tools to bring your files over.

I'd do this if for no reason than I wouldn't be confident in getting a BootCamp-bootable partition without using BootCamp itself to add the partition to an initially single-partition drive.

But then, I barely have anything installed on my Windows partition, so there's not much to move. With a more involved setup, it might be worth the time savings to clone it.

 

[iMerlin]

I also use the Slysoft's Windows based software, AnyDVD, so I have no problem recommending their companion program CloneDVDMobile to convert the files to iPhone/Touch; Palm, PSP, avi, mpeg4, DivX or,XviD. Eliminates the need for Handbrake.

I noticed that last time I updated AnyDVD and DVDClone. I just didnt want to pay for another app, I might look into it though, so far Slysofts products have given me the best most consistent results. Thanks for the rec.

I've used both, but based on years of experience CCC is just more consistent and transparent when it comes to cloning a boot partition to another one of different size. I've never had it foul anything up, to be sure, and since it's free and easy to use I don't see much reason not to go for it. You can certainly try Disk Utility if you want, though--theoretically it'll create a bootable clone as well using the correct restore options.

As for the Windows partition, frankly I wouldn't have enough faith in Winclone, so I'd probably do it your way to be safe--that is, clone my MacOS partition, then use BootCamp to create a Windows partition (remember you can't just feed BootCamp a pre-partitioned drive--it won't like that), then install Windows on that and use the built-in migration tools to bring your files over.

I'd do this if for no reason than I wouldn't be confident in getting a BootCamp-bootable partition without using BootCamp itself to add the partition to an initially single-partition drive.

But then, I barely have anything installed on my Windows partition, so there's not much to move. With a more involved setup, it might be worth the time savings to clone it.

Good recs, I like real world experience like you have. Im like you though, I dont have a lot of files on my Windows partition but I do have a couple of apps installed and its a pain to reinstall especially when you have to request a new key every time!

On another note, I also have another piece of software for Windows I used to use a lot for ripping to the iPhone called Amerisoft. This works very well. However, I was hoping to find one piece of software that would allow me to rip and burn. But I dont think thats gonna happen. My best bet will be to rip it to an ISO, then let Amerisoft of DVDCloneMobile convert it to iPhone, then load the ISO into Toast or AnyDVD and burn it. Im just surprised that there are so many different options for so many different formats. Gets to be a PIA to keep up with it.

Thanks for all the recs though everyone. I might check out Toast. I heard a lot of good things about it.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

Toast is great.

You can use Mac The Ripper to rip the DVD, and then use Toast to burn those DVD files (VIDEO_TS) to a DVD.