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InfoGeek
11-19-2005, 07:31 PM
Hi,

I just got SD after reading its praises in the Apple Support boards. However, I bought my external HD (LaCie 250GB USB) before I realized that I couldn't boot OS X from any external USB drives :(

My question: is it possible for me to still use SD's "Backup - All Files" option to create an easily updatable copy of my iBook HD,

OR

Would it be better to just back up - user files to my external USB HD? If I just back-up user files, can I easily update the back-up copy with new and changed files using Smart Update?

TIA for any feedback!

macfeller
11-19-2005, 11:03 PM
Just because the drive doesn't boot does not mean that which is on it isn't bootable. That is, were the drive connected to your machine and that machine was booted off another device (say an emergency CD that has SD! - see BootCD) you could clone from the drive to the machine.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure SD! would work by simply including it via BootCD. You might have to do some extra steps involving creating an image from a device that is basically what would be on a BootCD but with the support SD! needs to function and then burning a CD from that image. Anyone done such?

Myself, I have a basic OS X install with SD!, DiskWarrior, etc. on my iPod. I do daily SmartUpdates to a bootable external but do not always have it with me.

dnanian
11-19-2005, 11:17 PM
macfeller is right on here: the contents retain their bootable properties, even if they're not directly bootable due to limitations of the storage device.

For restore, please check out Section 5 of the User's Guide. That's what I'd suggest: BootCD isn't strictly necessary.

InfoGeek
11-20-2005, 04:00 PM
macfeller is right on here: the contents retain their bootable properties, even if they're not directly bootable due to limitations of the storage device.

For restore, please check out Section 5 of the User's Guide. That's what I'd suggest: BootCD isn't strictly necessary.
Thanks for the quick responses. Just to be sure I've understood you both correctly:

I can use the Backup-All Files option in SD! and update that back-up with my new and changed files using SmartUpdate.

If I need to do a full restore then according to Section 5 in the User's Guide, I should:

1) Boot from the Tiger Install CD.
2) When the Installer starts, choose “Disk Utility” from its Application
menu.
3) Once the Disk Utility starts, select the drive I want to restore to (i assume this would be my mac hd), and switch to the Restore tab.

Does this sound like I've understood you correctly?

TIA.

InfoGeek

dnanian
11-20-2005, 06:01 PM
InfoGeek -- basically, yes, but you'll want to fill out the source and destination once you get to restore. You'll use drag-and-drop to do so...