Understanding cloning software

[fstigre]

Hi,
*
I have heard about Super Duper and Carbon Copy Cloner but I don’t really understand how they work.* I’m currently using Time Machine to back up my files but I would like to clone my entire drive in case something bad happens be able to restore the operating system and all my applications.

Lets pretend for a moment that I have cloned my drive to an external HD and now I want to restore my main drive using the cloned drive, how is this done?

Can some one explain this a little bit?

Thanks a lot

 

[McGiord]

In Carbon Copy Cloner, you have window where you select in one field the source Hard Disk and another field where you select the Target.

When doing the cloning, you select as the source the Hard Disk you want to clone; and the target will be the new clone.

To restore you simply do the opposite: source the "back up clone", the target the destination hard disk where you want to create another copy.

As having a clone you can boot from it, and then do another clone.

You can also use Disk Utility to back up.

 

[fstigre]

Thank you for your help!

It looks like you can create copies from your clone drive, good but I don't have that clear when recovering the main drive.

I can see recovering a disc when you still have access to the Mac OSX but lets pretend that something really bad happened and now you can not boot your main/internal HD.

How would you restore you main drive if its not working (pretending that it is not working)?


Sorry if my question doesn't make any sense!
.

 

[McGiord]

That is precisely the main reason to have a bootable backup = clone.
You boot from the clone hard disk and repair or recover the original hard disk.
When booting hold down the option key to choose which drive you want to boot from.
Another way is booting with the optical drive (holding down the c key) with the Mac OS X disc, then using Disk Utility to recover the damaged disk.

 

[fstigre]

Ok, I think I got it, if something really bad happens you basically boot from your clone drive and basically clone it back to your internal drive, which is basically what you described in your first reply. Sorry I don’t know why I didn’t get it.

To restore you simply do the opposite: source the "back up clone", the target the destination hard disk where you want to create another copy.

As having a clone you can boot from it, and then do another clone.

Thanks a lot for being patient!