backing up tiger to a computer running panther
 

hi - i have a macbook running os x 10.4.11 that i need to back up. i have an old emac with 100GB space available, but it is running 10.3.9 and is not partitioned. partitioning it is not an option at the moment and thus am thinking that i will use the Read/Write "Sparse" Image backup option.

will the different operating systems pose any particular issues/ problems? should i backup only user files, or should i go ahead & backup all even though the target op system is older? would the older operating system on the target computer affect the bootability of a full backup?

thanks for any & all help.
bk :)

You're thinking of using the eMac's drive as your backup destination? Don't do this; spend the $100 to get a dedicated drive for the MacBook.

thanks for the advice, but why not? is it because of the different operating systems? fyi, i'm in an isolated small town and $100 drives don't roam wild & plentiful around here like they do in a big city. and what should i be looking for in a backup drive?

Because you won't be able to start up from the backup, and you're likely to run into more problems. Plus, it won't be as convenient, and a backup that isn't easy and reliable isn't worth the time... as far as small towns go (I'm not in the big city either), mail order works wonders! :)

thanks. i kinda thought as much. i'm all over the mail order action, but it just seemed silly to get another drive when i have 100GB sitting around all lonesome and unused :)

backup to older machine?
 

Um, maybe use gparted program, its a linux freeware download used for repartitioning hard drives without erasing data. It saved my bacon when I was working on my daughter's HP Pavilion laptop running XP Media Center. Since it is a live CD linux, it supposedly will run on any computer that can boot from CD.

I know where you're coming from, though I live in a larger town, can't really spend money for a new external HD, and am hoping my old mac mini with 80G HD can be used for my backup device (already posted that question elsewhere in this forum...) Good Luck, and let me know how it works!

Mark ,
spchsr@yahoo.com