backup not bootable

[planetmango]

Yes, I have read the FAQ. MacBook Pro, OS 10.5.5, SimpleTech Mini 250 GB USB drive. Drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Using "back up all files Smart Copy"... same as I have been forever on other drives. Drive is not bootable, nor does it show up as a startup drive in system prefs. I have run repair disk as well as Disk Warrior.

What am I missing??

Thanks,

Rich

[dnanian]

Are you sure it's partitioned properly, as "GUID"?

[planetmango]

How do I check that??

[dnanian]

Open Disk Utility, select the drive hardware (above the backup volume) and look at the lower right side of the window.

[planetmango]

Disk Description : Hitachi HTS543225L9A300 Media Total Capacity : 232.9 GB (250,059,350,016 Bytes)
Connection Bus : USB Write Status : Read/Write
Connection Type : External S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
USB Serial Number : 008080400001 Partition Map Scheme : Master Boot Record

[dnanian]

Right. Master Boot Record won't work. That's Windows partitioned. It needs to be GUID (as mentioned in the FAQ).

[planetmango]

Thanks for your help. It seems that Disk Utility defaults to MBR and I didn't realize that. Through this I have discovered that only one of my backup drives (the oldest one) was actually bootable. Now I'll get my drives formatted properly and sleep better as well~!!

[planetmango]

Originally Posted by planetmango

It seems that Disk Utility defaults to MBR and I didn't realize that.

Actually, I think it defaulted to the existing format when I bought the drive. Anyway, thanks for the help.

[RonaldPR]

Formatting does not change the partitioning scheme. To change that, the disk needs to be re-partitioned. In Disk Utility select the drive (not the volume), choose the 'Partion' tab, click the "Options..." button, and choose "GUID Partition Table".

[planetmango]

Yes, I learned this today!! Also, today I bought iPartition and used it to change the partitioning scheme on 4 backup drives without having to erase the drives.