Want to test new OS on copy of Startup Disk

[Andrew Montreal]

Hi all,

Perhaps this is obvious, but I can't seem to figure out how to do this seamlessly.

I am running:
Mac Pro 5,1
El Capitan

I want to make a back up copy of my startup drive so that I can then test moving it to High Sierra and then Mojave. But should that not work with my multitude of audio plugins, hardwares, etc, I would like to return it to its original state.

Is this easy?

Thanks.

Andrew

 

[Dave Braine]

Yes. Use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone of your Mac on an external drive. You can then boot your Mac from that drive, install High Sierra and try it out.

You'll need CCC5 for El Capitan:

Download CCC - Bombich Software

bombich.com

 

[Andrew Montreal]

I am doing so.Thank you.

Slightly confused though. They say NOT to use SMR drives, which includes WD Blue 2TB
WD20SPZX. I just bought a WD Blue 2TB drive that is SSD...

WD Blue™ SATA Internal SSD Hard Drive 2.5”/7mm cased | Western Digital

Ready for your high performance computing needs, a WD Blue™SATA SSD offers high capacity, enhanced reliability, and blazing speed.

www.westerndigital.com

Is this the same thing? Does my drive use SMR?

 

[Fishrrman]

See if it works on the drive you have now, regardless of the warnings.
If it works... well... it works.

 

[Dave Braine]

SMR, CMR, PMR?? Never heard of them before.

 

[Andrew Montreal]

See if it works on the drive you have now, regardless of the warnings.
If it works... well... it works.

I used my drive. Turns out SMR relates to spinning disks. Mine is an SSD.

 

[Andrew Montreal]

SMR, CMR, PMR?? Never heard of them before.

Who said anything about CMR or PMR, funny guy. Though thanks for making me look up those acronyms.

 

[Dave Braine]

Who said anything about CMR or PMR

They came up when I googled SMR as different types of drives.