Moving backups to new drive -- without using disk utility restore

Hello,
I have done some research on this already but I don't believe I've found the solution. I just bought a new media / backup hard drive, and I've moved my itunes library (over 100 GBs) to this drive. Now I have researched how to move the time machine backups to this drive, and know you can't just copy the files.
The instructions I've received tell me to use the disk utility to restore the old time machine backup drive to the new drive, however if I do that won't I lose the iTunes stuff currently on that drive?
Is there an easier way to move that data without me transferring the iTunes back to my laptop, and then restoring through disk utility, and then re-transferring the iTunes again?
thanks,
James

jimumbra wrote:
Hello,
I have done some research on this already but I don't believe I've found the solution. I just bought a new media / backup hard drive, and I've moved my itunes library (over 100 GBs) to this drive. Now I have researched how to move the time machine backups to this drive, and know you can't just copy the files.
The instructions I've received tell me to use the disk utility to restore the old time machine backup drive to the new drive, however if I do that won't I lose the iTunes stuff currently on that drive?
yes, you will. but it is also a VERY bad idea to keep other data on the same partition as the TM backup. first, this data will not be backed up by TM. if you value your itunes data you should have it backed up. also, TM is very buggy and there are too many situations when you need to delete existing TM backups and start from scratch. this should be done by erasing the entire TM partition. you should never delete any TM backups from finder. also, TM will eventually fill up the entire partition with TM backup. it will start bumping up against other data on the partition and you won't be able to put anything else on it.
the upshot is that you should make a separate partition just for TM. don't keep any other data on that partition. you can add a partition to the drive without disturbing your itunes data. type "create new volumes" in disk utility help to see how. however, that's not a good idea IMO as you'll have both the itunes data and the TM backups on the same physical drive. when the drive fails (and it will eventually) you'll loose everything.
Is there an easier way to move that data without me transferring the iTunes back to my laptop, and then restoring through disk utility, and then re-transferring the iTunes again?
thanks,
James

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Problems transferring Backups to new External HD using Disk Utility restore

I'm having issues using Disk Utility to transfer my backups to a new disk.
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It may well be simply because i have not checked the "erase destination" box before restoring but somehow i doubt this is the issue as the new 1TB HD has already been "zero'ed" as explained earlier.
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Using Disk Utility Restore function to clone external hard drives

Hi all,
I have a WD 3Tb My Book external hard drive which I want to use as a replacement for an older WD 1Tb My Book external hard drive. I would like to use Disk Utility's built-in Restore function to clone my old external hard drive onto my new external hard drive. Unfortunately, Disk Utility will not allow me to drag the new drive to the "Destination" box; I can drag the old drive to the "Source" box just fine. Why is this? Am I doing something wrong?
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After a hugely painful and very, very expensive experience with failed backups (we lost the entire office's electronic records going back for 3 years), I have gotten in the habit of booting off the backups once every few weeks to verify they work.
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Do your part in supporting your fellow users. If a response has been Helpful to you or Solved your question, please mark it as such as an aid to other lost souls on the forum.
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Help me Obie One Canobie you are my last hope

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=============================
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cornelius

Using Disk Utility for backup - target drive must be same size as source?

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repairMirror raidDisk newDisk
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HT1553 Does using Disk Utility also backup MSOffice 2008 (Mac) software already installed on my Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard? If not, how would I do that?

Hi,
I'm looking to upgrade from Snow Leapord (10.6.8) to the new Mountain Lion. Have a lot of applications and softwares that I would like to back up when installing the new OS, such as MS Office, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Any ideas on what is the best way to do that.
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Thanks,
Shyam

If your not very tech savvy, I would have someone assist you in the upgrade process as your about to inflict major change on your life and computer.
There are some things to consider before you upgrade.
1: The age of your machine:
My advice has been if your Mac is less than two years old and has a dedicated graphics (not all only Intel HD 3000 or 4000 CPU graphics like the 13" has)) then you stand a very good chance of 10.8 (or 10.7) running fine on your machine.
In either case you need to check the specifications of your machine to see if it meets Apple's requirements, and unfortunately those requirements are a bit low, resulting in a slower machine when you upgrade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Mountain_Lion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_Lion
(note: 10.7 is no longer being sold via the AppStore, you should upgrade to 10.8, however some machines can't, you can call Apple Sales to upgrade to 10.7)
If your machine originally came with 10.5, I would say forget it. Mac's don't last forever and laptops usually have a life of about 4 years with normal use. Desktops last longer of course and can withstand more OS X upgrades if Apple allows it.
2: The age of your software.
10.7 and 10.8 will not run PPC based software of old like 10.6 does, also upgrading to 10.8/10.7 may require expensive software upgrades that can hit you unexpected. Consult this site and your other needed software and hardware drivers/software (for printers/scanners,custom keyboards/mice etc) BEFORE you upgrade the operating system.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
3: Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper "clone" (payware)
Your OS X boot partition to a new/reliable, blank powered external drive and use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions on both afterwards. You can hold the option key down and boot from this clone drive to use the computer like before if your OS X upgrade fails and the machine gets bricked. You can also use Disk Utility to erase the entire internal drive and reverse clone if you find out the OS X upgrade is not to your liking.
Make sure all other drives are disconnected, like TimeMachine when cloning or upgrading OS X, thus when you reboot TimeMachine doesn't self update itself, which can lock you out from going back in time to restore from.
Note: If you have Bootcamp, you can clone that with WinClone (payware) to another drive and recreate Bootcamp later and restore it.
4: Some firmware updates can possibly "BRICK" your hardware
Firmware updates progress in a forward manner and can't be downgraded, so what sometimes occurs is a software error by programmers or a hardware glitch on your machine won't 100% cooperate with the firmware update and thus your machine will fail to function. Sometimes even a interruption in the OS X upgrade or firmware update process will cause the problem. When this occurs, a trip to a Apple Repair is in order and if your machine is out of AppleCare (3 years) or the 1 years standard warranty your looking at a very expensive logicboard replacement. At this time you usually consider the cost not worth it and rather spend the money on the newer machine, especially if it's 2-3 years old. This can come as quite a shock as you expected to pay $20 for a OS X upgrade and now have to buy a whole new machine.
You can't not upgrade the operating system for security and bug fixes, however you make sure you have AppleCare that will protect you for three years if such a hardware bricking occurs. If you don't have AppleCare you might want to reconsider taking the chance upgrading the operating system and thus the firmware.
AppleCare can be purchased within one year of the original machine purchase, it gives one 3 years of care from the date of machine purchase, not from the date of AppleCare purchase.
5: Market share of OS x versions (apx)
10.4 4.5% security updates > no
10.5 15% security updates > no
10.6 52% security updates > yes
10.7 30% security updates > yes
10.8 2 million upgraded so far, just released
6: Your decision to upgrade or not
It depends upon your computer technical ability, the age of your machine, your software investment and your budget.
Can you afford to pay for professional assistance if your upgrade doesn't go as expected? Are you in AppleCare?
Can you afford to pay for upgrades to third party software?
Can you afford the downtime while your machine is being repaired?
Can you live without the "new features" newer OS versions provide?
Does your hardware even support the newer features?
You might decide the upgrade is not worth it for your older machine and decide to ease yourself into a new machine gradually. I took this approach with my 2006 MacBook Pro, buying a Early 2011 model. I then upgrade to 10.7 on the older 2006 machine and glad I did, because it got bricked. Turned out 10.7 was a pretty awful upgrade and I was out of AppleCare, however 10.8 seems to be "normal" far as OS X upgrades go, some problems but not mass bricking of machines.

How to use Disk Utility to back up the HD

I'm trying to back up my HD onto an external HD as described in "The Missing Manual" (Tiger ed.), p. 389. I choose my Macintosh HD, read/write, no compression, and the appropriate partition of the external HD as the target.
But just after telling me it's creating the disk image (I guess I can't just drag the whole HD without using Disk Utility) it stops, saying, "resource busy).
What am I doing wrong?

You cannot backup your entire hard drive to a disk image. Essentially there isn't enough space to do that nor is this the best method for doing a full disk backup. Full disk backups should be done to an external hard drive using proper backup software. You can clone your hard drive to an external drive using the Restore option of Disk Utility but DU cannot do incremental backups. For that you need backup software:
Basic Backup
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
To clone with Disk Utility do the following:
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.
For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.

Disk Utility: Restore no longer creates bootable images?

So I have a new hard drive for my macbook, and followed the procedure I used last time of using disk utility restore to write the current hard drive image to the new disk, with the new disk in a USB enclosure.
I have done this before, it creates a bootable copy on the new disk, swap the disks away I go.
This time however the new disk is not bootable. When starting it gets to the grey screen with the rotating white pips then dumps back to a black screen with error messages (like its trying to boot of the network).
Swapping back to the old disk boots just fine, so its a problem with the image written to the new disk by disk utility restore not being bootable.
Is this a known issue? I searched the forum with no answers, and am frustrated that its now working as I have run the image twice now at about 5 hours a go for 100GB of data so I am sure its not the copy. Straight after the copy the original disk has about 10 more files than the new disk that's just been imaged, has their been some update to disk utility in the OS X patches that means it no longer copies some key files?
Note that partition on new disk is GUID as it should be, and I don't want to re-install anything from the install media I want to use make disk utility work as designed.

I found two references that may help:
A) At http://everythingapple.blogspot.com/2007/11/use-powerpc-mac-to-create-bootable.h tml it says "PowerPC Macs use the Apple Partition Map, but this poses no problem for Intel Macs, even though Intel Macs use the GUID Partition Table. The reverse is not true however. PowerPC Macs cannot boot disks with a GUID Partition Table."
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2. Go to the "Options" and choose "Apple Partition Map", which is the partition type necessary for PowerPC Macs.
B) Carbon Copy Cloner - Red Dot Warning on main screen: "The target volume will not boot this computer because PowerPC Macintoshes cannot boot from USB devices."
Looks like I'll have to install the 2.5" SATA drive into my PowerPC MacMini to upgrade my system volume from 80gb to 320gb.

Disk Utility Restore

I copied my macbook pro's hard drive to an external drive using disk utility restore. Is it normal for the copy's overall size to be smaller than the original? I thought it would be the same size? The external had no data on it. The original is 273.54 GB and the copy is 271.45 GB... Problem?

May I try to answer your question. When you copy a disk there are a number of files which are not copied such as Trash, swap files and any temporary files that may have on the old disk will not be copied to the new disk. So while the approximately 2 GB of data might at first glance seem like a lot, it is in fact not really that much. I hope that helps you to understand what is happening there.
|___________________
Allan

I have around 1,000 photos on my old phone and I want to put them on my new phone without using a backup or iTunes, which would be the easiest way?

I have around 1,000 photos on my old phone and I want to put them on my new phone without using a backup or iTunes, which would be the easiest way?

I was looking for something on the net, and i run into this post. Am not sure if you have found a soulution or not, anyways, if not here are some programs that i love and they show you every thing in your iPhone:
iFunBox, iBackupBot and DiskAid
am sure they will help you find what you want and then you can just copy them to your computer.
if you use Mac, iPhoto will import everything for you.

Moving backups to new drive -- without using disk utility restore

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