You might want to use a bootable CD. Or create a custom Bootable CD with the firewire extensions included in the system folder so you could access the drive. You can build bootable CD's using Roxio Toast. You can also try using the CD that comes with the system.
Use your custom or factory CD to boot your system up. Insert the CD in your machine hold the "C" key while booting your machine. Once your machine has booted you want to find a folder called "Utilities" or a folder that is called "Disk Copy". Once you have found the disk copy application you will launch the "Disk Copy Application" Then you will click on the drive you want to image. Drag that drive on top of the Disk Copy window. It will estimate the size for the image.
It will prompt you where to save your image. You will save your image to the firewire hard drive. Make sure you select read only compressed. Once your image is completed saving it self to your firewire hard drive you will need to place a copy of the "Disk Copy" application on your firewire harddrive. You will then unload the cd and boot your machine. Once your machine is back up you will see your firewire hardrive mounted as well. You will look inside your
drive and see the new image sitting there in your firewire drive. it would have a blue icon and it would have an extension .img at the end. Imaging your drive this way ensures you will have copied everything including files invisible to you.
What do you do next? Its really cool!
There is a program that apple has developed and it is called "Apple Software Restore" (ASR) Here are a few links to go to to better understand what it is and how to use it with your newly created image.
http://developer.apple.com/testing/docs/TNasr.html (Good Site)
http://www.macaddict.com/magazine/2000_06/restorecd/ (Great Site!)
http://homepage.mac.com/joshuarude/asrhowto/ (Even Better site!)
Some more information
http://macsupport.about.com/library/weekly/aa020501a.htm (Good Info)
http://macos.about.com/library/weekly/aa072401a.htm (More Info)
Now that you have checked all the sites you have new how to's and brand new information that can help you better back up your drive or drives even over a network!
Now you can restore your macintosh machine everytime when ever you need to! Hey and if your image is small enough to fit on a CD you could make a Bootable CD with ASR and Its prefs with your new image all on one cd and then you boot that cd and reimae your machine too! If you would like to know who to restore your machine from your fire wire hard drive.
Make sure you boot up with a bootable CD then launch the "Apple Software Restore application from your FireWire Harddrive and choose the drive you want to re-image it will do its thing and BAM YOUR DONE!
I hope this helped you.
Thanks for using Press3!
Come agian. =0)