[greytfriend]

I've searched the forums, but I'm not finding clear (enough for newbie-me) answers to the following questions. I would really appreciate your help. I am trying to understand every aspect of what I have to do to make sure that if I replace the hard drive in my MacBook laptop with a new (larger, more RPM) drive, I will be able to make a seamless transition. It's become clear that Time Machine isn't reliable enough, so I'm here with you guys and hoping this will work out.
1) I have a Maxtor USB external drive. Yes, USB. It's what I already have, I would really prefer not to buy a new drive. I am in the process of making a full backup to that drive. How do I confirm that I will be able to boot from it? (or the firewire drive you may insist I need to get)
2) When I do have this new, completely blank drive installed into my computer, how do I boot from the external drive so I can restore? Will I need to install the operating system first?
Thanks in advance for your help.