Using CCC or Superduper!

[lazerbeam]

I have searched the forum for a method of making a complete bootable clone of my hard disk. Just about every one seems to recommend CCC or Superduper!. From what I gather, after using either one of the programs, the system will boot, but no one has indicated whether all of the programs will still run. Since OS X is UNIX based, I was led to believe that programs are referenced to the original mounted disk they were installed on (in my case “Macintosh HD”). Since the new disk cannot have the exact same name as any other mounted disk I will have to use a name other than Mackintosh HD to clone the original disk to the new one. I also have a concern that on my current boot disk is Windows XP running under parallels. Will these programs also copy the Windows partition (NTFS) as well? I need to replace my original hard drive as it getting full and I do not want to reinstall everything from scratch.

Model Name: Mac Pro
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 2
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.33 GHz
Operating System: OS X 10.5.6

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

From what I gather, after using either one of the programs, the system will boot, but no one has indicated whether all of the programs will still run.

Yes, all your programs will run. Everything will work exactly as it did before you cloned it.

Since OS X is UNIX based, I was led to believe that programs are referenced to the original mounted disk they were installed on (in my case “Macintosh HD&#8221.

Eh? No, this isn't how UNIX works. UNIX references the disks by their device name, which you have no control over (for example, "sda," "sdb," etc.). The "name" you give your hard drive ("Macintosh HD") is just another benign attribute of your hard drive. You can even change the name of your hard drive without any adverse effects: try it! Name your hard drive "Banana" and have at it -- everything will hum along just as before.

Since the new disk cannot have the exact same name as any other mounted disk I will have to use a name other than Mackintosh HD to clone the original disk to the new one.

Not true. You can have two identically named volumes/hard drives in Mac OS X. Try it -- plug in a USB hard drive (or a second internal hard drive) and name it exactly the same name as your Mac OS X boot drive -- everything works fine.

I also have a concern that on my current boot disk is Windows XP running under parallels. Will these programs also copy the Windows partition (NTFS) as well?

That depends -- did you install Windows via Boot Camp, and are using Parallels with your Boot Camp partition? If so, then no, neither CCC nor SuperDuper! copy your Boot Camp partition.

If you used Parallels to install Windows and installed Windows into a virtual disk, then yes -- both CCC and SuperDuper! will copy that just fine, and Windows will run just as it did before you cloned your drive.

I need to replace my original hard drive as it getting full and I do not want to reinstall everything from scratch.

Do it -- storage is cheap these days. You can also simply install another hard drive in your Mac Pro and run your system with two drives -- you can copy non-application and non-system data to the second hard drive, like your music files, photos, movies, etc. That would clear up space on your boot drive, negating the need to clone your drive at all.

 

[lazerbeam]

Thanks. I tried to rename a disk that had a couple of files on it and it lost the files in the process. The second time I tried to rename another disk Macintosh HD and it would let me continues "Disk is in use"... So I gave up. That is why I came to the (false) conclusion that you could not duplicate disk volume names with OS X. Anyway, thanks again. Will be replacing my original 250 Gb mac disk with a 1 TB. All my other slots are full with 500 Gb drives.