Couple questions from new user
 

I have been trying out Super Duper for a few days now and I like it very much. Couldn't be easier to use. I have a few questions though.

First question is about viewing the log. In the manual under the trouble shooting section it says to click the view log button. I don't see that button in the GUI. I can get to the logs from the SD Window menu bar entry but I see no button in the program. Minor I know but just curious about it.

Next question is about speed. I performed back ups of my Intel MBP. It's a 250 GB HD with about 19 GB used. I backed up to a Seagate Freeagent Go USB drive. It took 52 min for a full back up. Is this normal speed that everybody else is getting?

Last question. I also have a Seagate Freeagent Go For Mac. It's a Firewire 800/USB drive. I performed the same back up as above but used the FW 800 connection. There was no speed difference. Took 52 min, same as with the USB drive above. Shouldn't the time been have been much faster? What could be the problem? Both back ups booted and worked fine.

Thanks for a great program

View Log shows up when there's been an error. Otherwise you can use Window > Show Log.

I'd expect between 4-12MB/s on a USB backup or so, for a full backup (non-Smart Update), and roughly the same for FireWire, depending on the mix of files, etc. Remember: "specs" and "real world" (read: non-optimal) performance are totally different things...

Thanks for the response.

So your saying that I there really isn't a noticeable speed difference between USB 2.0 and Firewire 800? Hmmm Interesting. When discussing what drives I should purchase on some forums it was highly recommended to go FW over USB and that I would notice very large speed differences.

Does 52 min for 19 GB of used disk space on a full back up sound about right for USB drives?

No, there's definitely a difference, especially when doing a Smart Update. But when you're copying a zillion tiny files for the first time, the time is taken mostly updating the file system, not copying, so the speed of the device doesn't matter as much.

I will try and compare the speeds between the FW and USB doing something else than and see if there is a difference because doing a full back up with SD there is 0 difference in speed between the two. I understand what you are saying about "mostly updating the file system, not copying" but you would think there would still be a noticeable difference in speed when the actual copying part takes place.

I still would like to know if 52 min for 19 GB of used space is about right for a USB drive doing a full back up.

Thanks.

If it's in the range I provided before (the overall speed is in the log), it's about right.