Copy or clone my harddrive

M

Markim

Registered
The situation:
- Harddisk 1 with 40 GB: Original HD called "Macintosh HD" used for system and data
-Harddisk 2 with 60 GB: added HD called "Movie HD", used for movie editing and backup

What I want:
HD 1 is getting too small, so I would like to use HD 2 for the system and data and use HD 1 for movie editing. How can I copy the entire HD 1 onto HD 2? On HD 2 I have about 10 GB of data that I don't really want to delete or put on a DVD for time reasons. Can I just add the complete content of HD 1 to HD 2 or do I really have to clone HD 1 onto HD 2 and erase with that procedure what is on HD 2? (And how do I make a clone?)

The problems:
I tried to just drag and drop (as a copy) the "Macintosh HD" icon to HD 2. While "Preparing copy to 'Movie HD'" I received the message: "One or more items have special permissions and cannot be copied." What is wrong? Does this have to do with the 3 accounts I have set up?
 
You can not just drag & drop to do a complete & working copy.
First, make sure you are in the user that is the Admin/owner. Then use Disk utility to verify and repair permissions.
Now download Carbon Copy Cloner and use that to copy HD 1 to HD 2. Make sure you have a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner on the HD2.
Then go restart the computer to use HD2 - use Startup disk.
Then use Disk Utility to erase HD 1 - use Mac OS Extended -
then use carbon Copy cloner to copy the music to HD1
Delete the music file from HD 2
 
Cheryl said:
You can not just drag & drop to do a complete & working copy.
First, make sure you are in the user that is the Admin/owner. Then use Disk utility to verify and repair permissions.
Now download Carbon Copy Cloner and use that to copy HD 1 to HD 2. Make sure you have a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner on the HD2.
Then go restart the computer to use HD2 - use Startup disk.
Then use Disk Utility to erase HD 1 - use Mac OS Extended -
then use carbon Copy cloner to copy the music to HD1
Delete the music file from HD 2
Click to expand...

just some clarifications for this (excellent) strategy:

You only need to put Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) in Applications on HD1.

For HD2, dump everything from HD2 except the 10 GB you care about. Put the 10 GB in a uniquely named folder like "movies" on the top level of HD2.

Open CCC, it will allow you to "add" HD1 to HD2 like you asked:
1. Choose Source Disk = HD1 and Target Disk = HD2. leave ALL that stuff in the right column right where it is
2. Preferences - be SURE to check "Make bootable" this is IMPERATIVE
3. Click the little lock, enter your admin password, click "Clone"
4. Wait. This can take a long time. Wait. but CCC is flawless, trust it.

when CCC is done:
As per Cheryl, set HD2 to startup, Erase HD1.

You don't need to use CCC to to put the movies back on HD1. Just drag and drop if you are the only user. But you can use CCC as long as the "movies" folder is on the top level of HD2.
 
Thanks for your help. I tried it and it worked just fine!
I left the data on HD 2 in a uniquely named folder as suggested and I had no problem at all with the cloning. The only thing I had to do at the end was to switch the names and the icons of the two harddisks to make the system look like the old one. I will wait with erasing the content of HD 1 for a while until I am sure that everything works properly. In my opinion CCC should be a part of the utilities that come with OS X. It is really a very useful program.
 
Markim said:
In my opinion CCC should be a part of the utilities that come with OS X. It is really a very useful program.
Click to expand...

CCC is bedrock. I can not imagine running OSX without it.
 
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