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]

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]

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]

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! :o Just for that, I'm off to pay for my copy :D

[dnanian]

Great! More misspellings! ;)