What's the BEST way to make a one to one Bootable clone?

[Marty62]

I am reliably told the best way to make a perfect one to one clone is this:

Have two matching sized new disks available.

Install the OS / apps / files / etc on disk one.

Install the OS on the second disk and at the first setup dialogue, when asked
"would you like to copy from another Mac/Disk/TM Backup?"
Select the first new installed system and copy "ALL" data.

( has to be done at this point for a one to one copy )

Is there any better way to have 2 x exact systems, and if a problem occurs just
swop the drive over .... done, working no re-installs whatsoever ??

Thanks,

Marty.

 

[MacDawg]

I would just use Carbon Copy Cloner
I make 2 separate clones on separate drives every night as backups (along with Time Machine)

 

[Marty62]

I would just use Carbon Copy Cloner
I make 2 separate clones on separate drives every night as backups (along with Time Machine)

Thanks - your safety regime is WAY above mine !!

( I normally backup once a week at most !! )

 

[Oldmanmac]

I would just use Carbon Copy Cloner
I make 2 separate clones on separate drives every night as backups (along with Time Machine)

So, does that require 3 drives?

 

[MacDawg]

So, does that require 3 drives?

I have 2 external drives

1 drive stays at home and it contains my TM backup and my nightly scheduled clone (2 separate partitions)

1 drive travels with me and it contains a separate nightly scheduled clone

 

[Fishrrman]

Question:
[[ What's the BEST way to make a one to one Bootable clone? ]]

Ummm....

1. Connect external drive

2. Launch CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper, if you wish)

3. Select your source drive on the left

4. Select your target (backup) drive on the right

5. Click "Clone"

6. Wait for completion.

What could be easier?

Aside:
I just backed up my "main files" volume while writing this reply, and CCC updated my clone volume before I could finish typing...

 

[mojolicious]

So, does that require 3 drives?

Can't speak for MacDawg, but it doesn't necessarily require three drives. I alternate weekly between two identical external drives, each of which have two partitions: one for a (SuperDuper rather than CCC) clone, the other for Time Machine backup.

 

[Dweez]

I would just use Carbon Copy Cloner
I make 2 separate clones on separate drives every night as backups (along with Time Machine)

I second this suggestion. I use CCC on a semi-regular basis to create a bootable USB clone, and Time Machine makes regular backups of my data.

 

[Marty62]

Question:
[[ What's the BEST way to make a one to one Bootable clone? ]]

Ummm....

1. Connect external drive

2. Launch CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper, if you wish)

3. Select your source drive on the left

4. Select your target (backup) drive on the right

5. Click "Clone"

6. Wait for completion.

What could be easier?

Aside:
I just backed up my "main files" volume while writing this reply, and CCC updated my clone volume before I could finish typing...

I am aware of CCC & Super Duper, what I am not sure about is that the CCC/SD
copy would mean not just system bootable but fully working apps / plugins all registered
and all working instantly from a drive "swop" if this is the case then all cool and thanks.
I was informed that the "copy" is only a perfect bit copy, when done the way I described
in post 1 above.... OR perhaps that's just a "neat" way to do it at the point of installing a new
system - which is where I am right now.

M.

 

[Weaselboy]

I am aware of CCC & Super Duper, what I am not sure about is that the CCC/SD
copy would mean not just system bootable but fully working apps / plugins all registered
and all working instantly from a drive "swop" if this is the case then all cool and thanks.
I was informed that the "copy" is only a perfect bit copy, when done the way I described
in post 1 above.... OR perhaps that's just a "neat" way to do it at the point of installing a new
system - which is where I am right now.

M.

The method you described in post #1 of installing the OS then migrating data in is a whole lot more work for the same end result as a clone. Just do the clone if that is what you are after.

The only Apple "official" way to do a clone is using Disk Utility. Follow the instructions here. CCC and SD are fine also if your prefer them, but Apple gives you Disk Util already for free.

All plugins and apps etc will come over with the clone, but there is one caveat. Some registered apps like MS Office and Adobe apps in particular will see they are on new hardware when moved to a new drive and require reentry of serial numbers. I honestly have not tested this when using the same Mac (same hardware) but just on a cloned drive. Do the clone then option key boot to the cloned drive and test it out just to be sure.

If you don't mind, can you get back to us with the results of a test of this registration issue as I am now curious.

 

[Marty62]

The method you described in post #1 of installing the OS then migrating data in is a whole lot more work for the same end result as a clone. Just do the clone if that is what you are after.

The only Apple "official" way to do a clone is using Disk Utility. Follow the instructions here. CCC and SD are fine also if your prefer them, but Apple gives you Disk Util already for free.

All plugins and apps etc will come over with the clone, but there is one caveat. Some registered apps like MS Office and Adobe apps in particular will see they are on new hardware when moved to a new drive and require reentry of serial numbers. I honestly have not tested this when using the same Mac (same hardware) but just on a cloned drive. Do the clone then option key boot to the cloned drive and test it out just to be sure.

If you don't mind, can you get back to us with the results of a test of this registration issue as I am now curious.

Thanks for the extra info, much appreciated.
I booted into recovery and did a clone inside Disk Utility, which has seemingly worked very
well.
It only took 30 minutes !!
I can't check your listed apps as I'm not a graphics person and don't have MS installed !!!
Some installs are "drive" based verification and some are "motherboard" based, I have not
come across any ?'s at this point.

M.

 

[crjackson2134]

If using the Disk Utility and going from the original 1TB spinner to a 1TB SSD Boot drive, will this also preserve the restore partition & AHD program?