Copying USER folder

[Allar]

I have an external HD with 2 partitions, 1 with a copy of my internal HD and 1 with a copy of my USER folder. I update the USER folder with smartcopy on a regular basis as a way of backing up my files. Since the USER partition will generally be a more updated folder than the USER folder on the other partition, what's the best way to update the mirrored copy, simply replace the user folder with the new one with drag and drop from one partition to the other??

Secondly, assuming that the mirrored copy is "old" and I have updated the internal hardrive with software updates. At the same time the USER folder has been updated on the partition as is therefore a newer USER folder. Are there any dangers in replacing the older user folder with the newer one since the newer one would reflect whatever software updating might do to it.

[dnanian]

I'd delete the User folder on the "destination", then use SuperDuper! with "Copy Different" to copy in the "newer" folder.

[Allar]

If the backup mirrored drive created with SD was, for example, 10.4.2 and the backup user folder on the other partition was from 10.4.11, are there any problems replacing the 10.4.2 user folder with the 10.4.11 user folder? Just wonder if updates of the OS might effect the user folder, rendering the newer one incompatible with an older OS.

[dnanian]

It shouldn't, but it's hard to know for certain, as you might expect. I strongly suggest keeping both backups up to date.