Carbon copy for dummies

[27 houdini's]

hi there, i want to use carbon copy cloner to backup my system.

What i would like to do:
make a bootable copy of my system, including installed (non-apple)software, to an external disk. aim is to be able to erase the computer and reinstall everything in one.

stupid question 1:
does the target disk need to be empty?

stupid question 2:
what format should the target disk be?

stupid question 3:
is it wise to make a special partition for the clone?

stupid question 3a:
should I clone or copy?

stupid question 4:
what's with all the permission stuff in your guide?
can i copy the clone i made from computer 1 (owned by user 1) to computer 2 (owned by user 2) without any permissions troubles for user 2?

stupid question 5:
should I install CCC on the target disk to use for reinstalling the system software?

 

[bobw]

1- Best if it is, but not necessary
2- HFS+
3- Yes
3a- Clone
4- CCC will preserve all permissions
5- Yes

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

If you have CCC installed on your boot drive, then, logically, it would be present on the "cloned" drive as well after the clone. CCC makes copies that are indistinguishable from the original -- all files, folders and anything else present on the drive you're cloning will be present on the backup.

Just tell CCC to copy everything, and you'll have a complete and total backup of your boot drive.

 

[27 houdini's]

cheers! clear and very understandable. 1 more question though: what about the permisson stuff, you said it's cloned, so what about user 2? It seems user 1 will have all the admin priviliges, so that will give some trouble

 

[bobw]

All permissions will be preserved.

 

[27 houdini's]

ok. HFS+ is not an option in disk utility. i guess mac os extended (journaled) is the same thing?

 

[bobw]

That's what you want

 

[27 houdini's]

oh, one more thing, i don't want to copy the users, because i do not want the documents to come along, but then i loose the user library and some other stuff too. Is a good idea?

ok, one last thing (really!) how do i boot from this copy?

 

[bobw]

Copy everything, then delete what you don't want. Or, select in CCC what you don't want copied.

 

[27 houdini's]

Copy everything, then delete what you don't want. Or, select in CCC what you don't want copied.

true, but i can only copy the user as a whole (including documents)

 

[bobw]

Do that then. Afterwards, delete what you want to, or delete then copy.

 

[27 houdini's]

ok, one last thing (really!) how do i boot from this copy?

 

[bobw]

Select the disk in your Startup Disk PrefPane.

Or hold the Option Key at startup, you should get a screen showing available startup disks. This takes longer.

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

One thing I would suggest is immediately after cloning the drive successfully, BOOT from the drive you cloned to and run a "Repair Permissions" via Disk Utility. CCC is very good at preserving permissions, but it's not always 100%.

Just a safeguard.