Cannot Boot from Sparse Image Backup
 

I am about to upgrade from Tiger to Leopard on an Intel MacBook. I've made a sparse image copy of the Macbook to a Buffalo 500GB USB 2.0 External HD.(because I have other stuff on the partition)

I have opened the image and tried to restart to the opened backup in order to test it before upgrading, but it cannot seem to find it. All I want to do is test the backup to make sure it works.

Can you help? Thanks in advance,

You can't start up from a sparse image: it's not a real drive.

Thanks for the reply. Why make a sparse image if you cannot boot from it in case of an emergency? Also, is there any way to make a bootable disk that has other files on it? Thanks again for the quick reply!

Typically because you're under some constraint that forces you to use an image. We've always said that you should write directly to a drive if you can...

You can partition a drive to store files alongside your backup.

Again, thanks for such a prompt reply. As you can see, I am pretty new to the Mac, so please forgive these stupid questions.

But, I was under the impression that I could not create a bootable drive if there were other files on it. You said that I can "partiition a drive to store files along side your backup". Does that mean if I have a partition already available with other files on it that I can copy my Macintosh HD over to it without erasing the drive first? Does that make sense?

I just don't want to erase the files on that hard drive because I don't have anywhere else to store those files without purchasing another hard drive. Again, thanks for all the advice.

No, it means you need to create a second partition on the drive to store a backup, or use an image. This is covered in the section of the User's Guide entitled "Storing a backup alongside other files on a destination drive".

Thanks, Dave:)

So that if your original drive fails, you can clone the contents of the image back to a new replacement drive.

Does this mean mount the sparse image and then drag the contents to a new drive or partition, which can then be booted, as if it were a normal cloned drive?

No, you would normally use SuperDuper! to do the clone from the mounted sparse image to an actual partition ("Restore - all files"; or "Backup - all files" if there is no Time Machine data on the source).

Dragging the contents will not copy permissions/ownership, other metadata, or files and dirs that are inaccessible to the copying user (other user's files, or "root only" files).