New, bigger startup HD

[milankalus]

I want to install a new, bigger startup HD to replace the original which came with Mac G5 2.0, duo
Can I just copy the SuperDuper startup backup on external FireWire drive to the new startup drive?

Milan

[dnanian]

Sure; it's basically just a full backup and restore.

[Clancey]

Originally Posted by dnanian

Sure; it's basically just a full backup and restore.

This is the thread I was looking for. I need to ask some pretty basic questions. I have MacBook (Intel) with a 60G hd, and have purchased a 120G hd and a Firewire hd enclosure from OWC. I want to put the new drive in the MacBook and use the original in the enclosure as a backup. I've looked at backup options and am going to use SD. The reason I bought a larger drive is because I may want to install Windows at some time in the future. In order to back up to a smaller drive, would I have to partition the drive into two 60G partitions? I want to be able to boot from the external drive in case of emergencies.

[dnanian]

No, you don't have to partition it: the source and destination do not have to be the same size. But the drive should be properly partitioned (even as a single partition) for your Mac type -- in your case, the partition scheme should be "GUID".

See the "Options" button in the Partition tab of Disk Utility for the various choices...

[Clancey]

Originally Posted by dnanian

No, you don't have to partition it: the source and destination do not have to be the same size. But the drive should be properly partitioned (even as a single partition) for your Mac type -- in your case, the partition scheme should be "GUID".

See the "Options" button in the Partition tab of Disk Utility for the various choices...

Thanks for the info!

I read another related thread and it talks about naming the new startup disk the same as the old - more useful info - but I have another question. When I take out the old drive and put it in the external case and get everything cloned to the new disk, if I want to then use the old disk as the backup drive, how would that work if I just partitioned the new drive as one 120g partition? Does Superdrive compress the data on the backup drive? I have a 500g external drive that I use to backup things like my iTunes library and my music and pictures and such, but it's usb 2.0. I had read before I bought the external hd and firwire enclosure that only firewire drives can be used to boot. Now, after I've made the purchase, I have read that the Intel macs can boot from USB. The other reason I wanted a firewire backup drive is because my usb ports are filled to the max and I could just dedicate the firewire to that one drive (now that my *new* iPod doesn't support firewire...)

Thanks again for your kind help!

[dnanian]

USB drives can be used to start up Intel Macs as long as they're properly partitioned as "GUID", as you've seen.

SuperDuper! does not compress your data: it keeps it in the original, native format so that you can start up from the drive or restore with any disk tool. If you've outgrown the drive... I'd suggest a larger one -- it's the only real way to do it. But they're pretty inexpensive these days!

[Clancey]

Originally Posted by dnanian

USB drives can be used to start up Intel Macs as long as they're properly partitioned as "GUID", as you've seen.

SuperDuper! does not compress your data: it keeps it in the original, native format so that you can start up from the drive or restore with any disk tool. If you've outgrown the drive... I'd suggest a larger one -- it's the only real way to do it. But they're pretty inexpensive these days!

Thanks for the additional info. Sorry about misspelling Superduper! Just for that, I'm off to pay for my copy

[dnanian]

Great! More misspellings!