State of backup if crash during backup?

[MarcRochkind]

Each night I make a smart copy of my main drive, so I'll have a bootable copy. I've even had to use it a couple of times. (I'm using 2.5 on Leopard.)

I'm concerned about what happens if there's a crash during the copy.

I can accept that some files might not be backed up. But, is the copy bootable, with some files up-to-date and some older (a day older, in my case)?

Is there any chance that the copy won't be bootable?

Even if it's not bootable, is the data OK? (Given that it's not all files are current.)

If the copy is not bootable, and it takes a couple of hours to complete, then it seems to me that my system is very vulnerable during that time.

(I ask now because my Mac is acting up, with frequent unexplained crashes. No idea yet if it's software or hardware, and it will take some time to figure out. The log file just says "kernel failure".)

--Marc

[dnanian]

There's a significant change the copy won't be bootable. If your system crashes, as with any other attached data, there's a chance the data could be corrupt.

If you're having a lot of problems, you should rotate two copies, so you always have one "good one"...