How Do I Know My Back Up Works?

[jamesmcnee]

I regularly use SuperDuper (and Smart Update) to back up everything on my internal hard drive to an external.

Every morning the drives whirr and the messages flash but how do I know the thing worked?

Is there an easy way for me to double check that the back up file really is what it should be and will be there if (when?) my internal drive fails?

Thanks

[dnanian]

Sure, how about starting up from it? Use the Startup Disk preference pane... and don't forget to go back to your "real" drive!